CONSTRUCTION ARTICLES
Construction Articles
HISTORIC Construction ProjectS
No business has better demonstrated the ideals of adventure, patriotism, daring and creativity than the American construction company. Construction companies have connected our nation's coasts, harnessed the power of mighty rivers, tunneled beneath great cities and touched the skies overhead. Today, you can't enter a building, drive a road, ride a train or subway or even use a manufactured product without experiencing the result of some construction company's efforts. These visionaries have literally paved the way for America's economy and way of life. Every day, contractors all across the country are breaking ground on new structures,expanding and improving roads and bridges and improving our nation's commercial and transportation infrastructure - extending the veins and arteries of commerce,which carry our economy's lifeblood.
The work of construction companies is almost always unheralded. Occasionally, however, a construction project is so monumental in its scope or impact on our society that it captures the world's attention. A selection of those historic construction projects is showcased on this site. These famous projects show the ingenuity, dedication and courage demonstrated by the construction companies that took them from vision to reality. The hardships and dangers the workers faced, the challenges the companies overcame and the new technologies they developed provide a remarkable testimonial to the American construction company and its honorable place in our society's development.
Follow the links below for descriptions of construction companies and their historic construction projects:
CargoCentre™III and AirFreight & LogisticsCentres™ Complex - This four-building air cargo complex at Dallas / Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport in Texas may be the most significant air cargo project to be built in the United States. With the completion of this complex in December 2005, DFW became the first airport in the United States to offer an air cargo facility with parking space specifically designed to accommodate the Airbus A380 aircraft.Bob Moore Construction was the construction company who tackled this challenging and historic project.
Disneyland and Walt Disney World - Up until the 1940s, the American amusement park was limited to merry-go-rounds, Ferris wheels and carnival games. All that changed when Walt Disney envisioned a new amusement park called a Theme Park. Disney's innovations re-energized amusement parks in this county and creating an entirely new approach to the real estate development and commercial construction of theme parks and the areas surrounding those attractions. And it all started when a father had a bad experience as he took his daughters out to an amusement park.
Empire State Building - The Empire State Building is a marvel of engineering and architecture, especially for the era in which it was built, and it occupies a unique place in the history of construction companies and construction management. Not only was the 1453-foot, 103-story structure built in just over 13 months,the construction company that took on the daunting job allegedly began with nothing on hand -- no equipment or supplies that would be sufficient for such an enormous undertaking. How they accomplished the task is a case study in early, successful commercial construction management.
Hoover Dam - A list of modern day construction projects that demonstrate a construction company's ingenuity and creativity may very well begin with The Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam was built by a construction company called Six Companies Inc, which was actually a consortium of several commercial construction companies: Morrison-Knudsen Co., Utah Construction Co., J. F. Shea Co., Pacific Bridge Co., MacDonald &Kahn Ltd. and a joint venture of W. A. Bechtel Co., Henry J. Kaiser, and Warren Brothers.
Interstate Highway System - The Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways was designated as one of the Seven Wonders of the United States in 1994by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The highway system is a marveling construction. Not only does it link the nation from coast to coast, but it also helped to increase business productivity - in fact, since the highway system was started in 1956, our country has seen a tenfold increase in our gross national product, thanks to the construction companies who worked on this massive construction project.
New York City Subway System - New York City was the second-largest city in the world in the advent of the 20th century, with the majority of its 3.4 million people living in Manhattan and much fewer people living in Brooklyn, Staten Island,and Queens. Public transportation of the time-electric omnibus, gasoline powered trolleys and elevated railways-was inadequate for getting people where they needed to go quickly and efficiently. The idea of an underground subway system had been discussed by politicians for decades, and finally it was decided in 1900 that a subway would be built. Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the construction company chosen for the job after its bid of $35 million was accepted.
Transcontinental Railroad - The building of the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s is a story that heralds the courage and innovation of the construction companies and workers who built it. The Senate and House of Representatives passed the Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 and 1864. These laws granted rights of way and use of building materials along the way, a 20-million-acre land grant and government support for loans of 60 million dollars to construction companies that would build the railroad and its feeder lines.
CONSTRUCTION TECHNICAL PAPERS
Construction Company.com has provided a collection of white papers and technical papers that discuss various construction subjects.
CIGNA Regional Offices Building: A Phased Construction Schedule Overcomes Weather and an Undeveloped Jobsite - When finished, the CIGNA Office Building would provide a dramatic new home for the company's regional operations and the scheduled completion date was critical. With 23% of the construction days lost to the rainiest spring in Texas's history and a completely undeveloped location with no infrastructure for the building, however, the initial schedule seemed unrealistic. This paper discusses the challenges to the schedule presented by significant days lost to weather and an undeveloped job site and how those challenges were overcome with a phased construction schedule, tilt-up construction and a collaborative relationship with the project's developer.
Mouser Electronics: Delivering a Successful Construction Project at a Location With Extensive Ongoing Client Operations - The Mouser Electronics Expansion project in Mansfield, Texas presented a unique challenge: The 231,800 SF project was built in close proximity to several hundred Mouser employees and several million dollars worth of sensitive inventory and equipment in the warehouse and administrative departments. This technical paper describes how we addressed the challenge of conducting an extensive construction project in close proximity to ongoing business operations and employees to deliver an award-winning project.