construction and work hours

I get up at or before 6 every day, including weekends, so I have no sympathy for you. Hahahaha.

Only kidding. That sucks.

 

On a related note, whose bright idea was it to do road work during commute time? The road isn't going anywhere, can't it be worked on late at night when no one is using it. The same applies to landscaping where they need to block a lane. Don't impede traffic during rush hour you jagoffs.

 

I work in construction and let me tell you, we love getting up at 4:00 am so that we can be on the job and working at 6:00 am. (We love waking up on weekends that early even more) What I love even more than that is when communities need construction done on something like, say a school, and then they put time constraints which force the contractor to work 10, 12 hours a day and sometimes 7 day weeks or else face stiff penalties. Then people get all pissy because we can't find a way to lift that 2 ton beam without making noise. You're right, damn those b*stard construction workers.

 

I understand what you're saying Htown, but my sympathies lie more with Surf. I live in an area that has lots of new houses being built in it and experience many of the frustrations mentioned in the original post. Worse, I live at 7400 feet, so many houses, mine included, don't have AC and depend on open windows to cool things down. I recognize the reverse beep is a safety issue, but if it can wake me up four blocks away, couldn't the volume be turned down a little? Also, near where I live they are having to pound rock to set up the area for foundation work. They start this at 6:00 am and work until about 10:00. Then work stops for a few days and you think they are done. Saturday morning comes around and they are back at it. I don't see why they couldn't do their four hours of work in the afternoon or just give me a few days of misery and complete the whole thing instead of drawing it out and having me on edge wondering when the next bout of pounding will jolt me out of bed.

 

The problem is balance. How do you balance the needs of the taxpayers (getting things done safely,inexpensively and quicly to spend less of their money), the construction companies (so they can meet their budget needs) and those effected by the construction (because of noise or traffic or whatever).

I mean, Surf, I understand, but what would you have them do? If they don't work from sun-up to sunset, the project drags on longer meaning higher costs to the taxpayers and a greater inconvenience to those directly effected by the construction.

I've had the fortune to watch how they put a few of these together just as an observer and it is not easy. The construction companies have to deal with rigid work and budgetary requirements. Taxpayers have to foot the bill. Residents of the area have to put up with the nuissance. Governments have to sort it all out.

There isn't an easy answer. I have a friend who works in Public Works and deals very often with the public on construction issues, particularly roads. He told me that they never ever hear from people thankful that the roads are smooth once they get them fixed. All they hear are complaints about the construction while they were fixing them.

It is all a balancing act.

 

hey, just think surf, when the construction is complete, the upgraded school will have room for even more screaming kids!!

 

I don't like the sound of leaf blowers at 7:00 every sat. either. Too bad you're not master of the universe. The question is always what does it cost? You can make job whisper quiet, but you have to pay. With public dollars, that's unacceptable. Most taxpayers aren't directly affected. I guess you have to get nudie photos of the project manager, or give the bid spec. author $ 10,000.00 at a topless bar.

 

those are normal construction hours.

it can be annoying, but everything has to get built. even your house was built, so its just one of those things

 

Regardless of how much "balancing" has to be done, it is completely unacceptable for construction work to be done where residents are so effected.

I manage construction projects (oil & gas facilities) all the time and we have work around constraints far more restricting than simply work hours.

I find it hard to believe that there are special circumstances that warrant an accelerated work schedule in this case, other than poor planning.

Jeff - sorry to say this about you buddy in public works, but road construction in Houston is deplorable. Simply put, it is the worst example of planning and execution I have ever seen. There may be contributing factors and special constraints, but there must be a better way to do it than what we have now. Some examples include:-
- Roads closed for construction for extremely long periods, with no work being done (i have seen at least two cases of roads closed for over 2 years!)
- Working and temporary road closures during peak hour (the mortal sin of any road construction)

 

I get up early so I don't mind. Heck if I was working in 100 degree heat everyday I would definetely start at 6 just to get an extra couple hours out of the sun.
I bought a home in a new development so I have dealt with it for awhile, luckily now most of the construction is done away from my house so I barely know they are around.

You may want to check your community noise codes, perhaps there are resrictions, but otherwise it's just a temporaty nuisance.