ConstructionPro Network takes a look at interesting blog posts from the past week.
The case for prefabrication
Joy Silber, writing for Schneider Electric’s Power Management blog, observes Schneider's experience and that of other contractors in making the case for more off-site prefabrication. Citing a recent WSJ article on labor shortage, Silber sees prefabrication as a necessary solution. Eckardt Electric, an Atlanta-based contractor, has 10% of its workforce working in the shop rather than out in the field, up from 2% the previous year. Eckardt’s goal is to step this up to 25%. Read this blog post here. Although many posts center around Schneider’s services and products, there is an array of bloggers providing interesting industry commentary, news and technical discussions. Click here to access the blog home page.
Construction employment growth slows despite increase in spending
Ken Simonson’s Data Digest, appearing in the Construction Citizen blog, reports that the unemployment rate in construction fell to 5.5%, the lowest September rate since 2001. Part of this is due to a decline in the pool of experienced jobseekers. Fast-growing construction activities are in multifamily housing, data centers and pipeline construction. Simonson’s weekly Data Digest is the go-to source for construction industry economic news and statistics. Click here for the October 2 blog post. Visit the Construction Citizen home page here for additional news and blog posts.
Tempest turns off the teapot
Tempest Consulting out of Omaha, Nebraska announced it is closing up its construction consulting and estimating services practice after 35 years of business. The blog will remain intact and company president Justin Short will reply to reader comments. Those interested in good content on estimating, bidding, scheduling and cost control should explore past posts. Click here for the blog posts. Also on the site are several good articles on budgets, baseline schedule development, and estimating. Click here for the articles.
Roads and Bridges
Here’s a must-visit site for heavy and highway contractors. There are very descriptive news reports of construction projects nationwide. Readers can learn about challenges the contractors encountered and the solutions implemented. In addition, the site has three blogs: one on construction law, one on political issues affecting transportation and the third a humor-oriented take on construction and non-construction happenings. Visit the Roads and Bridges site here.
