…doing a prehistoric refurb?
Aggregates company Lafarge recently became an unlikely participant in the restoration of an ancient Ice Age cave at Creswell Crags limestone gorge on the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire border, when it was asked by scientists to supply around 10 tonnes of crushed limestone backfill for the project. The previously unexcavated cave is considered highly significant as it is located beneath Church Hole, where Europe’s most northerly Ice Age cave art was discovered in 2003.
The crushed limestone was taken from nearby Whitwell Quarry, and used to backfill excavations as part of efforts to restore the cave as closely as possible to its original state. It certainly takes restoring the fabric of the past to a whole new level.
…getting some cool designer Swedish workwear?
Workwear manufacturer Blåkläder has used real Swedish construction workers in a new TV advert and press campaign called “Everyday Heroes”, featuring Sweden’s finest toiling on construction and roadworks projects.
Blåkläder says its garments are designed to provide “the ultimate protection to customers, the heroes who defy the weather and wind every day to make our lives safer and better”. Nice, but wait a minute, where are their hard hats? These guys wouldn’t pass muster on a UK site. But we’re pleased to note that their counterparts on the TV ad do appear to have mastered the basics of health and safety.
…giving your keyboard a wash?
When CM heard about the washable Logitech K310 computer keyboard, the collective reaction was “I could do with one of those” — and we’re not anywhere near a dirt-prone construction site. The keyboard is designed to be hand washed in water without damaging its life or effectiveness.
Manufactured by Logitech for Business, the keyboard features drainage holes at the back to speed drying and key characters are laser printed and UV coated to ensure that letters don’t fade in the wash. Apart from the USB cable, it can be submerged in up to 11 inches of water, which we think would be a very useful feature if you ever decide to take a bath with it.
…brushing up on construction details by studying animations?
That’s the idea behind a range of animated videos by Sustainable Building Solutions, part of the Travis Perkins Group, which offer instruction on building sustainable junction details using traditional building methods.
The four computer-modelled animations, available to view on the SBS website, feature technical solutions for installing windows, ground floor beam and block construction, intermediate floor installation and creating a non-habitable roof. Each junction has been thermally modelled by BRE and accredited by LABC. We found the action a little slow, so it’s probably not one to watch with the kids.
