Plant Construction Factors
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INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
1953
eastenee of a large land area inhabited by relatively few people. The combined population of the four s t a k a barely m e a d s that of Philadelphia. E w the most densely populated state in the -00, Idaho, averagss only 7.1 persons per square mile, while the national average is 50.7. The largest city in the area is Albuquerque, with a papulation in 1950 of 96,815. The nwond largeat is Great Falls, MonCma, with only 39,214. Of the employed persons in the area, 22.6% are engaged in agriculture, compared with the national &WE of only 11.7%. On the other hand, 23.1 yoof the nation's labor force is engaged in manufacturing, compared with only 7.1% of the four-atate area. Plant construction factors aa they apply to the foucatate area, basically, are two in number-labor and materials.
AVAILABILITY OF LABOR The construction labor force, which accounts for 80/.'0f the has twoimportantc h a r a c ~ s t i c s : There total are relatipely few skilled eraftmen. The workers are , , , , 4 l y mobile. These basic characteristics, particularly the shortage of building skills, present number of problems for ,it industrial contractor. ~ l t h ~ & the local supply of ui,&lled labor is generally cient, a t least for present construction needs, the region's low level of.industrial activity has precluded any concentration of trainbd m p o w e r . In Wyoming, the least industrialized of the four states, COnEtNCtion 6 r m ~ frequently import craftsmen from Denver and Salt Lake City, and may even p 8 8 far as the Psdic Coast to obtain special skills. Before recruitiug outside the area, however, contractors make every effort to secure local help. Two methods are frequently employed to attract good, experienced workmen: the attempt to hire the most widely followed general foreman in each craft, and a work -k of at least 48 hours, whichis attractivetoveteran construction men seeking long hours to boost their incomes. Greater industrial activity in the Mountain States would undoubtedly p2omote a marked incr-e in construction know-how. One building 6rm reports that when it undertook its first re&ery contract in the Salt Lake ares, most of the craftsmen were unaccustomed to refinery practices and speaificationn. Some year& later, it found that the same craftamen had worked on several refinery jobs and consequently p" formed very well. The unusual mobility of the coustruction labor foree, its second distinguishing characteristic, is especially evident in northern Idaho, where there is considerable s h i f t i i of workers between the Coeur d'Alene area and eastem Wmhington; in southern Wyoming, where large groups of workers move back. and forth along an east-west axis on Highway 30; w d in New Mexico, where there is considerable migration in and out of the Albuquerque area.
This mobility is prompted by two factors. One is the Lack of concentrated areas of industrial COnEtNCtiOn. To keep busy the year around,
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craftamen must move from one big to anotber. A Beeond stimulus, the great seasonal variance of building activity, is p e r haps best illustrated in Montana, where construction employment in 1952 dronDed from a mak of 13.800 in July to 8500 in Dwember. Under average winter weather conditions, contractors operating in the Mountain States must discount outside production by 25 to 30%. If thk weather is unusually severe, outside job progress may be out in half. Consequently, it is desirable to start a project in the spring
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and have A discussion of labor availability should include a related consideration-the availability of housing at or near the job site. This is a formidableproblem in the mountain region, where projects are often far removed from the n-st large town. For example, when a major job was recently undertaken at Cut Bank, northern Montana, most of the workers bad t o live in Shelby, some 30 miles away. Trailer camps are frequently the most aatisfactory solution. If a project is more than 25 miles from the nearest town, it is sdvisable to establish a camp adjacent to the job Site. Under 25 miles, the camp is often set up near town where schoolsand stores are more convenient t o the worker and his family.
COSTANDPRODUCTIVITYOFLABOR
while the mountain region is a t a disadvantsge in 80 far 8s labor availability is concerned, its position is favorable with respect to labor costs and productivity. Figure 1 presents a comparison of building trades wage rates among 14 cities in the United States as of July 1,1952. The rate E ~ O W Uis an average of the rates for eleven baaic trades. The four states under discussion are represented by Helena, Boise, Santa Fe, and Westvaco. The wage diflereutial is alight among these cities, with a margin of only 11 cents between the highest, Helena, and the lowest, Westvaco. The averege is $2.26. All four Mountain States cities show rates snbstantially below the United States 14-cities average of $2.53. Only three of these cities-Houston, New Orleans, and Atlanta-have rates comparable to those in the mountain area. Labor productivity, particularly in the construction industry, is diffcult to measure with any degree of accuracy. Nevertheless, contractom operating on a nationwide basis have been able, through their experiences in each area, to draw one or two broad conclusions regarding productivity throughout the country. Fiwre 1. Avemgn Wao. Rat- in Building TradThey have discovered that there is little difference in pmJuly 1. 1062
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I N D U S T R I A L AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
ductivity among iiiost regions, although there are a fen- areas \There construction labor is considerably less productive than can normally be expected. In the region under discussion, productivity rates are equally favorable among Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. Labor in New Mexico is slightly less productive, but the variation is not sharp enough to be significant in cornpariboils of construction cost.
