A fun filled productive Summer!  Let me talk story on recent trips.

Keeping You Up-To-Date on Current Industry Trends


After all these years I finally went back to college:

However this time not as a student, but as a visiting professor.  Last month I gave two lectures to 4th year civil engineering and construction management students.  This was at the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering, at Georgia Southern University.  This was a fun learning experience for me as well as a teaching one.
Subjects discussed were about construction estimating, scheduling, contracts and construction management.  Many varied case studies were described and it was great to experience student feedback.  The students were excited to hear "hands on, down in the trenches" stories.  These students will be the construction leaders of tomorrow whose Dean of Engineering must have been impressed as I was invited back to speak again next year.  Not to mention sadly a dinner invitation I took a rain check on because Man I love Southern cooking.

Afterwards I took a tour of old Savannah, checked out the architecture and building construction from the Civil War era.  I imagined what it was like way back then.  It was awesome to see 150 year old buildings standing in excellent condition.  I couldn't help looking for Union and Rebel soldiers during the narrated trolley tour, it felt so real. 

Cobble stoned River Street was fun rain and all, with bustling touristy shops and restaurants.  I found an antique shop and took home a prized Russian cross as old as Savannah.  I was delighted by freshly made pralines at the entry door of a popular candy store and brought some home.  Don't be squeamish but I also ate alligator tail for a light snack.  It tasted better than San Antonio Texas rattlesnake.  Mmmmm!
 

OLD SAVANNAH



Railcraft International Inc.

Earlier this past summer as you probably know, I traveled to Vancouver Canada to inspect an aluminum railing manufacturing plant.   One of my high rise projects has already been using the superb product for lanai railing and I wanted to see first-hand how the railings were made and coated.  And I wanted to share this experience with CMI readers.
 
There are 2 lines in place, that being the Production line and the other the Paint line.
In the Production line many hours go into the cut and assembly, welding pickets and pipe bending.  The production line was efficient down to the buffing stage.  After that, the quality control department thoroughly inspects and either passes or rejects each piece.  Any defects found result in the entire piece being thrown in the recycle bin.  All sections that pass quality control inspections are then hung on racks for several rinse cycles, then the railing sections are moved to the dry off oven.



The Paint booth and curing oven is the next stop on the line.  This is the stage where the railing gets power coated.  The curing oven is huge and looks like a gigantic pizza oven.  The product is then cooled down and then sent to the packing, storage and shipping department.  The workers take pride in the high quality of workmanship and I was happy to have made the visit.  For sure as the construction manager on the job I could guarantee the quality of the production of the newly installed railings for my high rise condo project.
Visit: HawaiiBuildingExpert.com