4 ms·

Didn't a load of workers die? In China they recently put up a skyscraper over three weeks -- admittedly one that was half the height.

mhb 11y ago
Wikipedia says five died. But that's why I mention this. Today, it is possible that no one would have died or been injured but the project would probably take ten times as long and cost ten times as much. Partly due to the modern infrastructure which seeks to minimize all risk. The additional time and expense devoted to safety isn't without it's own costs.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
  It's easy to say things like that when it's not your corpus eighty stories up in the air.
  - knodi123 11y ago
    Informed consent. Tell every corpus being lobbed eighty stories in the air what the risks are, and let them make their own decisions.
    - irremediable 11y ago
      Except, if building sites are allowed to do that, it could quickly become the norm for all building sites. Suddenly, for you to get any work at all, you have no choice.
- zeveb 11y ago
  > Today, it is possible that no one would have died or been injured but the project would probably take ten times as long and cost ten times as much. It took eleven years for One World Trade Center to exceed the height of the Empire State Building; it took over 13 years for it to open. Granted, it's a larger, more complex building—but still, that's a remarkably long time. Human life simply isn't priceless: it's obviously not worth $1 trillion to save a random person. Nor is it worthless: it's obviously worth 50¢ to save almost anyone. Somewhere in between, there's an economic balance. I recall reading that from numerous estimates of the value that people place on their own lives (through insurance purchases, risk ratios when pursuing various activities &c.) that we tend to value our lives at about $1.5-2 million. A safety regulation which costs significantly more than that to save one life is, quite literally, not worth it.
  - 7Z7 11y ago
    >it's obviously worth 50¢ to save almost anyone almost?
    - sbierwagen 11y ago
      Some individuals have negative value.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - Retric 11y ago
    > it took over 13 years for it to open. Construction began on One world trade Center in 2006 add 13 years and that's 2019. Construction of below-ground utility relocations, footings, and foundations for the new building began on April 27, 2006 On May 10, 2013, the final component of the skyscraper's spire was installed, making the building, including its spire, reach a total height of 1,776 feet (541 m). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_World_Trade_Center#Planning_and_early_development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_World_Trade_Center#Plannin... PS: Now, if you want to start the clock from the first idea we might want a new building (Sept 11, 2001) then the Empire State Building also took a lot longer than 1.5 years.

mhb 11y ago

Wikipedia says five died. But that's why I mention this. Today, it is possible that no one would have died or been injured but the project would probably take ten times as long and cost ten times as much. Partly due to the modern infrastructure which seeks to minimize all risk. The additional time and expense devoted to safety isn't without it's own costs.

GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
It's easy to say things like that when it's not your corpus eighty stories up in the air.
- knodi123 11y ago
  Informed consent. Tell every corpus being lobbed eighty stories in the air what the risks are, and let them make their own decisions.
  - irremediable 11y ago
    Except, if building sites are allowed to do that, it could quickly become the norm for all building sites. Suddenly, for you to get any work at all, you have no choice.
zeveb 11y ago
> Today, it is possible that no one would have died or been injured but the project would probably take ten times as long and cost ten times as much. It took eleven years for One World Trade Center to exceed the height of the Empire State Building; it took over 13 years for it to open. Granted, it's a larger, more complex building—but still, that's a remarkably long time. Human life simply isn't priceless: it's obviously not worth $1 trillion to save a random person. Nor is it worthless: it's obviously worth 50¢ to save almost anyone. Somewhere in between, there's an economic balance. I recall reading that from numerous estimates of the value that people place on their own lives (through insurance purchases, risk ratios when pursuing various activities &c.) that we tend to value our lives at about $1.5-2 million. A safety regulation which costs significantly more than that to save one life is, quite literally, not worth it.
- 7Z7 11y ago
  >it's obviously worth 50¢ to save almost anyone almost?
  - sbierwagen 11y ago
    Some individuals have negative value.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- Retric 11y ago
  > it took over 13 years for it to open. Construction began on One world trade Center in 2006 add 13 years and that's 2019. Construction of below-ground utility relocations, footings, and foundations for the new building began on April 27, 2006 On May 10, 2013, the final component of the skyscraper's spire was installed, making the building, including its spire, reach a total height of 1,776 feet (541 m). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_World_Trade_Center#Planning_and_early_development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_World_Trade_Center#Plannin... PS: Now, if you want to start the clock from the first idea we might want a new building (Sept 11, 2001) then the Empire State Building also took a lot longer than 1.5 years.