JW Powell and Wallace Stegner

"Beyond the Hundredth Meridian" is a biography on legendary John Wesley Powell (also, Wiki link) by the legendary Wallace Stegner (also, Wiki link). A must read book, has some paragraphs, where Stegner quotes Powell; and is pretty relevant why an ordinary construction workman’s life could be as important.

As following –

By the division of labor men have become interdependent, so that every man works for some other man. To the extent that culture has progressed beyond the plane occupied by the brute, man has ceased to work directly for himself and come to work directly for others and indirectly for himself. He struggles directly to benefit others, that he may indirectly but ultimately benefit himself. This principle of political economy ... must be fully appreciated before we can thoroughly understand the vast extent to which interdependence has been established. For the glasses which I wear, mines were worked in California, and railroads constructed across the continent to transport the product of those mines to the manufactories in the East. For the bits of steel on the bow, mines were worked in Michigan, smelting- works were erected in Chicago ... Merchant houses and banking houses were rendered necessary. Many men were employed in producing and bringing that little instrument to me. As I sit in my library to read a book, I open the pages with a paper cutter, the ivory of which was obtained through the employment of a tribe of African elephant hunters. The paper on which my book is printed was made of the rags saved by the beggars of Italy. A watchman stands on guard in Hoosac Tunnel that I may some time ride through it in safety. If all the men who have worked for me, directly and indirectly, for the past ten years, and who are now scattered through the four quarters of the earth, were marshaled on the plain outside of the city, organized and equipped for war, I could march to the proudest capital of the world and the armies of Europe could not withstand me. I am the master of all the world. But during all my life I have worked for other men, and thus I am every man's servant ; so are we all — servants to many masters and masters of many servants. It is thus that men are gradually becoming organized into one vast body-politic, every one is striving to serve his fellow-man and all working for the common welfare. Thus the enmity of man to man is appeased, and men live and labor for one another ; individualism is transmuted into socialism, egoism into altruism, and man is lifted above the brute to an immeasurable height...

After this note, Wallace categorically states –

He (JW Powell) did man more honor than he deserved. Not everyone was yet willing, at least in 1878, to work for the common welfare or even agree what the common welfare was. Not everybody in the west, not everybody in congress.

Balco Structural collapse

What possibly can an Indian and Chinese collaboration in construction sector achieve? Since, there just are too many of us, sometimes wonders and sometimes a large number of dead.

This time the news of forty nine dead and Chinese being chased at the Indian airports on TV screens or newspapers did not bother me. Not because the reports were small in length but that I have now become complacent with these accidents becoming a routine.

Majority of dead in this Balco Power plant 23rd Sept 2009 collapse which happened in Korba, Chhattisgarh, India; were from the central and eastern belt of India i.e. Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states.

Media reports after ten odd days give some consolidated picture. As following:

1. Either poor quality or extreme wind is the most likely cause of collapse.
2. A police report has been launched against the management of the companies and they are being questioned.
3. Bihar and Jharkhand state governments each have announced compensations of One lakh rupees per dead head. The company, 5 lakh.

But as an engineer what one can ask is, and what remains is:

1. What were the general procedures set up for safety at site?
2. Did the ‘Construction Method Statement’ (a document which details out the erection work procedure) for a specialist construction like this mentions risks and safety features?
3. Who assumes responsibilities for the above?
4. Will the causes of collapse be examined by a technical committee, will there be some lessons, and will it be put on public domain?
   

As a common man all I can now ask for is some clarity with the compensation.

A song must come in between

Woody Guthrie was an American musician, who in the earlier part of last century extensively travelled his country. Some glorify him that he took trains without ticket and some argue him being a lefty. Whatever, Woody does has lots of beautiful songs which bring into limelight the conditions of working people in the then America. ‘The Great Grand Coulee’ – is one such song. Now the contention here is that Woody was paid some good fee and comforts of a limousine to glorify these big structures along the Columbia basin as well as building the resources that America needed for the coming big war. Result - some mighty fine lines. The YouTube link does not has the original song, but this attached video has his son Arlo (Woodstock 69 fame), probably half a century later. Have a read at the lyrics too.

‘Great Grand Coulee Dam’ - An amazing example where one artist is glorified by the other.



Well the world owns seven wonders as the travelers always tell.
Some gardens and some towers, I guess you know them well.
But now the greatest wonder is in Uncle Sam's fair land.
That King Columbia River and the great Grand Coulee Dam.

She come up the Canadian Rockies where the crystal waters glide,
Comes a-roaring down the canyon to meet that salty tide
From the great Pacific Ocean to where the sun sets in the west,
That big Grand Coulee country in that land I love the best.

Oh Uncle Sam took up the notion in the year of thirty three,
For the factory and the farmer and for all of you and me.
He said: roll it on Columbia, you can roll out to the sea
But river, while you're rolling you can do some work for me.

In the misty glitter of that wild and windward spray,
Men have fought the pounding waters and met a watery grave.
Once she tore men's boats to splinters but she gave men dreams to dream,
That day that Grand Coulee dam went across that wild and restless stream.

