How Did Transportation Change During the Industrial Revolution

It could be argued that there are parallels between what has happened in manufacturing and what is happening in the construction industry today; that the construction industry is increasingly becoming like manufacturing as it adopts production techniques from manufacturing and starts to apply them to construction and infrastructure projects.

Discuss how valid this argument is, backing up your argument with examples of practice and how this is informed by technology of both what we build and how we design and build it.

It is within our human nature to always want to improve, better what is said to be the ultimate, and defy the odds of the impossible. Innovation is brought around by an impulse described by the late Albert Einstein “If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” This quote describes the thought of man and the want to innovate. Man's desire to rise above the ordinary and innovate has rolled out into all aspects of life, generating parallels that have passed through generations and ultimately into the manufacturing and construction industry.

The processes that occur within the construction and manufacturing industries often evolve hand in hand. This occurs as the involution in one industry may result in new and improved processes within the other industry. The argument that the construction industry is increasingly becoming like manufacturing as it adopts production techniques from manufacturing and applies them to construction projects, is valid.

Parallels in manufacturing and construction.

From the construction of pyramids in ancient Egypt, new and improved construction techniques have risen from the innovations in the manufacturing process. The use of copper hand tools instead of wood and stone, improved the efficiency of making stone blocks, however, the copper was brittle due to the firing process, meaning the picks and chisels lost their shape quickly and needed to be reshaped. [Reshafim.org.il. (2019). Composition and development of ancient Egyptian tools.] Nevertheless, the efficiency of shaping the stone blocks improved, which allowed for the design and structural strength of pyramids to be pushed further than ever before. The same improvements can be seen throughout history in China, Greece, and Italy. Therefore, due to the innovation in the manufacturing process, the construction projects can be more ambitious and structurally sound.

During the first and second industrial revolutions, (1750-1830, 1870-1915) innovation ran wild. The end of the first Industrial Revolution brought about the end of many manual production methods and the new era of mechanization, along with the very first modern factories. This can be associated with the invention of the steam engine and from this, other mechanical equipment. [HISTORY. (2019). Industrial Revolution]

During the industrial revolution, the construction industry grew immensely. This growth is due to the vast amounts of investment and innovation in the manufacturing industry. The innovation in the construction industry brought new and improved building techniques. Many of the construction techniques hadn’t been changed since the Medieval times and thus, the new techniques allowed for the growth in the construction industry to be multiplied. Innovation bought new building materials and transport infrastructure.

The Industrial Revolution gave rise to building materials that enabled engineers to design and build buildings that would change infrastructure forever. Some of the most important materials were cement, cast, and wrought iron. In 1824 Joseph Aspdin patented the chemical process for making Portland cement. Portland cement was limited by low tensile strength, however, it had the properties to be used in many structural applications. The most important innovation the Industrial Revolution brought to the construction industry was the Ironworks. The ample supply of iron during the Industrial Revolution meant there was a big opportunity to experiment with cast and wrought iron in various building structures. In 1779, the first iron bridge was built across the Severn River in Coalbrookdale, and in 1976-97 the first iron frame factory was built in Shrewsbury, England [Science.jrank.org. (2019). Building Design/Architecture - The Industrial Revolution—new Materials.] The Louvre Museum in Paris was one of the pioneering structures that took iron use to a new level. The museum had an Iron roof structure. With the experimentation and use of iron structures, the foundations for building larger and more ambitious buildings were set. [En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Louvre.]

The last innovation that brought growth to the construction industry from the Industrial Revolution was the improved transportation infrastructure. Transportation methods and routes are the vital organ that allows for buildings to be built in different areas, away from where the building materials are kept. [Industrialrevolutionresearch.com. (2019). Industrial Revolution - Transportation.] The Darby’s iron bridge was considered the first prefabricated bridge. Its iron arches and ribs were pre-cast and transported to the site for fabrication. [La pause Science. (2019). History of Bridge Construction.]

The innovations in transportation, manufacturing, materials, and machinery are some of the various innovations brought about by the Industrial Revolution and are stated above. These are some of the innovations the manufacturing industry brought about which ultimately allowed for the parallel advancement of the construction industry.

Modern-day parallels between manufacturing and construction.

After the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing became more specialized. Manufacturing no longer had to occur in a single factory. Various roles such as design, manufacturing, and assembling could happen in different factories and facilities. Modern factories for a single company could be placed all over the globe, however, all parts make their way to a single assembly location. For example, ‘Airbus’. Airbus parts are built in France, Germany, China, and the United Kingdom. When the construction of the parts is completed, they are transported by train, plane, ship, and truck to their final assembly location in Toulouse France. [En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Airbus]

We see the same scheme of production in the modern construction industry. The construction industry refers to this production as off-site, pre-cast, or modular construction. The process of offsite production refers to the designing, planning, manufacturing, and assembly of the various building items in a location that isn’t the final fully fabricated location. This production scheme allows for the fast and efficient construction of permanent structures.

