I have just received the latest copy of the Construction Metrication
Newsletter (Q1 2001) and, as always, it contains some great information.
The lead article addresses the renovation of the Pentagon, now in
progress. The project had originally been laid out to renovate one
"wedge" at a time, but the remaining wedges (2 through 5) will be let on
one contract. Review of work on "wedge 1" included many considerations,
including whether or not to remove the "metric only" requirement for
this work. This was brought up since
"...there had been complaints by some subcontractors
that metrication had caused product supply problems
in the earlier work. Upon examination, however, the
only significant problem that could be documented was
associated with the procurement of recessed lighting,
and it had been resolved several years earlier."
A thorough study was done to compare real versus perceived costs for
doing the job metrically and the decision was made to continue using the
metric system for the rest of the renovation.
The article continues with
"In recent meetings with the three short-listed
design-build teams for Wedges 2 through 5, metric
usage was accepted without question. If this is any
indication of the attitude toward metrication by the
country's leading design and construction firms,
metric usage will continue to receive industry
support nationally as well as for the 603,870 square
meters of the Pentagon renovation."
Well done! My compliments and respects to the people who made this
decision -- apparently the Department of Defense and possibly the GSA.
And copious thanks for this timely report to NIBS/CMC.
For desert, the Newsletter offers up this morsel:
Metric construction worldwide $2.6 billion
Nonmetric construction worldwide $0.8 billion
[source, ENR, 2000 December 04.]
Jim Frysinger
--
Metric Methods(SM) "Don't be late to metricate!"
James R. Frysinger, CAMS http://www.metricmethods.com/
10 Captiva Row e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Charleston, SC 29407 phone/FAX: 843.225.6789
