Are "western" construction skills getting worse and worse ??

[rareboy]

I feels like it getting worse and worse because,
it took like forever for australia to build or fix roads or anything ... etc.

And this happened below in the US, brand new footbridge simply collapsed:


https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/3...ths-as-footbridge-collapses-at-us-university/

It didn't 'simply' collapse, actually.

The most dangerous time for any structure is when it is under construction. The pre-fab bridge structure had just been set in place on the weekend, but would not have been 'finished' for some time yet and was not to be in use until 2019.

It was, in many respects, an engineering prototype and an experiment in road bridge building technology.

The forensic analysis of its collapse will be interesting to follow.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

"cutting corners" is a sort of lack of skills because in construction, you simply cannot cut corners.
In terms of Australia, it takes forever to build or fix the roads (years and years) compare to China maybe completed in weeks. Therefore the skills are getting worse.

Telstra my friend, you have just touched on one of the hottest trends in construction; The End of "hand-built" Structures.


New techniques and materials are being tried that will reduce time and cost as well as the skilled labor previously employed to build large structures. One goal of all this is called, "build by the numbers", an easier and faster way to build everything.

Another variant is called, " the IKEA Method", where large structures are simplified to allow for unskilled labor to do the work.

 

[belamyi]

Telstra my friend, you have just touched on one of the hottest trends in construction; The End of "hand-built" Structures.


New techniques and materials are being tried that will reduce time and cost as well as the skilled labor previously employed to build large structures. One goal of all this is called, "build by the numbers", an easier and faster way to build everything.

Another variant is called, " the IKEA Method", where large structures are simplified to allow for unskilled labor to do the work.

Welcome to the 20th century Yes, 20th.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

Welcome to the 20th century Yes, 20th.

Yes belamo, you've summed it up beautifully.

My condolences to the families of the people killed in the Florida bridge collapse.

 

[Latimer]

It's Florida.

 

[luckynumbah7]

I like Ikea. Their basic furniture is lovely in its modibility and it's much easier to cart home than an already constructed piece.

 

[peeonme]

"But, it worked on the computer!"

 

[MakeDigitalLove]

It's Florida.

This sums it up.

Honestly I only lived in Florida for over a year at this point and at least in my area the work ethic is incredibly fucking low at most places.

 

[KaraBulut]

...In terms of Australia, it takes forever to build or fix the roads (years and years)compare to China maybe completed in weeks. Therefore the skills are getting worse.

Note to self: use as example of faulty tautology. speed=skill=safety

 

[Latimer]

and to get things done faster, that's a huge theme for America nowadays is not only does it have to be perfect, convenient and cheap but it has to be done in less than 45 seconds. I'm starting to see houses and entire neighborhoods go up very quickly which worries me if corners are being cut and the expense is durability, efficiency, SAFETY. We're really fuckin impatient and it continues to kill us.

We don't yet know the reason the bridge collapsed, but it was constructed by a method so as to "go up very quickly."

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a19472387/rapid-building-technique/

 

[Latimer]

Another take on the bridge collapse:


http://takimag.com/article/diversity_bridge_is_falling_down_my_fair_lady_david_cole#axzz5BUW91pnI

 

[pat grimshaw]

She did but, then, she didn't.

It's a woman's prerogative.


http://sandrarose.com/2018/03/leonor-flores-wants-know-didnt-build-miami-bridge-get/

 

[peeonme]

Another take on the bridge collapse:


http://takimag.com/article/diversity_bridge_is_falling_down_my_fair_lady_david_cole#axzz5BUW91pnI

Good article.

 

[belamyi]

"“These days we live in a world in which 'diversity'
'wealth'
'results'
'delivery'
'satisfaction'
'freedom'
'democracy'
'principles'
'values'
'greatness'
... 'whatever pompous pretty vagueness'

is the goal, rather than competence.”

Those vagueness used to be the mere excuse to wrap up the "competence" to accomplish whatever plan or agenda... today, you just sell hot air to hot heads, and the rest is either taken for granted, ignored or vilified: that's the "post-truth" era... you build your own truths, and the rest, engineering included, is superfluous.


As for those examples of failed constructions in China, they are simply like anything else in that country: what is going elsewhere in the world, only magnified by the size of a country which is, like the USA, more a whole continent in itself.

 

[Alistair]

Another take on the bridge collapse:


http://takimag.com/article/diversity_bridge_is_falling_down_my_fair_lady_david_cole#axzz5BUW91pnI

That's kind if a bizarre article, what was with the racist menudo comment about the construction company?

 

[belamyi]

That's kind if a bizarre article, what was with the racist menudo comment about the construction company?

It has nothing of bizarre, it's everyday "journalism: to pick one detail about whatever, and make a whole drama against whatever it is intended to drive an attack.

 

[rareboy]

That's kind if a bizarre article, what was with the racist menudo comment about the construction company?

My thoughts as well.

I prefer to wait until a forensic analysis and report is available to see what technically went wrong when buildings or other structures fail. This rush to blame individuals is rather bizarre and in this case is clearly rooted in misogyny and racism.

It is very possible that the failure may end up being caused by stresses during transport that could not have been anticipated during the design and that no one person is at fault.

Let us reserve judgement until the analysis is complete and then hopefully there will be lessons that prevent this from happening again.

 

[KaraBulut]

...Let us reserve judgement until the analysis is complete and then hopefully there will be lessons that prevent this from happening again.

But it's so much more fun to look for a woman or minority to blame. Among the casualties was a gay couple who had been together for 20 years, so it was probably a sign that gay marriage is destroying bridges along with traditional marriage.

The NTSB seems to be focusing on the tension rods and rebar since that was what the workers were adjusting on the south end of the bridge when it failed. It's probably going to be a falsework failure, not the engineering of the bridge.