Steel vs. Concrete Availability/Scheduling and Design
Sunday, February 12th, 2006 The material availability, construction scheduling factors, and design capabilities are compared between two premium building materials - steel and concrete.
There has recently been a shortage of cement, the primary bonding material in concrete, in many states. The South’s hurricanes have also resulted in greater demand and shorter supply. Shipping rates and the limited availability of transport ships has also impacted supply. The use of imported cement and higher shipping rate to supplement supply have resulted in higher costs and less availability. Smaller builder and contractor companies are most affected. The good news is that capacities are increasing with cement company expansion.
The expansion of the Chinese economy has been blamed for the lack of availability of steel recently. Many argue that there is in fact no shortage. They point to the adequate production capacity of steel to meet any construction growth in the near future.
The construction scheduling factor is also a consideration for both steel and concrete. Buildings utilizing concrete can go up fast. Some cast-in-place reinforced concrete buildings can rise one complete floor every other day. Developers can finish projects faster, earn profit, regenerate capital, and move to the next project quickly. Utilizing the popular “2 day cycle” up to 20,000 square feet of floor space can be poured every two days.
Steel provides many construction scheduling benefits of its own. The use of steel results in an accelerated