tyres Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 pretty impresive. A Chinese construction company have built a 57-story building within the space of just 19 days in Changsha, capital of southern China's Hunan Province. Xiao Changgen, vice general manager of the local pre-fabricated construction company Broad Group said 95% of the building parts were premade in the factory and at the site 1200 workers assembled the parts like stacking Lego. Picture: Feature China / Barcroft Media article here... but can't help about thinking of this building.. an entire apartment building in Shanghai collapsed. To be fair, the building was under construction and thus unoccupied, but it's still a minor miracle that there was only one fatality. Sounds like there was a problem with some nearby flood prevention walls at the Dianpu River, but there's no hard evidence as to why this huge building simply fell over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Comrades - We have beat production forecasts. Using scientific socialism we have imporved the laws of physics and evil Western building standards. This building shall stand forever as a symbol of Mao . . . .etc etc etc etc etc. Building falls down as th concrete has not set and they've 'forgot' to use the correct stand steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwiches33 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 I regularly have to use chinese companies for work and they are experts in the half arsed. If you want cheap and as borderline you can get away with then they are perfect. If you need perfectly engineered, if you rely on tolerances or perfection look elsewhere. They try every con in the book and assume your dumb as rocks and cant see through it, The have no grasp of true expertise. I wouldnt go within a mile of that building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 pretty impresive. article here... but can't help about thinking of this building.. One fatality is one too many. I hope he/she was not crushed by the building. I fear he/she was. Looking at that building the foundations appear to have had a weak point in that two enormous slabs of butter or cheese were used to anchor the building to the ground? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zugzwang Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 It looks like a giant robot's leg. Be afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonguest Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) pretty impresive. article here... but can't help about thinking of this building.. Amazing what you can achieve when Health & Safety and other bureaucracy doesn't feature at all in ones activities. I wonder how many people died or were injured in this speedy construction? Life is very 'cheap' over there. Edited March 22, 2015 by anonguest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Really impressive if it lasts 30+ years. However you do wonder what corners have been cut to get it built so fast. Aren't all these buildings giant modules which are stuck together on site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecrashingisles Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Well they didn't exactly care about health and safety when the original sky scrapers were being built in New York so maybe it will be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChumpusRex Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 The impression I get with Chinese suppliers is that every single person is out to maximize profit on the first sale, and assumes that when you realise you've been ripped off, it's too late for you, and there are plenty of other suckers willing to keep buying. Every possible corner will be cut, so long as the product seems to do its job. From friends who have subcontracted manufacturing to China, they have found that you need to make it clear to the supplier that you know what you are talking about, and give them unambiguous instructions about what constitutes acceptable quality, otherwise they will just assume you will accept any old crap. Take for example some electrical transformers a friend was trying to get manufactured. At first glance, a transformer is as simple a machine as one could conceive - it's a piece of iron, with wires wrapped around it. In reality, the design is actually significantly more complex and there are many subtleties which require expertise to avoid. He contracted with a Chinese manufacturer of transformers to design and supply the transformers to a particular specification. They could not do it; the prototypes were completely useless. He got the transformer designed in the UK, and a prototype built. After he sent the prototype and a detailed drawings to the Chinese, the production ones came back fine. It's worth pointing out that the same speed in construction has been applied to other major construction. The Chinese have been building a nuclear power plant (identical design as scheduled for Hinkley Point), and a double-version of plants under construction in Finland and France. The Finnish plant started construction in 2005 - it's due for completion in 2018. The French plant was started in 2007, with completion estimated in 2016. In China, the plant was started in 2010, construction has been completed on the first unit, and it is currently undergoing commissioning for start of commercial operations in a few weeks time. Last I heard, the French and Finnish nuclear regulation agencies were unsatisfied that the reactor's electronic control systems were sufficiently reliable, and ordered that they be redesigned to more rigorous standards which added several years of delay. Unsurprisingly a lot of people in the industry have questioned whether the Chinese have applied any real oversight to the construction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
