Hand-built by Indians

There is across from my office a building site (a statement I imagine you could make about most offices in Dubai!). My elevated window affords an excellent view of the various toings and froings on the site, and of the labour taking place there.

I have been puzzled by one particular group, and finally figured out what they are doing. Four of them, standing in opposed pairs, turning a crank with obvious effort - I mean, how much force is involved that requires the joint effort of four men. Surely, this is something better achieved by a motor and a switch? But no.

I digress. The foundations of this as-yet unidentified building are being dug, great big drills mounted on cranes boring vertical shafts deep into the sand. Into these is then inserted a tubular steel structure formed of welded rebar, not unlike a stent, and this is then filled with poured concrete. Quieter than piledriving, though I don't know if it produces a more secure foundation. These steel formers are produced on site, welded up as needed in a jig, using lengths drawn from a vast pile of rebar on one side of the entrance.

The final piece of the jigsaw slotted into place this afternoon. There is a fifth labourer in this group. His job it is to feed one of these straight lengths of rebar into the bending machine, a former which grips one end of the steel rod and wraps it around a drum to create a spiral of the correct diameter to fit into the jig for welding. And it is this former, the drum itself, which is being turned by our long-suffering gang of four.

You four, I salute. Your efforts are heroic, worthy of record here, and deserving of wider recognition.