Saturday, September 7, 2019
Football definition Essay Example for Free
Football definition Essay Football is a sport defined by its field, equipment, players, and uniforms. Football is a sport with the objective to gain possession of a ball and advance it in running or passing plays across the opponents goal line or kick it through the air between the opponents goalposts. Football is played on a 360 by 160 yard rectangle defined as a field. The players of football are another trait being that each game played consist of 11 players, there is always an offense, a defense, and special teams. In football the uniforms worn consist of tight jerseys so opposing team members can easily be taken down, padded football pants for protective leg covering, high socks to protect their skin from cleats which are shoes with long spikes for the grass fields, and a helmet to protect the head. The equipment used is an oval shaped football. Football is a sport defined by its field, equipment, players, and uniforms. Andrea Dixon Eng. 090-03 May 31, 2012 Instructor Case Definition Paragraph Football I. Topic a. A sport defined by its field, equipment, players, and uniforms. II. Body a. sport i.the object being to gain possession of a ball and advance it in running or passing plays across the opponents goal line or kick it through the air between the opponents goalposts b. field i. played on a field 360 by 160 ii. A game played by two teams of 11 players each on a rectangular c. Players i. A game played by two teams of 11 players each on a rectangular field ii. the offense iii. Defense iv. Special teams d. Uniforms i. Jerseys ii. Padded Football Pants iii. Socks and Shoes iv. helmet v. gloves e. Equipment i. Oval shaped ball III. Conclusion a. A sport defined by its field, equipment, players, and uniforms.
Friday, September 6, 2019
The play, An Inspector Calls is written by J.B Priestley Essay Example for Free
The play, An Inspector Calls is written by J.B Priestley Essay The play, An Inspector Calls is written by J. B Priestley. It was written in 1945 and set in 1912, just before World War One. The play is all set in the Birling household in Bromley. In the play the Birlings and Gerald Croft are celebrating the engagement of Sheila Birling and Gerald. The are all celebrating in a self-satisfied way. Arthur Birling is telling Eric and Gerald about every man should be for himself and that everyone should look out for themselves and their families. There is a knock on the door and Inspector Goole bears the news of a young woman who died in an infirmary from drinking disinfectant. The Inspector slowly implicates all of the Birlings and Gerald into the suicide of the girl, Eva Smith. Mr. Birling fired Eva from her job, as she wanted a small pay-rise. Sheila got Eva fired from a job in Milwards by using her social power just because she was jealous of her. Gerald had met her and gave her a place to stay, but had then left her after a while. Eric had met her in a pub and then made love to her and got her pregnant; he then stole money from his father, Arthur to help support her. Mrs. Birling then turned Eva down from her help community and made sure no one else listened to Evas story. The Inspector made everyone confess to what they had done to contribute to Evas death. After the Inspector left, Arthur and Gerald realised that the Inspector wasnt really an Inspector. They all thought they were in the clear when the phone rang and the real police said there was a girl dead in an infirmary, and that the police were on there way to the Birling household for an interview. At that point the play ends. The structure is that it consists of three acts and it is set in real time, so the time it takes for story to unfold is the same time it takes the audience to watch the play. It also has a unity of place and action, so it is all in the same place (the Birling household) and so is the action. I think it is set like this to give the audience help in understanding the morality of the play, which is We are all members of one body, we are all responsible for each other. Priestleys main aims about responsibility is that he is saying everyone is responsible for everyone else, and that you cannot just care about yourself, the opposite of what Arthur Birling thinks. He demonstrates this by slowly making all the characters partly responsible for Evas death, and as a whole all the characters drove Eva to her death. So Priestley is teaching the characters a lesson as well as the audience watching. At the beginning of the play Priestley makes Arthur say a man has to mind his own business and look after himself but after the play the Inspector comes in Priestley contradicts what Arthur said by making all the characters partly responsible for Evas death. Priestley sets the play in real time so both the audience and characters can experience the feelings and emotions of the play at the same time. In the play, Priestley has made Arthur a man who believes in only looking out for yourself and your family only. Arthur makes out to be a man who can do as he pleases just because of his social and business position. Priestley also makes Arthur say things like -the Titanic- she sails next week-forty-six thousand eight hundred tons-New York in five days-and every luxury-and unsinkable Priestley made Arthur say this knowing full well that the Titanic was sinkable and did sink! I think Priestley is trying to make out about how wrong Arthur is on many aspects of life and that he is also wrong in thinking every man for himself.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Effect of Prefabrication Methods on Housing in the UK
