Many, many moons ago, I watched something of a documentary on the construction of a bridge over a river. I can’t remember but it might have been the Mississippi. I want to call to your attention the part near the end of the construction.
They had prepared the road bed and put out the order for the concrete, 109 trucks full of it. They said that they were a day ahead of schedule and stood a good chance of avoiding any time penalty. The trucks were on the way with who knows how many tons of concrete mixing, when they all had to stop. It seems that there was a man on the bridge talking suicide.
Then, of course, the immediate question that comes to mind is, what to do with tons of concrete? I guess the drivers might start looking for folks who would like a new drive way or, maybe swimming pool. Not too many people looking for big artificial rocks in their front yard.
Maybe when they decide to deliver large amounts of concrete, they might have an alternate delivery point. I mean, when the concrete is on the way, it’s too late to dig that pool or prepare that road.
Worse, it can’t be dumped just anywhere. Imagine the panic, if you will, for each and every one of those drivers when they realized they needed to find a place to get rid of, oh, a few pounds of concrete, like really fast. If that stuff sets in that big thing that turn, it means a lot of time and hard work to chisel it out.
From what I understand, problems like this occur more than than most would know, though not so large. In this case, the suicidal man cost the construction company the cost of 109 trucks of concrete, the penalty of not finishing on time, extra payroll, etcetera, etcetera, and so forth. The company took a big loss instead of nice big profit.
As I watched, I felt really bad for that construction company, taking such a big loss through no fault of their own. More than that, it was a huge waste of concrete.
It also made me consider a possible way to at least decrease some of the losses. What if, in large projects such as this, they wait to add the water until they are on site. In this case, not only would they have saved the money but the concrete too. They would also pour the concrete at just the right time for maximum strength.
Then again, it’s not for me to say. It’s likely why no one would let me run one of those big outfits.
bfrhodes99 