200p Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) Foxconn, and they're listed in London too. Edited March 22, 2015 by 200p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheBlueCat Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Well they didn't exactly care about health and safety when the original sky scrapers were being built in New York so maybe it will be ok. In the unlikely event that anyone hasn't seen this photo: More details here: http://time.com/3449718/mystery-in-the-sky-a-legendary-photo-slowly-gives-up-its-secrets/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damik Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 These buildings are fast to build as they are pre-fabricated in the factory and just connected on site. It still can be as safe and regulated as Western standards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Bear Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Makes me think of the thread in off topic on http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?/topic/203836-indian-exam-system/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pokercola Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 My sister worked as a teacher in China and lived in what looked a pretty nice modern apartment, I told her I was quite envious of the photos. She pointed out that a lot of things in China look good on the surface but when you examine them close up they are a disaster. Doors didn't fit in door frames, chunks fly off the building, there was even no heating in the building FFS. Far from leaving me in awe of the skill of Chinese workers that building just makes me worried for the people that will be in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steppenpig Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 The impression I get with Chinese suppliers is that every single person is out to maximize profit on the first sale, and assumes that when you realise you've been ripped off, it's too late for you, and there are plenty of other suckers willing to keep buying. .... At first glance, a transformer is as simple a machine as one could conceive - it's a piece of iron, with wires wrapped around it. In reality, the design is actually significantly more complex Funnily enough, I'm sure I've read the opposite. The first batch you get is excellent, (an probably loss making) but with subsequent orders the production is "refined" to enable profits to be made. I've been meaning to ask about transformers. How did they get to be so small, when they used to be great clunking things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybong Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 (edited) Apparently it's not just buildings there was an article some time ago about rapid construction of motorways. They build a motorway faster than the UK repairs a pothole. From the housing perpective it shows how fast new accommodation can be built if there's a will to do it. Using lots of high rise has for some time been discredited as a solution in the UK but even so it's possible to build accommodation much faster than UK people have been used to in recent years. No doubt they're all working on it for their general election manifestos to make up for the last 6 + years of wasted time. Edited March 23, 2015 by billybong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bogbrush Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 (edited) In the unlikely event that anyone hasn't seen this photo: More details here: http://time.com/3449718/mystery-in-the-sky-a-legendary-photo-slowly-gives-up-its-secrets/ It's a great picture but I always think there must be something out of frame that changes it. Is that true? I mean, it just doesn't make sense that guys would choose to toddle along that girder for lunch - apart from being bonkers it's inconvenient.Anyone know? Edited March 23, 2015 by bogbrush Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwiches33 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 It's a great picture but I always think there must be something out of frame that changes it. Is that true? I mean, it just doesn't make sense that guys would choose to toddle along that girder for lunch - apart from being bonkers it's inconvenient. Anyone know? There is a documentary about the very photo, It was staged for a press photographer to promote the building. It is a hugely valuable photo although noone is quite sure which newspaper journo took it. They are mostly irish immigrants. Life was cheap I think they lost a couple of guys a week. The doc is called "men at lunch" and is produced by the irish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bogbrush Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 There is a documentary about the very photo, It was staged for a press photographer to promote the building. It is a hugely valuable photo although noone is quite sure which newspaper journo took it. They are mostly irish immigrants. Life was cheap I think they lost a couple of guys a week. The doc is called "men at lunch" and is produced by the irish. If staged I suspect they sat on it and it was swung out. Maybe something is under them out of frame.I otherwise just don't get the point of guys taking a walk across each other like that implies. Maybe they were experienced high workers but they weren't mountain goats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drained Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Britain put up pre fab housing for huge swathes of the population after WW2 almost overnight, some of it is advertised for over 350K http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48767090.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 (edited) I've been meaning to ask about transformers. How did they get to be so small, when they used to be great clunking thingsTransformers haven't got much smaller AFAIK. The reason mobile phone chargers, plugpacks etc. have got so much smaller is that they now use power electronics, there's no transformer in them.Edit: googled it now and in fact there is a transformer in them still, just a very small one: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-mode_power_supply Edited March 24, 2015 by Rave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Transformers haven't got much smaller AFAIK. The reason mobile phone chargers, plugpacks etc. have got so much smaller is that they now use power electronics, there's no transformer in them. Edit: googled it now and in fact there is a transformer in them still, just a very small one: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-mode_power_supply Switched mode. But they can be electrically noisy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steppenpig Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Wow, a whole new technology evolved (well, matured) without me even noticing. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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