Tell me why the Empire State Building took 11 months from start to absolute finish?
Why would it take 5 to 6 years today to do the same thing?
They are designed to closer tolerances to minimize structural members, and to better control stresses.
They are of higher quality, cost less, and will last far longer ~ even though they'll be easier to dismantle if need be.
Planners and Architects know these things.
Oh, and the need for architects is down ~ really down! Even design engineers ~ computerization has really hurt that profession.
Then there's the need for tall buildings ~ 2 stories, tops, and there's plenty of land for that, plus the employees get enormous parking lots so they can drive to work and avoid erratic bus service.
Why would it take 5 to 6 years today to do the same thing?
And the Pentagon took sixteen months (1941-09-11 to 1943-01-15). When do you suppose DHS's new $3.4b HQ, ground broken September 2009 and situated on the grounds of the former Government Hospital for the Insane, will get finished?
It comes down to government regulation gumming up the works. And to unions standing in the way of improvement.
You may have heard, the Chinese build 30-story hotels in 15 days. They work smart. They manufacture the building off-site, and then they assemble the prefabricated modules onsite.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_Sustainable_Building
www.broad.com:8089/english/down/en_kj.pdf