Effect of Prefabrication Methods on Housing in the UK Would the Increasing Use of Prefabrication Methods in the Construction Industry Significantly Reduce the Housing Shortage Within the UK? Chapter 1 Problem Specification There is a widespread belief that a housing shortage exists in the UK. Although all regions are expected to see growth in household numbers, the greatest pressure will continue to be felt in Southern England (i.e. London, the South East, South West, and Eastern regions.) For example, the population of the South East region alone is expected to increase by 50,000 a year ââ¬â about 1 million extra homes in the next twenty years or so. While 70% of population growth is in London and the south of England only about 50% of house building takes place there. The housing industry has in recent years been under severe pressure to meet the increasing population. For this reason the UK is presently suffering from a high housing shortage, which is likely to rise over the next 15 years, due to the high volumes of migrant workers from the EU and the increase in population. The total number of people living in the UK grows whenever there are more inward migrants than people leaving the country. International inward migration is a significant contributor to population growth. Recently the Government Actuaryââ¬â¢s Department increased its figures for net inward migration to the United Kingdom from 95,000 to 135,000 people per year for the period to 2021. It is therefore necessary for the construction industry to dramatically increase production in house building in order to reduce the effect this shortage will have on the UK such as consequent impacts on house prices, conditions, overcrowding and homelessness. Despite the strong economy, housing production by both private developers and social housing providers has been falling. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the number of homes built during each of the past five years has remained static at 154,000. It is for this reason that house prices continue to soar. It is clear that the construction industry must build faster and more efficiently to meet the increasing needs of the UK housing market. The UK construction industry has been known for its lengths and costs in completing construction projects therefore leading to slower completion of developments. This is a wide spread problem that needs to be addressed for the housing demands to be met. Household projections, based on 1998 figures from the Government Actuaryââ¬â¢s Department and past trends in household formation, suggest that between 1996 and 2021, England will need to accommodate an extra 4.3 million households. Estimates suggest that the backlog in 1996 was approximately 650,000 households. It seems likely that the figure has increased over the last five years because supply has not matched demand. There are difficulties within the UK construction industry to which attention has been drawn by the Latham and Egan reports. Structural, technical and cultural change in the years ahead may lead to a sector better able to respond to the demands upon it. With the use of better management techniques and the implementation of new technologies in new housing markets, projects lengths (i.e. Construction time) and costs could be significantly reduced. There are many ways of rapidly reducing completion time of construction. In this day and age these approaches are known as Modern Methods of Construction, such as prefabrication. A radical approach for cutting project time by using different techniques, such as off-site construction and factory conditions. Pre-fabricated homes ââ¬â One area highlighted to improve the current situation by the Government and others within the industry, is that of off-site construction. Prefabrication was used to provide quick and cheap homes after the Second World War where nearly 160,000 homes were prefabricated, and is being proposed again as a solution for providing affordable homes. Off-site construction has made huge advances since the Second World War and even more over the last couple of decades, offering methods which have been proved to be quicker and cheaper than traditional house building methods. One of the major issues associated with prefabricated homes is the stigma attached to them, with many people seeing them as a poor alternative to traditional construction. A MORI poll in 2002 indicated that 90% of people would prefer to live in a traditional home rather than a prefabricated home, showing that the UK population along with the construction industry is still slightly reluctant to pl ace their faith in prefabricated homes. The benefits of prefabrication are well known, with off-site construction offering a controlled environment where building elements can be produced quicker than traditional methods, and at a supposedly lower cost. At its best, prefabrication can see some 40-week building programmes being reduced to 16 weeks, which if used on a wide scale could see rapid growth in the UKââ¬â¢s housing stock. There is also an advantage held within the factory environment, offering greater safety for workers than on-site and also the controlled environment makes it possible for a consistent, high quality finish to be achieved. With skills shortages on-site, the opportunity to produce standardised building elements in factories could also further improve standards and quality. Built in clean, efficient, factory conditions not in the often chaotic circumstances of construction sites, in unpredictable and inclement British weather ââ¬â may make for higher standards, faster construction as well as a safer industry. Better procurement methods may mean less friction between clients, professionals and builders. Shortages of sufficiently skilled labour may also be remedied, to some extent, by factory. Therefore this method of construction could be seen as a potential solution to the housing shortage in the UK. Currently prefabrication is not a common approach for most contractors to use. The main reason for this is because off-site manufacture (OSM) of house building components currently has the capacity to produce around 40,000 homes a year, far short of the figure needed to meet official housing projections. As such, the Government is promoting pre-fabrication and off-site manufacturing techniques, looking to methods such as steel and timber frame to help solve the housing shortfall, particularly in relation to quality and site skills shortages. Even with prefabricated homes having been produced for the past 100 years, they are still relatively untested