BiggerPockets

My prediction:

http://www.gizmodo.com/5304233/entire-new-13+story-building-tips-over-in-shanghai/gallery/1

It's amazing how fast stuff can be built when there are no unions involved.

Remember when that bridge in Japan was destroyed in the typhoon a few years back? They rebuilt it in five days. They are very industrius people.

But do you think they adhere to construction standards anything like ours here in the U.S.A.?

They (China) admit they are having problems with largest dam:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/world/asia/20gorges.html?_r=0

And will it join this list?
http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/photos/world-s-10-ugliest-buildings-slideshow/

But, I guess if you have massive numbers of people working 24/7, I guess you could do it. Crazy!

Like the pyramids.

The process will never translate to construction costs in the US unless a temporary worker visa is made into law that would allow us construction companies to pay a worker 5 dollars a day for a 12 hr shift. Even if such a law was passed, I don't see the Unions in NY letting that happen.

I also believe it is disingenuous to say that the building will be done in 90 days. How long to build the prefab parts? How long to finish the interiors so that the building is functional? How long to finish the flatwork and landscaping so that the approach to the building is functional? Is construction of the foundation included in that number?

I recently turned down a project in Malaysia and even with a large population that was looking for work the Malaysian contractors imported workers from Indonesia. They worked on site barefoot and their safety goal was to limit the deaths on the site. Their temporary barracks looked like something straight out of "Hell on Wheels."

It will be an amazing feat if they pull it off and prefabrication is definitely the future of construction, but I'm definitely skeptical.

Here is the biggest problem as I see it with a 90 day construction time. They will never have time to properly inspect every aspect of the structure. It will go up too fast to do that. This could never happen this fast here unless the inspectors were under the builders thumb or in his pocketbook. Here almost every bolt has to be inspected. I don't see that happening here with 5 floors being built a day. I know here the elevator guys cant even do an elevator that fast. And this one has 104 of them at high speeds.

But they will do it I am sure in 90 days anyway. The funny thing is that this was devised by an AC and heat company. I foresee a LOOOONNNNGGGG punch list on this one.