I think this is workforce issue, more than anything. I have spoken to some companies who would like to build in SI units but the typical construction worker exiting our public school system is not qualified. The summary argument is that it is cheaper to convert the plans, than to pay to fix the mistakes made trying to build in metric units.
A related example, I am friends with a sand control engineer who works on oil rigs. It is an international company. They attempted to bring metric tankers to the US. The oil workers made so many mistakes on the rig that the company decided it was cheaper to build tankers for use only in the U.S than to correct all the errors... We must start to change the Education system or we will continue to produce a workforce ill-equipped to work in metric units. From: Kilopascal [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, May 2, 2013 8:52 PM To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: Thomas F. Eagleton Federal Courthouse: Most overbuilt in nation | ksdk.com http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/378267/3/Eagleton-Courthouse-Most-overbuilt -in-nation- A government report reveals the Thomas F. Eagleton Federal Courthouse in downtown St. Louis is the most over built courthouse in the nation. The building dominates the St. Louis skyline. At 557 feet, it is the tallest courthouse in the country and the first built using the metric system. The GAO didn't look at whether the government's use of the metric system is part of the problem when it comes to over-building Eagleton and the other courthouses.