in the UK on a large scale, and therefore the verdict is still out on whether they are suited to the UK and its construction industry. There are already companies in the UK trying to build affordable housing by using off-site construction methods, such as BoKlok, Ikeas biggest idea yet. Having seized the market for affordable home furnish ings in the past decade, the Swedish retail giant is now planning to provide the homes themselves. Planning permission was approved for the first British BoKlok development: 36 flats in St James Village, Gateshead, due for completion within a year. More will follow many more, probably, since BoKlok is quick to build, energy efficient and aimed at households earning between à £15,000 and à £30,000 a year. Currently they tend to use more traditional methods, and therefore this issue has to be tackled to bring prefabricated construction further into the lime light of construction. The affordable housing sector represents a prime area of growth for the prefabricated buildings market. The benefits of rapid build times and the cost efficiencies resulting from the volume production of cellular units incorporated in the overall structure tend to result in affordable rents and value for money for the public housing sectors. A wide range of house builders such as Bellway, Westbury, Bovis, Lovell, Willmott Dixon etc, are using prefabricated buildings in affordable housing projects and their use has increased substantially during 2003-05. If every household is to have the opportunity of a decent home, some fundamental changes will be needed not just to the mechanisms we use to deliver new homes ââ¬â with reforms to the effectiveness of our planning system and our house-building industry. In conclusion, the issue of housing shortage within the UK may become one of the most significant social and economical problems being faced over the next twenty years. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation is to explore whether the implementation and use of Prefabricated Construction on a wide spread scale could have a significant positive impact on the housing Shortage currently being seen in the UK. There is a concern that in a number of critical areas, the emerging policy framework is based on unrealistic assumptions. It is questionable whether it will in practice deliver the necessary supply of houses to meet the UKââ¬â¢s economic and social requirements over the next twenty years. Literature Review ââ¬Å"Britain is heading for a property shortage of more than a million homes by 2022 unless the current rate of house building is dramatically increased, according to reports from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).â⬠The UK has been known for its shortage on housing over the past 10-15 years, and therefore there are many sources of literature relevant to the study. Such sources are Government Policies, reports, articles, books, surveys and case studies that outline the scale of the problem and give statistics, such as the number of homes that need to be built in order to relinquish this status in the UK. The shortage of housing is making house prices soar from year to year, making it much harder not only for general house buyers but especially for first time buyers. This issue does not seem to be focused on in any literature as there doesnââ¬â¢t seem to be any long term solutions for it, making this topic an ever growing problem. Government Report The Barker Report (2003) Review sets out a series of policy recommendations to address the lack of supply and responsiveness of housing in the UK. The report further goes on to outline a number of key factors which are to blame for the housing shortage, including the lack of houses being built as well as the extra provision of land by local authorities to make it viable for developers to achieve the build targets to decrease the housing shortage. The report argues that a UK housing Shortage is having widespread economic and social consequences. The government estimates that by 2016 there will be 3 million new UK households. It recently published the Sustainable Communities plan outlining a major new house building program to help meet the growth. The government is said to be encouraging Modern Methods of Construction, which it says can achieve ââ¬Å"a step change in the construction industry to produce the quantity and quality of housing we need.â⬠Housing completions are expected to steadily increase in the longer term in line with proposals and initiatives to address the general housing shortage, particularly the provision of more ââ¬Ëaffordableââ¬â¢ housing in key urban areas. However, a significant increase in completions is largely dependent on the overall economic environment, consumer confidence levels etc, in addition to land availability and the planning approvals process, which remains a key barrier to growth at present. While this was focused on in the Barker Review in 2004, house builders are reporting few improvements to date in the planning process and the availability of land for development is a key long term issue. On her follow up to the 2003 report, Barker 2004 states that planning authorities and processing of applications need to be improved, whilst also the availability of land is becoming increasingly harder. She pinpoints reforms to the planning system; incentives for local authorities to support development, and a higher turn around from the construction industry, including completing site developments as quick as possible. These issues need to be focused on as they are key elements that could be contributing to the current shortage in the housing market. Barker (2004) encouraged the government to change its planning policies to allow more houses to be built on Greenfieldââ¬â¢s, as she claims at present there is not enough land available for the housing demand to be met. Barker also called for a substantial increase in productivity from the construction industry. She states in her review that to reduce the current rate of housing inflation from 2.4% to the EU average of 1.1%, an extr a 120,000 houses will need to be built per