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Writer's pictureDaniel Keegan

An Ode to American Construction


As we prepare to celebrate Labor Day and honor our workforce, we thought it would be a good time to pay tribute to the pivotal role that the construction industry has played in shaping our society and invigorating the American spirit. Throughout our history, construction has continuously reshaped how we operate and transformed the way we live. Construction projects have consistently provided new opportunities to millions of people across America. Below we highlight a few of the most significant and transformative construction feats in American history.

 

The Empire State Building

The groundbreaking of what would become the world’s tallest building, the first to reach 100+ stories, began on March 17, 1930, just over a year into the Great Depression. The first steel columns were erected 21 days later, and construction was completed in just 1 year and 45 days, ready for tenant occupancy. The blistering pace saw 4-1/2 stories of framework added per week, with the building being delivered a month ahead of schedule by construction firm Starrett Brothers & Eken, Inc.

 

Building materials for the project included 10,000 tons of plaster, 57,000 tons of steel, 62,000 cubic yards of concrete, 200,000 cubic feet of limestone, 310,000 square feet of marble, and 10 million bricks. Manpower peaked at 3,400 workers, with total labor hours exceeding 7 million. The construction of the Empire State Building remains the fastest to date for a project of its size. An incredible feat in American construction.

 

Erie Canal

There is perhaps no construction project in our history that better embodies the American values of innovation, hard work, bravery, teamwork, persistence, and leadership than the building of the Erie Canal. Breaking ground on July 4, 1817, 41 years after our founding, the Erie Canal would solidify New York City as the nation’s most important seaport and would open the interior of the US to settlement and industry while strengthening economic and social ties. Over the next 8 years, thousands of laborers would build through thick wilderness, swamp, large untamed rivers, and stubborn rock to create the 363-mile-long canal stretching from Albany to Buffalo.

 

The canal would be the first major infrastructure project in American history and was, astonishingly, led by a team of land surveyors turned self-taught engineers. There were no engineering schools in the US at that time, though the building of the canal would prompt several schools to create such programs. The team managed to navigate the difficulties along the route, including over 500 feet of elevation change, by creating 83 different locks to lift and lower boats.

 

Built prior to the invention of heavy machinery, workers used shovels, pickaxes, horses, and oxen to navigate the difficult terrain. The construction also saw the invention of new tools such as a crank driven tree feller, a giant stump remover, and the modern-day wheelbarrow, known as “Brainard’s Barrow”. Construction was aided significantly when one engineer discovered a way to create cement that hardened under water, avoiding the need to import from Europe. The original canal was built 40’ wide by 4’ deep but has since been modified on numerous occasions throughout the route, now stretching 70’ wide at the surface.

 

Construction would be complete in 1825, two years ahead of schedule. To this day, the canal remains a testament to the hard work and ingenuity of the American character and stands as one of the most impressive accomplishments in American construction.

 

The Golden Gate Bridge

Construction of what would become the world’s longest suspension bridge began in January of 1933. While the idea for a bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County had been around for decades, it wasn’t until locally based Bank of America agreed to fund the project that the vision became a reality, with hopes that the construction project would energize the local economy that was struggling during the Great Depression.

 

The initial contract was around $25 million, with final costs coming in at $35 million, the equivalent of $523 million in today’s dollars. The project raised the bar for job-site safety, as it was one of the first construction projects to require all workers to wear hard hats. Additionally, all workers wore respirator masks to combat lead fumes, hand and face cream to protect against strong winds, and glare free goggles to prevent “snow blindness” from the sun reflecting off the water. The management team provided on-site field hospitals to attend to injuries and there was also a net placed under the bridge, which saved 19 lives during construction.

 

There were three main aspects to building the bridge: the steel towers and concrete anchors, raising the main cables, and dropping the vertical cables. The main cables were 3’ in diameter and consisted of 27,000 pieces twisted together. In all, the length of wire used on the bridge is enough to span the Earth almost 8 times.

 

Upon completion, the Golden Gate Bridge would immediately become an icon of American innovation and determination and would serve as another step forward in the American construction landscape.

 

At Rock Spring, we strive to uphold the values that have brought the construction industry in America to where it is today. We approach every job with the mindset that hard work, forward thinking, and collaboration will lead to a successful project. From management to on-site labor to safety, we seek to set the standard in our field. We’d like to wish all of our hard working employees and our industry partners a happy and restful labor day. We appreciate everything you do!

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