The Construction Process

Abstract

There are several things that strike the eye of an American builder visiting Tokyo for the first time. The area surrounding a typical fenced in urban construction site is immaculate. Walk by very early in the morning and one can see a construction worker dressed in coveralls, wearing all of his safety equipment, including hard-hat with chin strap secured, picking up small pieces of paper and debris on the adjacent sidewalks, or near the roll-up entrance door to the construction site. Walk by the construction site late in the afternoon when activity is beginning to wind down and the large doors in the metal fence enclosure around the site are wide open. Truck drivers can be seen backing their vehicles into perfect alignment with each other off to the side of the main entrance aisle. Rows of construction materials and supplies are neatly stacked on pallets. More than likely, two or three laborers will be observed manning fire hoses and brooms as the concrete slab on grade acting as the staging area is being swept and washed down. A glimpse inside the time keeper’s shack reveals a row of fire extinguishers lined up as perfectly as West Point cadets.