Advancements in Construction

Top Four Random Facts on Construction

You have most certainly come across weird and astonishing facts about the construction industry. Here is a collection of four scenarios that are sure to raise your eyebrows.

Fifty-Seven Storeys in Nineteen Days

A team of builders in China claimed to be the fastest after completing a 57-storey skyscraper in under nineteen days. The company engineer attributed their success to a new method of construction that only required materials to be assembled.

40-ft Tall Skyscraper

The smallest skyscraper in the world is the Newby-McMahon in Texas which only required $200,000 to build.

12000 People to Build One Skyscraper

The Burj Khalifa remains the tallest building in the world, and it required the population of a small town to work daily to complete it. 80% of small towns within the United States have a population that is well below twelve thousand.

Adding a Spire to Make a Skyscraper Taller

The construction scene in New York in the 1920s was highly competitive. Everyone wanted their skyscraper to be the tallest. So William Van Alen put a 180-ft spire on top of his Chrysler Building to make it taller than the 40 Wall Street building.

The Construction Industry and the Covid-19 Pandemic

Covid-19 has severely disrupted the construction industry and various other businesses and communities around the globe, with new variants that continue to threaten containment measures. Ironically, this is when construction is needed to help remedy the situation. Faster and more efficient ways to build hospitals had to be invented, with many players in the construction industry donating life-saving equipment.

The global construction industry makes up about 13% of the GDP. For total economic recovery, the sector requires access to more labour. Many construction projects had to be halted in various countries to comply with the social and travel restrictions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has harmed the demand and supply of construction. It has reduced the need for industrial and commercial buildings. In addition, loss of income and consumer confidence due to the pandemic has negatively affected construction and renovation projects as people only seek to satisfy primary needs.

How the Construction Industry Has Adapted

  • Using online methods to monitor construction projects
  • Making the supply chain more resilient even at the cost of efficiency
  • Shifting towards a greater demand for direct labour
  • Investing highly in technology and digitisation
  • A preference for off-site construction
  • Concentrating on building more sustainable buildings