annum on top of the current output. The overall message from both Barker reports (2003/2004) is the clear need for more houses to be built in the UK, especially the large problem areas such as the South-East and London in order to become any closer to achieving larger number of homes available in the UK. However there are no recommendations on how it might be possible to reduce programme lengths and costs. This is a key area that needs to be identified within the dissertation. Mathiason (2003), already claimed that as long as inflation continues to rise, house builders will be under no obligation to build as they will be profiting from the land that they already own, as the price is ever increasing due to shortage. Perhaps the use of MMC and faster construction times would drive the developers to building on these lands, but they will never be fully implemented unless planning policies are also reviewed. Prior to the Barker review the Government drew up a Sustainable Communities Plan (OPDM, 2003) to tackle several issues, including the urgent requirement for affordable homes. The plan aims to set out a long term programme of action for delivering sustainable communities to both urban and rural areas. One of the vehicles highlighted for delivering these sustainable communities is off-site construction, with modern methods of construction earmarked for additional investment. It also suggests heavy investment in public transport and rail links in particular, to help with the decentralisation of London, which will combat the lack of available land and high demand for housing in the South east. The Sustainable Communities Plan (OPDM, 2003) also provides the Housing Corporation with an extra à £100m for its à £200m Challenge Fund for encouraging modern methods of construction. The Challenge Fund, run by the Housing Corporation offers incentives to developers using innovative methods for building communities. It is however, one of the only initiatives running to encourage the use of modern methods of construction. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2002a) predicted that Britain was heading for a housing shortage of more than a million homes by the year 2022. As well as launching Land for Housing, the report from a JRF Inquiry, the conference is debating Britainââ¬â¢s housing in 2022, the first in a series of working papers examining the long-term measures needed to tackle social disadvantage. Both warn that the impending housing crisis will hit hardest in London and the South. Although these regions contribute 70 per cent of the rising demand for new homes, only 50 per cent of new homes are currently being built there. By contrast, in the Midlands and the North, there are growing problems of low demand in some areas, and of empty and abandoned property. Lord Best, Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and author of the working paper, said: ââ¬Å"We estimate that the difference between housing demand and supply will have widened into a yawning gap of 1.1 million homes in England alone by 2022: most of it in London and the South East. This genuinely shocking statistic shows why the time has come for policy makers to recognise that a plentiful supply of new and affordable homes is of the greatest importance the nationââ¬â¢s future health and prosperity.â⬠AMA Research has published the Fifth Edition of the ââ¬Å"House building Market UK 2006â⬠. Recent changes in the overall housing market and corporate activity amongst house builders have renewed interest in the house building market. The fifth edition of this report focuses on the recent developments in this specific sector along with the characteristics and corporate activity of the leading suppliers to the sector. The report provides information on national and regional suppliers within the house building market and provides a comprehensive review of the major aspects of the new house building sector. Off-site construction has a reputation of producing drab, uncharacteristic boxes for homes within the UK population. However, the face of prefabricated homes has changed for the better with Dyckhoff (2003) commenting that they have been transformed into the speedy, affordable loft-style saviour of Britainââ¬â¢s housing market. What the literature above demonstrates is that there is a clearly growing problem with the housing market. Shortage of housing is increasing and still nothing has been pinpointed as the route cause, this seems to be an ever growing problem and a clear solution has not been found. Certain claims made by authors in previous articles and reports will need to be looked into for there validity, so that a clearer understanding can be brought across as to the route cause. In conclusion to the above, this dissertation will therefore be focusing on the following Research question: Methodology It is necessary to begin the dissertation by looking into the theoretical ideas behind the emergence of the shortage in the housing market. It is important to ensure that key information and research is collected using different methods of gathering data. Collecting relevant data will continue to develop my understanding of the housing Shortage in the UK and will overall develop the strength and success of the dissertation. The data collected will also suggest whether any previous attempts have been made to tackle this problem, and if so, are there any solutions that have already been put forward. The opening chapter will focus on the time where non-traditional constructions methods were called for. Special attention is given to how the Government and Local Authorities acted at the time. This will help in developing an understanding of when Modern Methods where first used and the reasons why they came about, which will follow on into the next chapter. Acknowledging the reasons for there use, and developing a detailed background on the housing sector, Chapter 3 analyses the state of the current housing market and the scale of shortage being experienced. Taking into account the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and its perceptions for the next twenty