This crane is waiting to off load the last module of the medical office.
At the risk of losing all street cred, I shot a video of a medical building getting off loaded and set up. In my defense, I set out on this day to shoot videos of bees. Beth had called to say that she saw bees out front in the heather, bumblebees as well as honeybees. I wheeled out my bicycle, packed my cameras and headed over to her place. The weather had turned cool and there were no bees to be found. Rain was in the forecast for the next 7 days so I figured I’d better get back to working on my log hive. On my way home I see these construction guys staring in my direction. I roll up to them and ask, “You guys waiting for me?” The reply, “Nope, but we ARE waiting for that truck behind you.”
and there’s the truck hauling the last unit to be set up. I’m lucky…the weather is great and I have time to shoot a video. How cool is that?
For the next hour I was able to shoot video of the Modern Building Systems crew rigging the module, the crane lifting the module off the truck, and swinging it into position. I’ve got to say I was impressed at how everyone knew what to do…and they absolutely nailed the placement of that module. I know, I’ve got it on video, corner lined up to corner, perfectly!
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
It’s amazing what can be done, mind you its just as amazing that these buildings stay together when you consider how they are built. The thin beams, steel brackets, plywood and nails.
Looking at their website, I noticed this company has been in business for over 40 years, so I’d be surprised if they weren’t rock solid. I think it’s great that they build the modules in a small town in Oregon (not China) and they hire people from the local area.
Tabitha Henricksen, Marketing Coordinator & Contract Admin. wrote this to clear up some possible misconceptions about modular construction.
I noticed on your blog that a few people had questions, but I didn’t want to address them without your permission. A pretty common misconception about modular construction is that the current modular buildings are the same quality as the modular homes from decades ago. We build only commercial modular construction & we do so to IBC (International Building Code) – though we often need to upgrade from there to meet the local commerical building codes for the end site of the structure or to make sure that our investment in the building is protected as it goes down the roadway & is craned or rolled into place. It is always better to do it right once than have to do it again.
Modular is a truly fascinating industry & there are so many things about it that people don’t realize or assume negatively, based on a bad past experience. No one thinks it odd to have cars built on a factory line. We all instinctively know that that this means less waste – both in product & man-power. Yet, there can be real resistance to constructing our homes, schools & offices in this method, despite the evidence that it’s not the method (factory building) that gave it a bad name in the first place – it was cutting corners when a company’s first concern should have been the end user & the quality of what they were delivering.
Thank you, Pat. Modern employs about 100 people and it’s something that the two brothers/owners are particularly proud of. Our website is just ModernBuildingSystems.com.
Your video has been flying around our office today! People are excited to see footage of themselves in action.
Talk about needing teamwork. You really have to trust your partners on those huge machines.
You never cease to amaze! A change from bees but absolutely fascinating. My husband and I were so impressed with that last shot of corner to corner. They really knew how to work together. Amelia
I was fascinated by the video, it was so great watching the expertise of the workers and your documentation of the process. It is a different species of worker bees constructing a different kind of “hive”. I can’t wait to see what you will discover next!
You are right, Mandalaone. I hadn’t thought about it that way, but in a way, everyone is performing a different type of job just like in a bee hive. 🙂
Agreed, Mandalone! When I emailed with SolarBeez, they mentioned that they really enjoyed watching any group work together. And I thought, ‘Yes! Another kind of worker bee.’ 🙂