Public Works and Unemployment: A Panel Discussion
In March 1983,
Union Construction is Fighting Back
To meet the threat of open-shop construction, union labor and contractors in several cities around the nation are working together in joint labor-management committees to improve the productivity...
Labor-Contractor Dialogue Transforms Worksite Atmosphere
In a climate of three-way communication between management, contractors and labor, the project owner saved money, increased productivity, cut down on time off the job for illness and injury...
1981 Essay Contest Winners
The fourth and fifth prize essays in Civil Engineering Magazines 1981 Essay Contest are Alan Mooney's Have we abandoned our responsibility to nurture young engineers? and...
Using Helpers Could Cut Construction Labor Costs 20%
During the past decade, most growth in the United States' construction industry has been captured by open-shop contractors. The chief economic advantage enjoyed by open-shop...
Why Work Abroad
Many engineering firms send staff overseas, and more are planning to enter the international market of exporting expertise. Advantages gained by the individual and his or her family must...
Willow Island Aftermath: The Limits of OSHA
In April 1978 a natural-draft hyperbolic concrete cooling tower under construction at Willow Island, W.Va. collapsed. Fifty-one workers, suspended on a scaffold supported mainly by a layer...
Workers as Managers Boost Productivity
A prime U.S. resource is the workforce. Given the opportunity, workers can improve working conditions, morale, efficiency and, as a result, boost productivity. First, though, management...
Tips for Training Workers in the Development World
In this article, a training specialist discusses some cultural and technical problems of training in the third world and some ways to develop programs that can save time and money. This...
What Contractors Think About Prefabricated Piping
Among 190 of the largest users of pipe, 77% now use large-scale prefabricated piping. These users report an average saving, using prefabricated pipe versus conventional pipe, of 23%. Before...
Trans Alaska Pipeline
This is one of the most extraordinary projects contending for the OCEA awards. Examples: the 360 mile haul road built in one summer; the 29 construction camps, self-contained cities to...
On Getting Foreign Jobs: Does Uncle Sam Help or Hinder
With his broad overview of the Washington scene, CIVIL ENGINEERING's Gene Halmos sought to get a reading on whether the U.S. government helps or hinders this country's...
City Recovery: Migration
To bring about the recovery of cities will require these steps: obsolete residential areas of the city must be transformed into neighborhoods attractive enough to lure people who work...
What Can Other Industries Teach Construction About Worker Productivity
Sharply boosted productivity is being recorded at Rushton Mining Co., Occola Mills, Pa., and at Harman International Industries (mirror maker), Bolivar, Tenn. They do it by not trying...
Changing Concepts for a Developing World
Results of the traditional from the top-down approach to foreign aid have proved disappointing; growth without equitable distribution of benefits is ineffective, and technology alone is...
Productivity on the Construction Site
On-site productivity in construction rose dramatically in the years after World War II as tasks were mechanized and larger equipment introduced. But in the past 10 years, that had gone...
When an Engineer Employee is Wronged
The author, as head of an employee association at a large engineering organization, wrote letters to U.S. Senators and Representatives, in an attempt to prevent increased importation of...
Can Trench Cave-In Deaths Be Cut�
About 100 construction workers die each year in trench cave-ins. That toll can be cut, two engineer-researchers conclude. Approach would be to make more-adequate geotechnical analysis...
A Home-Study Program on Civil Engineering Management
Civil Engineering Management is both an art and a science. A knowledge of the technology of civil engineering management will help the young engineer up the management ladder. This article...
Bailey's Crossroads: A/E Liability Test
In March 1973, a 24-story reinforced concrete building under construction at Bailey's Crossroads, Va., partially collapsed causing a total collapse of an adjoining parking...
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