Now from Washington and Oregon you can hear them factories a-hum,
Making corn and making manganese and light aluminum.
Always a flying fortress to blast for Uncle Sam,
That King Columbia river and the great Grand Coulee dam.

Well the world owns seven wonders as the travelers always tell.
Some gardens and some towers, I guess you know them well.
But now the greatest wonder is in Uncle Sam's fair land.
That King Columbia river and the great Grand Coulee Dam.

Woody Guthrie

The border road builders

As we read this in the comforts of our chair, somewhere outside in the extreme and isolated Indian side of the Himalayas there are two kinds of people working day and night to ensure its continuous accessibility.

Working for the BRO (Border Roads Organisation) - an engineering entity - this insurgency infested and naturally hazardous terrain has experts and soldiers deputed from the Indian Army and the GREF (General Reserve Engineer Force). This Wikipedia link would tell more. Their perpetual task - maintenance and construction of roads, bridges, communication towers, electricity and other structures.

Dodging the more than frequent landslides, which happen anywhere anytime, these men in service to their nation work along with the another unsung and lesser appreciated group – the temporarily contracted labourers from eastern part of tribal Jharkhand, Nepal, and the local Mistris (artisans). Google search many a times will yield interesting information on the issues related to these workers; one such link is here. Also, I am sure, through the huge Google there will be a buried page on adolescent labour which either goes unnoticed, or may I allege, deliberately ignored. Otherwise, the labour scene along these border roads is lesser pitiful if one wants to compare it with the South Asians in the Middle East. In their own country, these men at least have an air of freedom and a larger ownership.

BRO has to protect the country’s borders, which its men will at any cost; even if they are badly under resourced. The job, evidently tough, is always done because the stake and spirits both are high. Serious thoughts are needed, which basically for starters, is only a matter of equipping these two groups of men with better technologies; one- to build better performing structures and second, to beat the cold.

Until then, these BRO creative road signs on these border roads, basically safety messages (link to a travel blog, by painted stork), inspired by the present life saviors rum or whiskey get undeniably witty.

Where is the mason gone?

Surya has a well established practice in Ahmedabad, and amongst many interesting architecture he has done in his over a couple decade practice from here, strongly believes in (and has executed) load bearing masonry structures which go as much as five stories high.

He (like me) is bemused that why most constructers are into believing that in such mid height buildings, concrete with steel inside will be the strongest of all? Why is the skill with masonry, abundant a plenty in this country not trusted? Well, it is just a muse, and leaving apart the sustainability benefits of masonry is about the mason. Instead of utilizing the Masons skill, what we now do is give the masonry mason two concrete pillars reinforced, and tell him to do whatever he wants to in between them; which will eventually be plastered - in turn killing him by killing his art.

Dipan (Mason Trainer series -1)

Since a while I have been pondering if on this blog, I could cover more of the real things happening in the field. So, writing a few lines on active people or organizations into capacity building works wouldn’t be all bad. Isnt it?.. And without much effort and almost zero cost, I found one. I start with one such guy, name - ‘Dipan’.

Dipan heads an Ahmedabad based NGO, SEP (Society for Environment Protection). One of the core activities conducted by them is of imparting training to the building masons/artisans in the Indian states of Gujarat and Tamilnadu.

Dipan was my undergraduate engineering batch-mate from the school and since then a great friend. Since, I know him since my juvenile ages, let me tell you where it all came from. The lack of quality in construction had concerned and excited him since the college days. Dedicated to his studies and extracurricular activities such as elected post to the academics secretary in senior years, Dipan was close to activism as well as quality engineering.

Now a professional training organization, Dipan’s SEP conducts 5 day training sessions for the skilled and 21 days module for the semi skilled masons. A training batch would include thirty masons, and the skills covered are of masonry, concreting, formwork and bar-bending. A training module in cost-effective technologies is soon on the cards. Conducting these mason training events with assistance or/and coordination from agencies like BMTPC, GSDMA, SWATI etc., SEP provides its own certificate to the attending masons, which the masons really value. But, Dipan echoes that a comprehensive workers certification system in India is the need of the hour, and it is extremely important that is introduced. So, a good quality practice can be ensured from the people involved in construction. This certification, which is not just a mere paper exercise, but regionally evaluated and nationally recognised.

I had asked him to quote some philosophical quote, which I could write when I write about him in my blog. He avoided an answer. So I asked him again, “okay, tell me, what do you think, has the house construction practice in India improved recently?”

To which he replied, “Yes, definitely a lot in the last few years, but still, there is miles to go!”

Here you go a philosophical quote from Dipan.

The ordinary site work

It seems, this man, the site labourer, is everywhere. He wins the competition (India got talent link) and he is the many who kills himself binging hooch (recent Gujarat tragedy). Seems, many of them, as evident from the numbers here, are looking only for some recreational activity in otherwise their strugglesome daily lives. As if, the job which they regularly do their whole day, which is building something, in other words creating something doesn’t entail any joy...