years, I will look into how many new homes are required to be built over the next coming years so as to rectify the current issue. This section will be implemented with the use of surveys, and data collected over the years that show the current yearly house building rate, and the prospective increase needed. I will also be taking into account the population increase due to migrant influx, higher number of divorce rate, higher life expectancy, and the birth rate. This information can be compared with the projected number of houses being built so that I can get an idea of possible key issues that are contributing to housing shortage. In conclusion this dissertation will focus on comparing the findings between traditional and modern methods of construction, which in whole will then be applied to the housing Shortage and possible methods of rectifying the problem. As well as comparing these methods of construction, it is also necessary to ascertain whether or not house builders today are building at their optimum rate. Once this is identified, the potential advantages of the scheme can then be applied to the rate at which they could be working. This will identify the possible gains from using MMC, and whether or not a significant reduction in house shortage can be adapted from this approach to construction. Chapter 2 Background Research Two features dominate the history of housing in Britain in the 20th century: state intervention in the mass production of housing for the working class, and the prolific suburban expansion of towns and cities. To some extent, the two overlap, but both emerged from a situation at the beginning of the century, when housing provision and quality of life had failed to keep up with the frantic pace of Victorian industrial development. Before the 1890s, the dire state of working-class housing had been improved by trusts and societies, who produced grim but safe and sanitary tenements, and there was little direct state intervention. The 1890 Housing Act empowered local authorities to purchase and demolish slum dwellings, and re-house their inhabitants. At the end of the First World War, there was an acute housing shortage. Beginning with Lloyd Georges Homes Fit for Heroes policy, four million new homes were built during the interwar period, 1.5 million of them directly by local councils or with the aid of state subsidy. During the war construction projects came to a halt, progressively worsening the housing shortage that had already existed before the war. The government already set plans to reconstruct and renovate sub-standard housing that where out dated, this and many other projects where all affected. 1919 brought in the ââ¬Å"Town and Country Planning Actâ⬠which imposed obligation on local authorities to plan housing provision for their local towns. During the same period, given the situation of materials and skilled labour shortage, the local government board appointed a standardisation and new methods of construction committees to consider the question of standardisation in regard to materials, structural fitting and methods of construction (BRE, 1987). Bye-laws were also modified to allow the wider use of non traditional methods and materials (Ley, 2000). As well as this many other institutes, including British Research Satiation which has now become British Research Establishments, were also founded under the governments initiative to look for and trial new alternative materials and methods (Davenport, 1990). Between the First World War and Second World War various types of housing systems (prefab) were approved by the committees. At first, pressure applied to local authorities to provide houses in such a short space of time, with no direct incentive to economies, would encourage the use of those new methods regardless of their costs. However, detailed arrangements of subsidies changed several times after 1921 (Cornish and Clark, 1989) and local authorities could no longer disregard cost factor when considering new developments. In addition, the materials and skilled labour for the traditional construction methods came back on stream sooner than the government initially expected. As a result, construction of houses using new methods had virtually ceased by 1928 (Yates, 2001). The main contribution of the attempt was, therefore, providing a small number of additional houses, probably less than 250,000, compared to the total 4,500,000 buildings erected between 1919 and 1938 (Ross, 2002). The economic depression of the 1930s slowed the pace of house building, but the Second World War caused much greater damage: by 1945 nearly half a million homes had been destroyed, a quarter of a million were seriously damaged, and another three million suffered lesser damage. The immediate crisis was partly met by the rapid construction of 125,000 cheap pre-fabricated homes, but it was followed by a housing boom that equalled and exceeded that of the 1920s. As previously discussed in Chapter 1, after the world wars had ended in the UK and between the early 1950ââ¬â¢s and late 60ââ¬â¢s the construction industry experienced an extreme shortage within the housing sector which led to a great need of re-building. Due to the extremities the war created, traditional build was not an efficient enough method, leading to the introduction and use of Mass Production Methods. Following the Second World War there was an even greater demand for the rapid construction of dwellings. In 1942, well before the war had ceased, the government had appointed the Burt Committee which brought together people from different parts of the building industry, government departments and building research station (Bullock, 2001). The aim of the committee was to seek alternative materials and methods of construction suitable for the building of houses and flats, having regard to efficiency, economy and build ability, to be able to make recommendations for the post -war program. Post-War, the government planned new construction projects for the redevelopment of the housing sector, one of which was the development of 500,000 new dwellings with a completion time