A video taken by a drone unearth the Apple’s new Spaceship Headquarter

The awe-inspiring video that you can experience scrolling down is Apple’s new spaceship headquarter now is being prepared in Silicon Valley.

The valley, southern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California in the United States, breeding ground for many acclaimed firms and home for world’s largest technological corporations has always been an attraction for the techies.

However, the under construction spaceship headquarter has added an amazement only.

This video footage that you are witnessing this moment is taken by a drone, which shows the massive construction site, reinforced concrete foundations and what looks to be the gargantuan underground car park that is designed to hide the eyesore of an outdoor parking lot.

Brit architectural firm Foster + Perters, has designed the building. The four-storey building building would be a ‘design wonder’ for sure. The peculiar circular edifice built around a 60 hectare landscaped park. The complex will accommodate 12,000 employees.

The park at the core “would replicate the original California landscape, and parts of it would also recapture the orchards of [Silicon Valley's] past", Foster + Partners founder Sir Norman Foster told Architectural Record in an interview published, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

The late Apple cofounder, Steve Jobs, once said the aim of the project was to build "the best office building in the world".

He was speaking shortly before his death in October 2011 at a public meeting convened by the city council of Cupertino, where both Apple's existing headquarters and the new one are based.

Construction of the project, which Jobs said was inspired by the open spaces at the campus of nearby Stanford University, is not expected to be completed until 2016.

While Apple mostly works in secrecy, there is one major product that is quite public - its new headquarters. Someone flew a drone above the campus, which is still in construction, and captured the following footage. Apple's new headquarters was the last thing Steve Jobs presented publicly before dying. He described the big, circular building as looking a bit like a spaceship. As you can see, it really does look like it is going to be a spectacular and unique structure.

ENJOY IT…!!!!

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.california.quantity-takeoff.com

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A free Estimating & On Screen Takeoff Template for measuring electronic plan

In this video, the viewer will get a demonstration for on screen takeoff software program for electronic plans that is a plug-in for Excel. If any user applies Microsoft Excel as their estimating software, or takeoffs, or proposals, then this Electronic Plan Takeoff software program for Excel will provide huge benefits to him.

The Estimating and Takeoff process are often very challenging and time consuming tasks in the construction estimating software world. In this video, we demonstrate an on screen take off software program for electronic plans that is a plug-in for Excel.

Please email at takeoff@reiterandcompany.com or call 1-800-482-1014 for having a live in-depth presentation suitable in your time-zone from Monday to Friday.

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Published By

Arka Roy

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Elements of a Cost Estimate

The foundation for a successful estimate depends on authentic takeoff of the quantities of the various materials involved in the project. The various elements that lead to an effective cost estimate are as:

Labor Hours: Labor hour amounts can be prepared by crew analysis or applied on a unit man-hour basis. The use of a labor dollar per unit of work is only applicable when the cost history supports the data that is being used. The estimator should make allowance for the varying production capability that occurs on the basis of the complexity of a project.

Labor Rates: The labor rate or wage is the cost per hour for the craftsmen on the project. To determine any craft rate, whether union or open shop, the estimator should start with the basic wages and fringe benefits. The estimator should include payroll burdens to the wages and fringe benefits. These are FICA (Social Security), SUI (State Unemployment Insurance), FUI (Federal Unemployment Insurance), WC (Worker Compensation) and others mandated by legislation and/or company operations. These burdens, along with the base wages and fringe benefits, determine the hourly cost of a craft classification which includes carpenter, pipefitter, etc.

The hourly rate can also include an amalgamated crew where different crafts are required for the performance of the work. Overtime or the lack of overtime is another factor that determines the calculation of the hourly rates. A project that is scheduled for completion using a forty hour work week will have a modest amount of overtime costs needed in the estimate. A project that is scheduled for extended 50, 60 or 70 hour work weeks will have a substantial amount included for overtime and loss of productivity.

Material Prices: Material prices fluctuate up and down every now and then and it is important that the estimator understands as well as anticipates the frequency and extent of the price variations and the timing of the buying cycle. Material prices can be affected by:

• Purchase at a peak or dropping time of the year for the manufacturer
• Availability of material
• The size of the order
• The delivery timeframe requirement
• Physical requirements for delivery, such as distance, road size, or site access
• Payment terms and history on previous purchases
• Sole-source items
• Exchange rates (if the material need to be imported into the U.S.)

Equipment Costs: Equipment rates depend on the project conditions to decide on the accurate size or capacity of equipment necessary to execute the work. When interfacing with other equipment, cycle times and equipment capacity control the costs on the project. Costs also vary if the equipment is owned by the contractor and not rented.

Subcontractor Quotes: A subcontractor quote, like the general estimate, contains labor, material, equipment, indirect costs, and profit. It is dependent upon having the quantities, labor hours, hourly rate, etc., developed in an authentic way just like any other part of an estimate. The amount of the subcontractor quote is also depends on the payment terms of the contract, and previous payment history between the subcontractor and general contractor. It is significant to consider the bonding costs.

Indirect Costs: Indirect costs consist of labor, material, and equipment items that are necessary to support the overall project.

For the owner: Design fees, permits, land acquisition costs, legal fees, administration costs, etc.

For the contractor and subcontractor: Mobilization, staffing, on-site job office, temporary construction, temporary heat/cooling, and temporary utilities, equipment, small tools and consumables, etc.

Profit Amount: Appropriate or contracted profit rate should be applied uniformly to all contractors and to original bid and change orders.

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Published  By

Arka Roy

www.quantity-takeoff.com

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Civil 3D Quantity Takeoff

Quantity takeoff is an activity performed by General Contractors, Subcontractors, Cost Consultants, and Quantity Surveyors as part of the construction process. It involves counting the number of items associated with a particular construction project, determining the associated materials and labor costs, and formulating a bid as part of the bidding process. Quantity takeoff is also applied to the pricing process.

Civil 3D included new quantity takeoff capabilities. Quantity takeoffs within civil 3D allow the designer to easily create quantity takeoffs based on the design model. Design changes to the model are reflected when the quantity takeoff report is run at any point in the design. This provides the capability of conducting accurate quantity takeoffs throughout the design.

BIM solution for civil engineering helps project teams create, predict, and deliver transportation, land development, and environmental projects more efficiently. AutoCAD Civil 3D helps civil engineers explore more what-if scenarios and optimize project performance with visualization and analysis tools such as geospatial and storm water analysis, quantity-takeoff, and interactive 3D simulations.

The Civil 3D quantity takeoff capabilities make it possible to easily perform quantity takeoffs of the design without taking the design into another quantity takeoff program. By performing quantity takeoffs on the model errors may be reduced. By creating a custom application within Success Estimator it is possible to import data from an external source. This ability could reduce errors caused by manual entry of information.

Features of Project Estimating:

- Automatic and Manual Takeoff Methods

- Document Types Supported include DWG Sheet, 2D DWF, 3D DWF, Image Files and pdf

- Count, Area, Volume and Linear measuring options

- Data Validation

- Reporting

- Export, Print and Publish QTO data

Posted by Manoj Kumar Singh
Web Developer

Global Associates
A pioneer company in construction estimating
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