Shift the Equation: Navigating the Labor Shortage

Navigating the labor shortage is challenging, but advancements in concrete technology are helping contractors gain more control over labor and production.

 

Contractors are maestros of the jobsite and masters of planning for flawless execution. But if you’re a contractor, you know that even the best plans can fall victim to faulty execution if you can’t orchestrate the right balance between time, labor and materials. If these elements fall  out of line and out of your control, it’s only a matter of time until your profitability spirals out  of your control as well. 

It’s no secret that the current labor shortage in the construction industry is wreaking havoc on contractors everywhere, and it’s not going away any time soon. The pain of the construction labor shortage is real, and it is well-documented: According to the Associated General  Contractors of America, 70 percent of contractors are struggling to find qualified workers to fill the current demand.1 An analysis performed by The National Association of  Homebuilders estimates that there were 250,000 unfilled construction jobs in the beginning of 2018, resulting in a failure to build enough single-family homes to keep up with demand.2  It’s not just hiring woes that are plaguing the industry, either. The effects of being short-staffed are obvious on budget sheets, project schedules and the inability to deliver great service  to customers. 

Material and Technology: Concrete Answers to Today’s Labor Shortage

As efforts to attract more workers to the construction industry gain traction, what can you do right now to counter the threats to your bottom line? Can you control the elements of  labor supply and demand? The obvious answer is no. Can you reduce labor threats by thinking about how innovation and materials can help you regain control over your resources? 

Many forward-thinking contractors are doing just that. Contractors who are trying more advanced, proprietary concrete mixes are getting high early strength on pours within hours instead of days. They’re distributing slab pours and fill forms without the vibration that traditional concrete formulations require. So much depends on  getting structures into service quickly and optimizing labor productivity especially when labor is not readily available.

 
 

The following case studies are just a few examples of how contractors are making the concrete choice to regain more control over the elements critical to project profitability and project success.

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    Achieve Aggressive Schedules and Financial Incentives with High-Early Strength Concrete

    Owners are sometimes willing to provide incentives to speed up construction schedules and motivate project teams. High-early strength concrete can help contractors achieve this goal. Harrah’s Casino called New Orleans Public Works with an emergency. The collapsed wall of an underground tunnel beneath Canal Street had been discovered. Soon, the failure caused a 600-square-foot sinkhole to open in the midst of this active, vibrant commercial corridor and tourist destination. General Contractor Hard Rock Construction won the contract to backfill the chasm and resurface the affected lane of traffic in the shortest amount of time possible. Public Works expected the $5 Million project to be completed within 180 days. Wanting the shortest possible turnaround, the City offered financial incentives for early completion. The Hard Rock team got innovative. Their solution was to build the new structural concrete support wall within the sinkhole, and Chronolia® High-Early Strength Concrete delivered the high early concrete strength required to place it rapidly. Chronolia allows contractors to optimize their labor, reduce the need for phasing, and remove formworks three to five times faster than standard concrete. The project completed in only 39 days at a cost of approximately $2.9 million.
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    Save Time by Eliminating Patching and Vibration

    The right self-consolidating concrete mix can eliminate labor-intensive steps and create a smooth finish on its own. Achieving that smooth, flawless look is labor-intensive. To prevent bugholes and other surface defects in the final product, the form has to be vibrated, literally shaking any bubbles out of the mixture as it cures. Precast manufacturers are just as short-staffed as general contractors are these days, but Agila® Self-Consolidating Concrete allows even these companies to do more with less. Atlantic Metrocast won the contract to cast concrete piles for a major mixed-use development in Washington, D.C. Not only would a traditional concrete formulation need constant vibration in order to minimize surface defects but achieving the required vibration would be a challenge. The reinforcement structure within the form was very congested, both complicating access to and within the form and potentially compromising the integrity of the final product. The solution was Agilia®, a highly fluid, advanced self-consolidating concrete that flows cohesively under its own weight. By using Agilia, the need for any vibration was eliminated. This advanced concrete mix prevents aggregate segregation and produces greater structural integrity than ordinary precast concrete mixes. Because Agilia is a better-flowing concrete, it yields a high-quality surface without the labor required in traditional applications. Agilia allows contractors and precasters to provide high-quality concrete work more quickly and profitably while also eliminating the need for a laborer to perform a routine task.
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    Cure Strength in Hours, and Avoid Unnecessary Phasing

    In Chaska, Minnesota, a busy gas station needed to re-pave two car lanes, and time was of the essence. Every hour a pump lane is closed at a gas station, an operator loses revenue. Contractor Truseal America opted to use Chronolia®, which allowed construction crews to turn over both lanes within just 24 hours. A standard high-early mix would have required seven days to cure and gain proper strength, resulting in a phased schedule—an inefficient use of both the contractor’s and the operator’s resources. Using this innovative concrete mix not only benefited the contractor by cutting down construction times, but also put money back into customer’s pocket by allowing them to reopen their business much faster than expected.
 

Looking Ahead

According to the Associated General Contractors of America, the labor situation in the construction industry is perilous, and it is only getting worse. Older workers are retiring, not only reducing the labor force in terms of number but also in terms of expertise. Less-experienced workers will be aggressively recruited into higher-level, more advanced tasks, further increasing the need for entry-level staff. While K-12 education shifts to meet this growing need, contractors need to fill the gaps today.

One way to solve a labor shortage is to become more efficient in other areas of your project, and innovations in construction materials are doing just that.  
To reduce the risk of delivering projects behind schedule or over budget, take a look at the research and development being produced by LafargeHolcim. Chronolia and Agila are just two concrete solutions that are allowing construction teams to be more efficient and optimize resources in new and exciting ways.

The concrete solutions developed by LafargeHolcim are rigorously tested by  some of the world’s most prominent experts, and its network of laboratories  create consistent, reliable formulas that help design and construction professionals build better.

 

 

 

Sources

1 “SEVENTY-PERCENT OF CONTRACTORS HAVE A HARD TIME FINDING QUALIFIED CRAFT WORKERS TO HIRE AMID GROWING CONSTRUCTION DEMAND, NATIONAL SURVEY FINDS.” Construction Data | Associated General Contractors, Associated General Contractors of America , 29 Aug. 2017, www.agc.org/news/2017/08/29/seventy-percent-contractors-have-hard-time-finding-qualified-craft-workers-hire-amid.

2 Parker, Chris. “What’s Holding Back New Home Construction? There’s No One to Build ‘Em!.” Realtor.com®, Realtor.com, 19 Apr. 2018, www.realtor.com/news/trends/construction-worker-shortage/.

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