What was construction like in the 1950s?
(Today’s episode is a re-air from 2021, chosen in recognition of Father’s Day.)
It's time for some coffee with a splash of multi-generational wisdom.
Joining us today are our dad and our grandpa, aka “Pop.” These two bring a deep, wide reservoir of experience.
Pop started with Messer Construction all the way back in 1954, in part of a college co-op program. He moved on to the position of project manager and eventually senior project executive. As he tells us, though, he was just interested in building buildings.
Among the larger projects Pop worked on are Millett Hall at the University of Miami in Ohio and Sander Hall at the University of Cincinnati. (Here’s the video he mentions of the Sander Hall demolition.)
Dad started in construction the day after his last high school baseball game. In 1980, he moved his young family to Florida. A while later he Dad started ABSI and ran it until Eddie took over recently.
Pop talks us through the specs for the Millet Hall at the University of Miami in Ohio. The basketball arena was in this building, and also classrooms. This project took two and a half years.
Millett Hall was built on the site of an old golf course. Pop talks us through additional specs, including truss assemblies, 150-ton cranes, and a project-management staff much smaller than what we see these days.
RFIs? Well, there were none. If there was a question, the relevant parties talked on the phone. Monthly meetings also helped head off problems.
Distance between architects and engineers–there was almost none. They were partners.
Dad shares about how things had changed by the 70s and 80s. He witnessed the change from self-performing to bid-build. Subbing had begun on some of Pop’s jobs in the late 60s but hadn’t really taken hold until the late 70s.
As this change took place, the burden of liability began to blur. The change was propelled, however, by the need to keep specialty crews busy.
We discuss the training required for project management. Pop learned by doing, so he had a headstart on managers coming out of college with only classroom experience.
Pop shares about his bold prediction that he’d move from newbie to superintendent in five years, even though the company owner said it usually took 15. Pop proved him wrong, after establishing a reputation with other decision-makers.
We discuss mindset. Eddie recalls Pop’s adage “Make it a winner.” Pop recalls working on over 150 jobs, and he says, “If you can’t enjoy what you’re doing, do something else.”
Dad shares about Pop coming home from building at work just to build more at home (after a quick “brown pop,” aka beer).
Dad and Eddie discuss tensions between architects, engineers, and designers turning into trust built over time.
We discuss the fabric of expertise and insight that grows with generational experience.
Dad’s megaphone message: Most of the mess in the industry can be traced back to design. We’re so specialized that nobody knows anything about anything. We’re too fragmented.
Pop’s megaphone message: Family matters most. If you can take that family mindset into the workplace, it will make all the difference.
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