September 28, 2005

 

Cranes and men without words

When I first arrived in Japan, 15 years ago, one thing that struck me was how in most construction concrete pumps always seemed to be used. Even on a new home's foundation the contraption was there making the wheelbarrow obsolete.

Yesterday, however, it was the technology that caught my eye. In the second photo notice the fellow in blue looking down at his belt. He is operating, by remote control, the concrete mixer, the pump, and its speed of flow. The ten, or so, men around him are all working in harmony without saying a word. Quite impressive! Oh, and eight cement trucks later the work was completed by lunch time!!

While I watched the men work (they occasionally looked up amused to see a westerner looking at them - I probably looked totally out of place) I realized how my new school and the 20 year investment was contributing to so many workers' salaries and their families' welfare. It was a nice feeling.


# posted by eigo @ 8:09 a.m.
Comments:
MEN WITHOUT WORDS:

IMPRESSIVE, INDEED. HOW MUCH CONCRETE DID THE EIGHT CEMENT TRUCKS DELIVER? HOW MUCH TIME DID THIS TAKE?

ARE YOU BASED IN CANADA? IS ALL OF YOUR WORK AS A FOREMAN BEING DONE IN JAPAN?

SAMOHT KCINEP ROWLF
# posted by Blogger Samoht Kcinep Rowlf : 8:46 p.m.
 
After checking with the contractor it seems that a cement slab on each floor is required by law in all general buildings w/ metal structures (ie. schools, offices, businesses, etc). Regarding the amount of cement poured, 35 cubic meters was used for the 2nd & 3rd floors combined.
# posted by Blogger eigo : 7:15 p.m.
 
This is something that all buildings should have. In the event of an earthquake in Fukushima, would the chances of the building surviving the quake increased because of the addition of the concrete slabs on each floor?

Samoht
# posted by Blogger Samoht Kcinep Rowlf : 11:19 a.m.
 
I am not an expert but the building standards in Japan with regards to earthquake resistance have increased considerably since the Kobe quake of 1995. It can only be assumed that a slab of concrete adds to a structures' integrety. Of course, it makes it top heavy but the thickness of metal used in the posts and beams is quite impressive!
# posted by Blogger eigo : 4:45 p.m.
 
So, there appears to be a lot of attention paid for the prevention or mitigation of natural disasters in the building codes. In Los Angeles, only recently have the pot holes in the streets begun to be addressed. The infrastructure here in the States needs a lot of attention. I think that the Louisiana hurricane, Katrina, has made California government officials concern themselves with the levees in this state. In many cases, they are decades behind when it comes to improvements and updates.

It is good to know that you are paying a lot of attention to large as well as small details in your project.

Samoht
# posted by Blogger Samoht Kcinep Rowlf : 1:27 p.m.
 
A few weeks ago, there was an article in the LA Times about a building inspector who had been shortchanging clients as far as misrepresenting how much concrete had been used in the buildings that had been constructed in Japan. This disclosure caused a whirlwind of activity, as one might expect, since the people who forked over the money thought that they were absolutely within the requirements of the industry's building and safety codes.

Samoht 12/27/05 5:57 pm.
USA
# posted by Blogger Samoht Kcinep Rowlf : 10:58 a.m.
 
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