If you drive by Valley Public Radio's new home at Temperance and Alluvial in the next few days you'll likely see a lot of activity. Beams and posts and walls are being erected at a swift pace thanks largely through the use of pre-fabricated walls.
Just a few miles from the site of the new building, workers at California TrusFrame in Sanger are busy framing the walls at a busy facility just off of Academy Avenue. If you tour the plant you'll see a mix of old-school and 21st century techniques. On one end of the plant, a computer operated saw quickly performs complex cuts on lumber, while on the other, workers use hammers, circular saws and nail guns to frame wall units for Valley Public Radio. From the plant the panels are transported to the job site by semi-trucks, each delivery carefully planned all the way down to where each stack of panels is placed outside the building.
The company says that by using pre-fabricated wall panels, workers on the jobsite can cut the time dedicated to framing a building by 1/3 or more. The technique also reduces construction waste and mistakes that can cause costly delays in projects. Once on the jobsite, workers will simply assemble the various wall units like a giant jigsaw puzzle, or a piece of furniture from IKEA.
