The bridge builder choice of California Democrats...The Cracks in China's Shiny Buildings.

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-27/the-cracks-in-chinas-
shiny-buildings#r=rss

On a Saturday morning in September, prospective homebuyers thronged the
sales office for Fun City, a community of high-rises under construction on
Beijing�s outskirts. Whether the buildings will still be standing a half-
century from now is anybody�s guess. In July, massive flooding raised
questions about the fitness of this low-lying stretch of land for dense
development. Local media reported that properties adjacent to Fun City
experienced water-logged basements, while parts of the nearby G-4
superhighway were submerged. At least 77 people died�many of them drowned
in their cars�in part because of inadequate or clogged drainage systems.

Nearly every month brings news of an infrastructure failure, dramatic or
mundane. In August a new $300 million eight-lane suspension bridge in
Harbin collapsed, sending four trucks tumbling and leaving three dead. In
2009 a nearly completed building in Shanghai toppled like a domino because
its foundation was inadequate. The U.K.�s Telegraph reported that within
months of opening last year, the $210 million Guangzhou Opera House began
to shed its glass window panels and developed large cracks in its ceiling.
Last year writer Evan Osnos chronicled on his New Yorker blog the
premature decline of his courtyard house: �When the rainy season hit
Beijing, our house began to show its age. About four years old, to be
precise.�

All of this is at odds with the image overseas of China winning the
�infrastructure race,� as the headline of an Aug. 24 online story from
Foreign Policy put it. China�s structural woes stem in part from the
government�s focus on quantity of growth over quality. The idea is to
employ as many workers as possible. Wang Mengshu, deputy chief engineer at
China Railway Tunnel Group, says that rather than use advanced technology
to carve out railroad tunnels, the group often prefers to hire millions of
pairs of hands �to solve the national employment problem.�

Officials admit there are challenges. At a forum on green building in
2010, Deputy Minister of Construction Qiu Baoxing said, �Every year, new
buildings in China total up to 2 billion square meters and use up to 40
percent of the world�s cement and steel, but our buildings can only stand
25 to 30 years on average.� U.S. commercial buildings are expected to
stand for 70 to 75 years, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

For residential and commercial developments, architectural design and
construction phases are typically allotted half the time as in the U.S.,
says Beijing-based landscape architect Paul Maksy. �With such a rapid pace
of construction, there�s often relatively little monitoring of standards,�
says Stephen Hammer, a lecturer in energy planning at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology who has worked in China.

Poor materials can cause problems: The collapse of school buildings in the
wake of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake was due in part to the use of low-
quality cement, resulting in so-called tofu buildings. �When cement is
mixed inadequately or when other materials are mixed in, it�s not very
strong, so any major storm or stress on a building could make it fall
down,� says Francis Cheung, author of brokerage firm CLSA�s 2012 report,
China�s Infrastructure Bubble. In 2011 the government issued guidelines on
materials. �There is a movement toward compliance with international
building codes and standards,� says MIT�s Hammer. �But implementation and
oversight remain extremely variable.�

Cutting corners won�t be a sound long-term economic strategy for China if
its buildings, bridges, and roads degrade rapidly and require fairly
frequent replacement. Says Patrick Chovanec, an associate professor at
Tsinghua University�s School of Economics and Management: �If you have an
asset that lasts for 20 or 30 years instead of twice as long, it has a
much shorter earning life before you have to refurbish or tear it down.�
Robert Blohm, an economist and consultant for Keen Resources Asia in
Beijing, says China could get �stuck�: �Will China still be able to pay
for another round of infrastructure development�or will its cities become
landscapes of dilapidated buildings?� he asks.

For now, the cash spigot is open. In early September, China announced
plans to build more than 1,200 miles of roads, nine sewage-treatment
plants, five ports, and 25 subway and intercity rail projects. �In an
economic slowdown, the government has to take some countercyclical
measures,� Xu Lin, head of the planning department at the National
Development and Reform Commissions, told reporters.

The bottom line: Chinese buildings last 25 to 30 years, while U.S.
commercial buildings are expected to stand for 70 to 75 years.



--
Barack Obama, reelected by the dumbest voters in the history of the United
States of America.

Eric Holder, racist black murdering United States Attorney General, still
has his job.

Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact to
improper vetting of Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama, a confirmed
felon using SSAN 042-68-4425, belonging to a dead man.

Obama ignored the brutal killing of an American diplomat in Benghazi, then
relieved American military officers who attempted to prevent said murder
in order to cover up his own ineptness.

Obama continues his goal of disarming America while ObamaCare increases
insurance premiums 200% and leaves millions without health care.

Obama helped bankrupt Illinois. Democrat run Chicago closes 54 public
schools.

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