The UK has not invested enough in public infrastructure, but attempts towards rectifying this lack in investment look likely to confront skilled labour shortages in construction.
Not only did Brexit reduce the number of migrant workers entering the sector, a lack of investment (interest) in skills training (i.e. via FE colleges) compounded by health-related retirements of older workers means there are too few UK-national with skills to fill the gap(s).
Hmm.... I think it may show more the centralisation of construction investment in London.... the figures for skills shortage are for all sectors, not just private or public work.... but my guess is many of those coming in from Essex are responding to better pay on offer in London as big projects struggle to find workers - perhaps Essex projects are not getting started, or cannot offer such high wages?
Opus caementicium, also known as Roman concrete, was an ultradurable building material used in the construction of countless monumental buildings that survived extremely harsh conditions for thousands of years. What was the Romans' secret? Heritage Daily has more: https://flip.it/ay8Q9N #Science#Construction#Concrete#RomanEmpire
I took this picture while passing through a parking lot on my lunch today. This is a severe workplace OSHA infraction. This worker is not wearing any fall protection. He was the only person working on this structure at the time of this photo (there were two workers in the parking lot on a lunch break.)
He appeared to be installing some metal flashing along the edge.
In the photo you can see how extremely dangerous his situation is if...
you have an idea how wide an I-beam is, and
you can see that his right foot is at the very edge of the upright beam - it's only as wide as his shoe.
one miss-step, a gust of wind, a distraction, slipping or losing balance while installing material, etc., and he falls to his death.*
you know that falling from a height of 4ft or more, can cause serious injury and even death.
A fun climate adaptation update from the world of roofing construction:
-blue roofs, which are designed to retain water. New to me. One must design roof deck to hold greater loads, of course, but this is going to be a requirement across the board regardless of whether one builds a blue roof or not, just because of increased storm severity. Anyway, the water retained on a blue roof can be directed inside to water plants or, I suppose, flush toilets. Or it can be released into the storm drain system, but slowly, thus reducing local flooding. Stored water can insulate and it can actively cool a building during hot weather as it evaporates.
-green roofs, you've probably heard about them, it's a roof with plants on top! Also requires increased load-bearing capacity. Can be challenging to maintain, especially during dry weather. But the advantages: insulation and cooling, reduction in flooding and in air pollution impacts. When paired with solar panels, they can increase the efficiency of electricity generation, since photovoltaic panels don't love operating in high heat.
-the simplest roofing climate intervention: changing the color of the roofing membrane or shingles from dark to light. A simple increase in albedo can decrease temperatures in the vicinity 1 - 2 C.
@SallyStrange I live on the 9th floor in a traditionally 3-floor brownstones neighborhood and I've seen several buildings' roofing change from mate black to silver over the past years. It's probably better for these buildings' insulation, but it has drastically increased the amount of reflected sunlight we are getting in our own apartment!
We think we’re finally done with everything we had to get done before concrete. The Glavel is in and compacted, the filter fabric is laid on top, and the Stego radon barrier is installed under the building slab. Every one of the 22 (!) conduits and pipes has been meticulously sealed with mastic.
Tomorrow morning our concrete contractor will form for the two slabs and add rebar, and concrete for the first slab is due at 10am. Fingers crossed!
Weird #plumbing issue. In warm weather, our toilet and drains sound hollow, gurgles, etc, when flushing or draining, like when the tub is drained. In the cold months, it is fine. Last year we had the system snaked 100%. No clogs–been an issue since we bought house in 2019.
I am thinking the warm weather, wind, etc is causing negative air pressure through the main roof plumbing vent
We’ve been making good progress on the build. All that’s left to do before concrete can be poured is install filter fabric and our radon barrier (15-mil Stego). But, rain has stopped play today and the concrete contractor is coming Tuesday so Monday is going to be busy!
On Friday we bought a rock bucket for the tractor which is a game changer for getting big rocks out of our soil before we backfilled.