of 2 years (Davenport 1990). In the twelve years after the war, two and a half million new dwellings were constructed, three-quarters of them by local authorities. However, the construction of new housing was outpaced by the decay of existing housing stock. By 1963, 3 million people were still living in substandard housing, and official housing policy moved once again towards slum clearance and redevelopment. Prefabricated housing has been used in the UK during periods of high demand, such as after the World Wars and during the slum clearances of the 1960s. In total about 1 million prefabricated homes were built during the 20th century, many of which were designed to be temporary. However, problems arose over the quality of building materials and poor workmanship, leading to negative public attitudes towards prefabrication. Nevertheless it has continued to be used in the UK for hospitals, hotels and schools, as well as for housing in other countries. Although this is the case, prefabrication must be used in greater quantities widely, merely to see if it can make a difference to the housing shortage currently being experienced within the UK. MMC is a new term intended to reflect technical improvements in prefabrication, encompassing a range of on and off-site construction methods. The 20th century saw an enormous improvement in everyday housing conditions. Even in the early 21st century, local authorities are demolishing remaining high-rise blocks to make way for low-rise, high-density housing. During the early 60ââ¬â¢s the Government set up the national building agency in order to urge local authorities to take up industrial system building (Rovetz, 2001). Local Governments and the Ministry of Housing also held a series of conferences to encourage and support industrial prefabricated system building in the mid 60ââ¬â¢s (Jones, 2000). Additionally under the Housing Subsidy Act 1956, the arrangement of subsidies was changed in order that local authorities could receive more subsidies per flat if they built higher blocks of flats. The arrangement of this progressive height subsidy was abolished in the 1969 Housing Act. By the end of the 60ââ¬â¢s, both high-rise and industrialised system building lost ground in the construction industry. Chapter 3 The Housing Shortage at Present ââ¬Å"Britain is heading for a property shortage of more than a million homes by 2022 unless the current rate of house building is dramatically increasedâ⬠according to reports from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). There are a series of short and long-term factors playing their part. The government wants to steady the UKs runaway housing market, and end its boom and break housing cycles. House prices in the UK have almost doubled since 1995 and many people are now unable to get a footing onto the housing ladder. There is also a lack of affordable or social housing. This problem of high house prices is compounded by the shortage of houses being built. In 2001 house building fell to its lowest level since 1924 excluding the war years and its immediate aftermath. New housing accounts for less than 10% of residential property transactions in England and Wales compared to 40% in 1965. The circumstances are likely to get worse before they get better. According to estimates, there are between 220,000 and 230,000 new households being formed annually (OPDM). Yet, only 165,000 homes were built in the year of 2002. If this was the case 5-6 years ago, then how is the housing shortage coping now? The population is increasing, while the average size of households is declining. This is caused by a range of demographic factors, such as increasing life expectancy, and more divorces. All in all, it adds more pressure to housing supply. The report lays much of the blame at door of the UKs planning authorities. Many who have tried and failed to obtain planning permission in recent years may echo the reports findings that the system is complex and takes an unacceptably long time. All in all, the report calculated that refusals for planning permissions in major housing developments increased from just 15% in 1996-1999 to 25% in 2002. The report also points out that if house building was to take-off in the UK skills shortages are likely to come into play. At present more than eight out of ten construction firms report skill shortages even modest growth would require 70,000 new workers the report concludes. As a result thousands of badly needed homes are not being built. However, at this stage the report makes no recommendations as to how the planning process can be quickened up. Housing shortages are set to become one of the most significant social issues of the next 20 years. Unless we act now, shortages will lead to overcrowding and homelessness. But they will also have knock-on effects for the whole of society, driving up house prices in areas of high demand, inhibiting economic growth and making it harder for good quality public services to be delivered. Property insiders, politicians and young people looking for homes in Britains thriving cities are united on one point: the country is in the grip of a serious housing shortage. But opinions are widely divided when it comes to placing the blame for a situation where, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the number of homes built during each of the past five years has remained static at 154,000, with the number of low-cost ââ¬Å"socialâ⬠houses being built falling from 16,999 in 2000-2001 to 13,601 in 2002-2003. As the buck is passed between housing professionals, planners, builders and the government, first-time buyers are left desperately trying get on the property ladder. ââ¬Å"Slow planning is stifling. The government says councils should decide on most planning applications for 10 or more new houses within a maximum of eight weeks. But only 16% of decisions come in that time,â⬠(House Builders Federation, HBF), which accuses councils in the north of England of deliberately preventing new homes from being built. The councils say that they already have enough new homes under construction, but the HBF