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Parallels between Green technology and Environmental law in construction and manufacturing

The construction and manufacturing industries are governed by the Environmental legislation. The Environmental legislation is changing to a greener footprint. The legislation is forcing companies that are considered un-environmentally friendly to take responsibility for their carbon footprint in manufacturing and for the pollution, their products are going to create. The products these companies make need to be developed responsibly, recyclable, and with consideration for the natural and social environment. An example of such legislation is the ‘energy act, Climate Change Act, and Air Quality Act.’ [Acts and regulations | Department of Environmental Affairs. 2019. Acts and regulations | Department of Environmental Affairs.]

Due to the depleted natural resources in our expanding world, governments sometimes implement tax exemptions and other benefits that encourage companies to follow and implement these acts.

An innovation that would benefit both industries would be photovoltaic cells. The construction industry can use the technology in their new buildings. The panels will allow for greener, more efficient buildings that can operate being partially or completely off the national power grid. Manufacturing companies can use this technology to power their manufacturing line without having to worry about load shedding, with the added benefit of a reduced electricity bill at month's end. Both industries could fit a catalytic converter to all their diesel or petrol-powered machines. A catalytic converter is used to convert toxic pollution from the engines into less toxic pollution, thus having a smaller effect on the environment.

Modern and Future parallels of the construction and manufacturing industry

The fourth industrial revolution is the fourth major change in industrial works from the initial industrial revolution. The fourth industrial revolution is described as a range of technologies that are fusing the physical and digital worlds, and impacting all disciplines, economies, and industries.’

The fourth industrial revolution innovation had been called the second machine age and has impacted manufacturers in the late 1980’s. the revolution has brought about an emerging breakthrough in technology, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing, and artificial intelligence.

As seen in the previous industrial revolutions, once the technology has been manufactured, or the manufacturing industry can use the technology in production, it filters through to the other industries including the construction industry. Many digital and automated machinery parallels are boosted by innovation within the construction and manufacturing industries.

With the innovation bringing about an exponential increase in the improvement and use of technology in the manufacturing and construction industry, the use of computer-aided design has begun. The computer-aided design models that are widely in use within these industries are CAD/CAE/CAM. The early aided design models have evolved in a couple of years from expensive room-sized supercomputers to off-the-shelf PCs. With the use of CAM, companies can run inexpensive and complex simulations of a product to optimize the final product. Different programs are used for the various industries. In construction we use ‘Autodesk Revit’ and ‘google sketchup’, these programs form a vital part in building performance analysis, comfort analysis, and final rendering. The manufacturing and design industries use ‘Autodesk Inventor’ and ‘Solidworks’ in the manufacturing design process. comfort analysis and final rendering.

The use of digital mechanization production is appealing to companies as it is labor and cost-efficient. With this form of production, you can produce items with absolute precision, therefore it is relied upon to be more accurate than labor. The construction and manufacturing industries have taken full advantage of digital manufacturing and have included the technology in many of their factories. The technology in use, allows these companies to reduce their production times throughout their assembly lines or construction projects.

The use of brick and block-making machines has become very popular on small to medium-sized construction sites. In South Africa they are sometimes used on sites to eliminate the typical brick delivery systems of transporting bricks and blocks to the location, they might also be used as they are unable to deliver the bricks due to bad road conditions or the lack thereof.

As technology continues to improve, the use of digital mechanization is going to increase. Technologies such as 3D printing and SAM (semi-automated Mason) construction robots will become more common. In China and Dubai, there are many successful 3D-printed structures. SAM robots are being used in America and Australia, they can decrease production times and do the work of six laborers a day. These robots can lay 3000 bricks per day by using a combination of conveyor belts and robotic arms (compared to a human builder at 500 bricks per day. [ Mail Online. (2019). Bricklaying robot that can build walls six times faster than humans.]

The construction and manufacturing industries for decades have mutually benefited from the innovation occurring within each other’s industries. Through all the technology and industrial revolutions, we find that innovation in one industry has a positive effect on the other. As one industry grows, so does the other. In conclusion, we find that there are parallels that exist strongly between the Manufacturing and construction industries. These parallels will only become stronger as technology continues to grow and the industries adapt to the newest innovations.

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