…Launching a drone to monitor your site?
Sniffing out insurgents fortunately isn’t necessary on most construction projects, but accurate site mapping is, which is why aerial survey company Bluesky has introduced this “stealth” unmanned aerial vehicle for use on large scale sites. The craft has a one metre wingspan and uses technology originally developed by the military, including a guided autopilot, and a high-resolution camera to capture aerial photographs and 3D survey data. And before you ask, the drone is not able to carry out guided missile strikes on aberrant subcontractors.
…building a mile-high tower on London?
Well here’s an idea of what a 1,600m mega-tower might look like spanning the Thames in east London. The model was produced by the 250 New Towns Club, a discussion group of architects and academics who want to see the brakes taken off the housebuilding sector and more greenfield development. The model was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1956 vision for the Illinois tower, itself a semi-serious response to the problem of urban sprawl. The model was unveiled at the 80th birthday celebrations of the Building Centre in London last month.
…offering free driving lessons to apprentices?
Contractor FT Finley has enrolled two of its apprentices in a driving school scheme offered by Procure Plus, a consortium of housing providers in the north west, where FT Finley is one of the contractor partners. Bursaries provided by the framework’s builder’s merchant, Wolseley, will enable Stockport-based Ryan Bennett and Jake Trucca to each receive 20 hours of driving lessons, support for the theory test, plus funding towards the cost of the practical.The scheme is the first in a range of measures planned by Procure Plus to support the workforce, community and local economy. Bennett, a carpentry and joinery apprentice, said: “I have been offered an additional 12-month stay at FT Finley and the ability to drive one of their vans will make my time with them even more valuable for both the company and me.” And that’s reason enough for those wide smiles… isn’t it?
…investing in a new snagging app?
Fed up with at the cumbersome and time-consuming process of recording snags on site, EC Harris project manager Scott Eggleton teamed up with app developer James Crowson to create Snag List, an iphone app that allows users to record lists of defects, link them to photos taken using the phone’s camera and quickly generate a PDF to email to subcontractors.
“Although snagging-based apps are already available for the iPad, there is nothing for iPhone, which is much more practical for use on construction sites,” said Crowson. But the duo lack the ready cash to launch the app on Apple’s App Store, so they’re currently seeking backing via the crowd funding platform indiegogo.com. Invest $10 and they’ll send you a promo code to download the product for free, or take the plunge with $500 and they’ll offer you their eternal gratitude and take you out to dinner.