disagrees. The Barker Review of Housing Supply was commissioned by the chancellor, Gordon Brown, to discover why Britain, the worldââ¬â¢s fourth wealthiest economy, has a housing shortage with property prices beyond the reach of many. House building is at its lowest level since 1924; the gap between supply and demand widens by 60,000 annually ââ¬â an average of 219,000 new households is created each year through longer lifespan, more solo-living from choice and an increasing divorce rate ââ¬â and will exceed 1.1m in England by 2020; and the number of low-cost homes being built for housing association tenants is lower than at any time since 1995. Meanwhile, the government targets for about 225,000 new homes each year until 2016. The HBF says there is excessive public consultation and claims councils want ever-higher cash payments to improve the infrastructure in return for planning permission. It also says planners want so much social housing that it threatens the economi
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Tunnels used in War Zones :: essays research papers
Tunnels The first characteristic of a tunnel complex is normally superb camouflage. Entrances and exits are concealed, bunkers are camouflaged and even inside the tunnel itself, side tunnels are concealed, hidden trapdoors, and dead-ends where used to confuse the attacker. Trapdoors were used extensively, both at entrances and exits and inside the tunnel complex itself. There where several different types of trapdoors, concrete covered by dirt, hard packed dirt reinforced by wire, or a basin type consisting of a frame filled with dirt. This latter type was particularly difficult to locate in that probing would not reveal the presence of the trapdoor unless the outer frame was actually struck by the probe. Trapdoors covering entrances were generally 100 meters apart. Booby traps were used both inside and outside entrance and exit trapdoors. Tunnels found in the War Zones were generally better constructed than those found in other areas. In some cases these complexes were multileveled, with storage and hiding rooms generally found on the lower levels. Entrance was often gained through concealed trapdoors and secondary tunnels. In the deeper complexes, foxholes were dug at intervals to provide water drainage. These were sometimes booby-trapped as well as containing punji-stakes for the unwary attacker. Average tunnel size was 2-feet wide and 2.5 to 3-feet high. They also used air or water locks that acted as firewalls, preventing blast, fragments or gas from passing from one section of the tunnel to another. A trained tunnel exploitation team was essential to the expeditions of VC tunnels since untrained people may have missed hidden tunnel entrances, taken unnecessary casualties from concealed mines and booby traps . To facilitate this, teams were trained, equipped and maintained in a ready status to provide immediate assistance when tunnels were discovered. Hiding VC attempted to evade and avoid all contact with government forces for any one of many reasons and this was the normal reaction for a VC unit when confronted with a superior government force. Frequently however, GVN tactics or time/distance considerations made it necessary for the VC to evade by physically hiding in villages, or becoming one of the local population. This article is concerned with this one aspect of VC escape and evasion technique and is especially oriented to the situation presented when search operations were made more difficult because they were conducted in the presence of a friendly or passive populace. Protection of equipment was equally important, if not more so, than protection of personnel.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Coiled Tubing :: coil tube coiled tubing
First of all, what in the world is coiled tubing? Otherwise referred to as CT, coiled tubing is a manufactured product used in field operations such as well service, workover applications (petroleum industry well work), and drilling and completion applications. Just as is sounds, CT is essentially a continuous tube with a diameter of .75 inches up to 4.5 inches that is reeled onto a spool, which has a core diameter of approximately eight to twelve feet. The tubing is made from rolling strip metal, usually a carbon based steel, into cylindrical form and weld along its entire length. The longitudinal weld is made using a high-frequency induction electrical resistance method. The welding process produces a small amount of weld flash on both the inside and outside of the tube. This is removed from the outside diameter of the tube after welding by a carbide cutting tool contoured to the diameter of the tube being produced. The weld vein is instantly re-heated to re-crystallize the w elded zone to match the grain composition of the base metal. So in other words, you have this extremely long steel tubing coiled up like a garden hose on reel without any visible end welds. The entire length is non-destructively inspected, then gauged and hydrostatically tested to assure the pipe meets customer specifications prior to shipment. A single spool can carry an average length of approximately 15,000 feet but have been fabricated up to 30,000 feet depending on the diameter of the tubing. Tubing continuously wraps and unwraps over its spool and over the tubing directional arch (ââ¬Å"gooseneckâ⬠) as it goes in and out of the well. This bending and straightening causes an extreme amount of wear and tear. This process is known as cyclic bending and along with the internal pressure may result in a life expectancy of less than 100 cycles. Another downfall is the tendency for the walls to thin, thus increasing the diameter of the tubing as cycles increase. Tests have shown up to 30% increase in the diameter. This plastic type growth is sometimes referred to as ballooning. This effect is worse on the tubing that does not rotate during deployment and the walls thin more on one side that the other. Elongation is another effect that results from the forces of fieldwork, with reports stating up to ten feet of permanent elongation per trip!
