High speed construction boom in China

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CHANGSHA, China, March 8 (UPI) -- A 30-story hotel was built in two weeks in Changsha, China, part of what experts call a China's high-speed building boom.

The hotel, called T-30, was constructed in as little as one third of the time it would take on a normal schedule, thanks to an abundance of workers and prefabricated materials assembled ahead of time in a factory.

Rong Shengli, one of the building's planners, told the Los Angeles Times: "This is the tallest building in the country, and it's also the fastest-built. Next we're going to build a 50-story building. Then a 100-story one, then a 150-story one. And they're all going to go up fast."

However, Zhang Li, a Beijing architect raised safety concerns.

The lightening fast construction of the 500-room hotel was unhindered by delays for inspections and reviews, which construction projects in the West must pass.

"Incredible speed also means incredible risk," he said. "But only time will tell how serious the risk is."

Zhang says the warp speed construction reflects a societal urge to catch up to the developed world as quickly as possible after a long period of scarcity under late communist leader Mao Tse-tung.