LABOR RELATIONS The industrial immaturity of the mountain region has hampered the growth of strong building trade organizations which characterize the older industrial sections of the country. Xeverbheless, labor relations are governed by similar basic principles. IVages, working conditions, fringe henzfits-all are established by labor agreements which are the result of negotiations betn-een contractors' associations and the various building trades. Llost craft agreements in the mountain region cover small local areas, although multistate agreements are not uncommon. Again, the factor of remote location produces the principal differences in labor-management relationships bet,n.een this region and the more industrialized areas. In the latter, t,he contractor will find centrally located union offices for all crafts. The men he hires will, for the most part,, be residents of the area and familiar with heavy construction work. More important, the sheer volume of industrial building act,ivity will have demanded solutions to jurisdictional problems among the various crafts. I n contrapt, the contractor engaged on a major project in a remote area of Wyoming will be dealing with union officials in as widely ssparsted localities as Salt, Lake City and Cheyenne. Much of his labor force can be unfamiliar with industrial construction methods. Furthermore, jurisdiction problems are likely to be greater, as the various trades have seldom found it necessary t o define jurisdiction over such a wide area. An effective, though partial, solution to the problem present'ed by remote location is the project agreement, negotiated between the contractor arid union representatives prior to the conimencement of work. Its distinguishing feature is that it, is applicable ~, to only the one project. Consequently, questions of ~ a g . eJvorking conditions, subsistence, and travel allowances are resolved according t o conditions peculiar to the particukar job. In most cases the project agreement method has proved mutually satisfactory to labor and management. Another important factor affecting labor relations 111 remote areas is the qualit,y of project supervision. -4 seasoned job superintendent, backed up by a sound labor relations department, can be particularly effective in creating arid maintaining a healthy labor-management relationship. Top quality supervision is also essential to the success of an on-the-job training program for inexperienced craftsmen.
AVAILABILITY AND COST OF MATERIALS The import,ance of materials costs in an evaluation of plant construction factors is almost entirely dependent upon the proximity of basic materials. If a project is Ear removed from the principal sources of steel, lumber, and cement, the material cost problem is magnified through the addition of sizable shipping costs. Thus, plant construction in the Middle Atlantic region enjoys the significant advantage of local steel production, while the southern states are similarly favored with respect to lumber.
Vol. 45, No. 11
With the exception of these two basic materials, steel aiid lumber, practically all other important materials are distributrd very generally over the nation, offering no great advantage to any particular region. Cement, for example, is reasonably available in all four states under discussion. Montana has a cement plant near Three Forks, while much of Wyoming's needs are supplied by a plant a t Laramie. Idaho has two sources, a t Inkom, near Pocatello, and Lime, Ore., just over the western border. S e w Mexico obtains most of its cement from plants in Pueblo, El Paso, and Dallas. Lumber is readily available in Mont,ana, where forests eovm one fourth of the state, and in Idaho, with the world's 1a.rgest lumber mill a t Leniston. Although Wyoming has a large reserve of timber resources, most of its construction lumbei, is shipped from the Pacific Northwest. Pine and fir are availai~le in Kew Mexico, but are not sufficient t o fill demands. Coirsequently, much of the state's supply comes from the Pacific Co:ist. Because chemical plants require great quantities of steel, the region is a t a distinct disadvantage compared with most other areas. There is no steel production in any of the four states. Thus the region's entire needs must he fulfilled through imports, generally from the great producing centers in the East, hIitln-c.st, and Far West. The Geneva plant in nearby Utah has provitletl some relief, but can only partially- fulfill major project requii,ements. Material expediting activities are seriously handicapped by t4heregion's lack of heavy indust.ry. A recent chemical plaiit project in southmstern JJ-yoming serves to illustrate this point. The job v a s located a t JI-estvaro, on a rail spur midway bet\\-re11 Green River and Granger. As no industrial materials had becw shipped into this area, the contractor had to work out' commodiiy rat,es with rail and trucking representatives. Furthermore, the absence of a railroad agent at West'vaco meant' that all rail shipments had to be consolidated at Rock Springs, on the main transcontinental line, and then moved to the job site by peddler cars, which operated triweekly. Truck shipments were consolidated a t Salt Lake City into lots of 10,000 pounds or more for delivrry to the job site. Air transportat>ion is occasionally used, but presents serious problems unless the job is located near a major air terminal. For example, a project in the Pocatello area cannot be directly served by large transcontinental cargo planes, as they stop only a t the major terminals such as Salt Lake City. Consequently, air freight shipped transcontinentally- cannot be loaded into the smaller planes operating betlveen Salt Lake and Pocatello. The importance of prompt material deliveries cannot be overemphasized. Constant cont,a.ct should be maintained \vith rarrier representatives t,o prevent costly delays, part,icularlyin areas remote from normal transportation routes.
CONSTRUCTION METHODS While construction methods in the Mountain States are similar to those employed in other areas, climatic conditions dictatc. a minor difference in plant design. Equipment and facilitieq which are exposed in more temperate regions must be placed indoors, thereby creating sprrial problems-for example, piping erection is more difficult snd costl) because the piping must be contained in relatively small and congested areas. RECEIVED for revie\! April 13, 1963.
-1CCEPlED
J u n e 12, 1953.
