Construction Brothers

What if Santa decided to expand his operation? NOTE: If you’re interested in construction in extreme conditions, explore the links at the end of these show notes. 00:40 - IntroWe are dressed to the 9s and ready to help the Big Guy. Today we’re discussing what Santa would need to do to build a second headquarters at the South Pole in order to cut down on delivery times. As our template, we’re using the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station as our model. Here are some facts about that structure:It sits on a sheet of ice that is 9,000 feet thick.The temperatures range from -117 degrees to +7.52 degrees Fahrenheit.The ice sheet on which it sits shifts roughly 33 feet per year.The project cost $175 million. In our Santa plans, we made some adjustments for inflation and settled on roughly $2,600 per square foot, which would put the total cost at roughly $3.14 billion.The center has 45 10,000-gallon fuel tanks for heating and vehicles.07:36 - Labor Costs and ComplicationsEddie rails against the millennial elves–their lack of motivation, lack of skills. It’s shameful. This is complicated by the fact that construction workers at the South Pole are able to work outdoors for only 15 minutes at a time due to the extreme cold. We discuss what infrastructure employee-relations efforts would be needed for the elves to work through the 110-day outdoor construction season. 14:20 - Materials and TransportationAgain using the Amundsen-Scott Research Center as a guide, we discuss what it would take to ship all of the construction materials needed. 25 million pounds of cargo was hauled to the build site at 26,000 pounds per trip over 12 seasons on an Air Force LC130 plane.20:52 - Other Facts about Antarctica and Amundsen-Scott South Pole StationWe review some political facts about Antarctica as well as the research done there. This research includes glaciology, geophysics and seismology, ocean and climate systems, astrophysics, astronomy, and biology. We discuss the complications of hiring people to work in an extreme environment like this. The structure is mounted on 32 vertical columns that are each six feet into the snow and designed to be able to be added to as the snow pack increases. These columns are mounted on a floating footing made of 2x12 members boxed with ¾” plywood.If you’re interested in learning more about real South Pole structures, explore these links: The B1M video Eddie mentioned about construction in AntarcticaA video of Jerry Marty, NSF project manager, discussing the construction of the Amundsen-Scott Research Center.The official NSF siteA 3-part Tour of the Facility (Link is to part 1)NatGeo video about construction at the South PoleArticle about Antarctic buildings and basesCheck out the partners that make our show possible.Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - TikTok - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedInIf you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening

Yes, you’ve probably heard this story before. It’s one that’s worth hearing again. Here’s a link to the text in case you’re interested in following along or reading it again later.Merry Christmas, everyone. Check out the partners that make our show possible. Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - TikTok - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedInIf you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening!

We open today with a discussion about the latest epidemic in the US. Yes, we’re talking about the epidemic of pickleball-related injuries. Here’s the story in Bloomberg.   Then we move on to a topic that John Roach brought to Eddie’s attention recently. It’s all about architects and the pricing of their services.    It all goes back to the Sherman Anti-trust Act, which was enacted in 1890 to address the problem of monopolies.    In the 1860s, Richard Morris Hunt sued a client who failed to pay his 5% fee. In doing so, he unknowingly set 5% as the industry standard for architect fees.   By the 1950s, the AIA had formalized a somewhat complicated fee structure for various architectural services.      In the late 1960s, concerns arose that this fee structure was a form of price fixing. The Justice Department investigated and found that it did, indeed, violate the Sherman Anti-trust Act. In 1972, they issued a “consent decree,” which amounted to a settlement that outlined how the AIA could and could not behave going forward. (If you’d like to geek out on details, go here.).    Here’s the 2022 AIA compliance guide.    After reviewing this history, we discuss the complications of defining the scope of an architect’s work and getting clarity on that when it comes to the architect’s fees. It can become a race to the bottom. These complications have affected the way that contractors relate to owners and designers.    We compare these patterns to the patterns within fees for engineering services.    The question all of this leads to is this: “How do we argue for spending more money on design when it’s hard to know what I’m buying?”   We discuss the challenge of bank loans based on permit designs, as well as owners who don’t know how complicated the design process is.    Tyler really wants a Ford Raptor… What does that have to do with architecture fees? Well, when you buy a truck, you know what options you’re paying for and how they affect the price. Eddie explains that he’d like to see that kind of manufacturing mindset influence the designing and bidding process in construction.    We ponder the F1 price cap as an analogy for how things could play out if people were to spend more money on design.   Our Megaphone Message: Define value. Then buy value. Buy more design. Work with your lender and explain that this project can be much more successful if more money is invested in design. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.   Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn If you enjoy the podcast, please rate us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us! Thanks for listening!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to 5 Minute Friday! Where we tell you our best tips and tricks to help you and your team get a little bit better every single week. This week we are going over 3 Tips for Engineers!Call a subcontractor and schedule a field trip, put your hands on it and learn how to build. Be more than a button-pushing analyzer. It’s probably why you started in the industry anyway.Stop putting “See Arch” on your contract drawings. Try your dangdest before you do this to make sure you have done your due diligence and have tried to get this scope coordinated.Stay humble.Special thanks to our sponsor Trimble ProjectSight! -https://projectsight.trimble.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.