Masonry Magazine February 1993 Page. 61
Is the construction industry plagued by a labor shortage or a leadership shortage? In the end analysis, probably a little of both. To solve the problem, construction companies will need to respond with a mixed strategy of better and more aggressive hiring practices, and improved production management.
FMI Corporation is the nation's largest management firm exclusively serving the construction industry. Their offices are located at 5151 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, North Carolina 27622, phone 919/787-8400.
NEW ORLEANS
Continued from Page 56 paving, but Port of New Orleans officials are reported to be happy with the project. A second mechanical installation machine was brought in to make up for days lost to rain.
The best day's production with the two machines, according to Wayne Dukes, a port engineering technical supervisor, was 20,185 square feet including placing, screeding, laying pavers, cutting, compaction and filling the joints. This was accomplished in one twelve hour day.
Dukes also noted that pavers were selected because they will be a real "maintenance saver," and that pavers are "ideal for low maintenance in the long run."
One of the project's unexpected advantages is that after about half the area was placed, the port authority had access to it. Unlike poured concrete, the paved area was immediately available for use, before the entire job was finished.
The port purposely decided not to pave the container yard with asphalt because of past problems with rutting and deterioration caused by corner castings on the heavy containers. Shipping containers can weigh 45-55,000 pounds when loaded.
Port equipment operators are known to slew, drag and drop these heavy containers on the pavement-treatment that can be withstood by concrete pavers, which will still remain stable. Asphalt pavement wears quickly, especially in the summer when it softens.
The pavement cross section at New Orleans is 3.125 inch thick pavers on one inch of bedding sand. The base consists of 12" flouralite with seven percent cement added for stabilization. Flouralite, a by-product of freon manufacture, is used as a substitute for crushed limestone base in Louisiana. The material is approved for highway and airfield construction. The flouralite rests on compacted river sand subgrade.
Paver Systems of Orlando, Florida, manufactured the paving units for the port project. Construction on a second area, which will also be used for container storage and marshalling, has begun. Site preparation consisting of 131,000 square feet has already begun.
REPRINTED, with permission, from "Pavers" for April 1992, published by the Concrete Paver Institute.
MASONRY JANUARY/FEBRUARY, 1993 61
Honorable Mention Award for Chicago House
NAGLE HARTRAY AND ASSOCIATES earned an honorable mention award for a house on Fremont Street, Chicago, in the Illinois Indiana Masonry Council's annual Excellence in Masonry Awards competition. The architects were commended for doing an excellent job of developing a very nice inner and outer space, given the parameters of a very tight lot. This is an example of masonry being used in a very restrained way to define the basic volume of the house and letting other materials (in this case metal) reflect the geometry and finish in contrast with the masonry. The strength of the project is its simplicity relative to projects that have become overly complex.