

Chinese workers build 15-story hotel in just six days - nano81
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101112/bs_yblog_upshot/chinese-workers-build-15-story-hotel-in-just-six-days

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kin
I've witnessed something similar. During the 2008 Olympics, I studied abroad
in Beijing and was pretty fortunate to stay at the BNU campus where they
hosted the training complex for the U.S. Olympians. I saw with my own eyes a 5
story training complex built from the ground up in two weeks.

They did it in day/night shifts. One team worked day while one team worked
night. At around the 12 hour mark they would switch off. They wore no helmets
or masks and worked quite rapidly. There was maybe one or two hours when the
building was not being worked on.

In the end, the product was impressive and sturdy. The building looked slick
and I know for sure our athletes liked it. I saw the swim, fencing, and
basketball teams walk in and out of it.

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TGJ
I find it sad that this would never happen in the US. There is so much red
tape to cut through, construction projects of just simple diners takes months.
Getting small cites to act and do inspections takes planning since they rarely
act with any sense of urgency plus the amount of inspections needed at every
step of the project.

~~~
electromagnetic
I'd like to note that the foundation had already been laid. Considering the
foundation work is largely the longest process in the building anyway, I don't
see a 6-day building time as an improvement when you've still got to wait a
month or more for the foundation to be laid and cured, then you really haven't
advanced much.

Considering that they used 6 cranes and crews working throughout the night,
this was still a 18-day regular construction for 8-hour work days. Assuming
the 6 cranes were performing equally and to their max this would have been
108-days of construction using a regular Western crew with 1 crane. Roughly a
total 30-week construction - sounds about typical to me for non-prefabricated
construction, if not rather slow in man-hour comparison and we're talking
opposed to _unionized labor_ which is possibly the slowest construction
workforce in existence.

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jeffreyg
> unionized labor which is possibly the slowest construction workforce in
> existence.

Any references for this statement? I have quite a few union friends who bust
their asses 6 days a week doing construction, and would be kicked off their
projects if they didn't..

~~~
ghshephard
One reference indicating greater speed for union labor (typically higher
skilled, but more expensive per hour):

[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-232X.1988....](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-232X.1988.tb01003.x/abstract)

Reference: "This study examines the impact of unions on efficiency in retail
construction in the late seventies. Square footage put in place per hour is 51
per cent greater for union than nonunion contractors. The study finds no
difference in mean cost per square foot and offers mixed econometric evidence
on Tran slog cost functions. There is also no difference in profit rates or
prices between union and nonunion contractors."

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presidentender
What if we correct for union membership and just look at skill level?

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michaelchisari
I don't know if they can be decoupled. One of the biggest improvements unions
made is the apprenticeship requirement, which prevents businesses from hiring
unskilled labor for skilled work at well below market rates.

~~~
eru
Isn't the market rate defined as whatever you can get away with on the market?
(Or do you mean, they hire unskilled labour below the market rate of skilled
labour?)

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ghshephard
We had an in-and-out built in Redwood City in about 30 days. I thought that
was a world-class amazing feat of engineering, project management, and
construction. I'm somewhat in awe of the 15-story hotel project. I wonder if
the process/margins/tools they used are repeatable, or whether it made sense
just as a stunt.

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jws
The volume of ignorance and bilateral racism in the youtube comments astounds.

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Groxx
Wait, seriously? This is _youtube_ we're talking about.

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illumen
This reminds me of the german house build on Grand Designs that went up in a
few days. Prefab is definitely quicker.

You can apply factory optimisations to prefabricate - and store materials.

This reduces dependencies, and thus delays, and also increases speed. It
reduces injuries, waste, environmental impact, building disturbances for
neighbours. The quality is also improved.

Make a modern factory at every site where you want to build something, or have
the modern factory send prefabricated parts?

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lukeschlather
Call me in 50 years and let me know whether or not that building still stands.
I could build a Facebook clone in just six days too.

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gukjoon
On the seventh day, they rested.

On the eighth day, it falls over: [http://gizmodo.com/5304233/entire-
new-13+story-building-tips...](http://gizmodo.com/5304233/entire-new-13+story-
building-tips-over-in-shanghai/gallery/)

Maybe that red tape is there for a reason.

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Judson
Ironically, they will probably tear it down just as fast:
[http://www.zerohedge.com/article/china-proudly-
demolishing-b...](http://www.zerohedge.com/article/china-proudly-demolishing-
buildings-completed-pursuit-great-housing-bubble-perpetual-engine)

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varjag
Now, do you want to be the first guest in this hotel? Honest?

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lotusleaf1987
Already submitted with
conversation:<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1895354>

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alanh
The Chinese have Amish, too? <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_raising>