Monday, September 2, 2019
Theorectical Bases For Counseling :: essays research papers
Five major theoretical bases for counseling in psychology are biological, learning, cognitive, psychodynamic, and sociocultural. Each one of these perspectives searches for answers about behavior through different techniques and researching a clients childhood or adult life experiences looking for answers to different kinds of questions. Due to the different types and styles of counseling approaches, each counselor forms their own thoughts and explanations. The premise behind the biological perspective in psychology is that all actions, feelings, and thoughts are associated with different events in a personââ¬â¢s life. Biological psychologists examine how the electrical impulses, hormones, and chemicals flowing through the body can affect behavior. Physocologists are concerned with how the aspects of biology effect peopleââ¬â¢s emotions and their perception of events. Many of the important findings in psychology from the behavioral theory later evolving into the social learning theory or cognitive social learning theory. Behavior therapists used to believe that actions were responses to stimuli that were learned. This concept led to a broadening of psychology. Many groups that were often overlooked by psychologists until behavior therapy became the dominant school of psychology in the U.S. after the 1960's. The cognitive perspective of psychology focuses on the thought process. Psychologists from this school argue that it is necessary to know what is going on in the mind to fully understand why a person will do the things that they do. The reason for cognitive psychology is to understand how perceptions and interpretations relate to behavior. Why some people turn to violence when insulted while another person will not. Many critics of the psychodynamic therapy do not believe psychodynamic theories have any bearing on psychology. Based upon the fact that many of the psychoanalysis assumptions could not be verified. Research psychologists were more related to philosophy rather than clinical science. Though not as scientific as the other theories the psychodynamic theory is still associated with psychology. The sociocultural perspective concentrates on an individualââ¬â¢s culture or society rather than the individual. To understand why people show certain behavior traits. Psychologists look at what effects the person's community and how other people affect a person. These five theoretical bases are similar because they all try to determine what causes a person to be how they are. If I were to do counseling, I think I would like to become a behavior therapist. I am fascinated by what makes a person what they are, and why does a person do what they do?
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Case Study Material Essay
Herman Miller Company is looking to adopt the cradle-to cradle (C2C) design protocol. This design is to create a closed-loop product life cycles. Herman Miller Company should not use PVC in the construction of the Mirra chair. An alternative material thermoplastic urethane (TPU) has been identified as an alternative. TPU is a viable alternative that goes along with the ââ¬Å"greenâ⬠publicity the company was getting for the Mirra chair. The first step that needs to take place is to talk to their supplier about modifying existing tooling to work with TPU. As well as the lead time it would take to modify existing tooling. To create new tooling could take approximately 6-8 weeks for new tooling to be engineered as well as creating the new tooling. As discussed from the case the retool could cost over $100K (Lee 2009). The introduction of TPU was discussed in August of 2002 and the launch of the Mirra chair is scheduled for June 2003. This provides the company with 9 months to use TPU instead of PVC on the chair arms. To retrofit tooling for a new raw material can cause more problems than just to create new tooling. The first thing that needs to happen is to talk to the supplier and to determine a lead time for new tooling and a lead time for modifying existing tooling. Tooling can be modified; however, it is a matter of time and money. There are concerns about using TPU in the Mirra chair, that customers will start wanting TPU in every chair. This chair has received a lot of publicity
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