Skilled Trades Blog

Concrete: The Unassuming Foundation of Civilizations You may not think about it very often, but concrete is a cornerstone of modern infrastructure, shaping our cities and enabling architectural marvels. Its history stretches back thousands of years, evolving from...

What Makes SpaceX Starship So Awesome? For those that regularly read our blog, you know that we are big fans of human achievement and the history of technological advancement. We love to think about how skilled trades over the centuries have been crucial to the march...

MIG vs. TIG Welding: Whats The Dif? When it comes to welding, there are two terms you are likely to see a lot of, MIG and TIG. But what are they, and what's the different between the two? MIG (Metal Inert Gas) and TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) welding are two widely used...

Why Is There Petroleum In My Breakfast Cereal? If you have turned on the news or opened Twitter/X recently, you may have seen a lot of discussion about processed foods, additives, food dyes, etc. It has become a very hot topic that deserves a wide discussion, but what...

Pre-Engineered Steel Buildings: The Construction World’s Best Kept Secret When it comes to construction, we all want something that’s sturdy, fast to build, and (let's be honest) doesn’t break the bank. Enter the pre-engineered steel buildings, the fast, reliable,...

From Samhain to Elizabeth Krebs, How Halloween Became America's #2 Holiday Halloween, with its carved pumpkins, costumed revelers, and trick-or-treaters, feels like an all-American holiday. But the roots of Halloween run far deeper, dating back to ancient Celtic...

The Stadium Is Rocking (Not Breaking): How Engineers Keep Them In One Piece It's playoff time for baseball, and football is in full swing. That means stadiums across the country are filled with tens of thousands (or if you are in PA, OH, or MI... over 100 thousand)...

Longshoremen Strike! But Wait, What Exactly IS A Longshoreman? The role of longshoremen has been critical in global trade and commerce for centuries. From loading and unloading ships in ancient ports to modern-day container terminals, their work has evolved...

The Great Debate: Metal vs Wood Studs TWe recently made some renovations to our offices here at S3, and in doing so, we put up some new walls that utilized metal studs. It brought to mind the modern debate that has broken up families and even torn nations apart. We...

My Roman Empire: Taking Plumbing To New Heights... Literally It’s 4000 BCE in Mesopotamia, and you think, "Man.... there is a lot of water over there..... I wish we had it here too." You and your buddies put your minds together, and the world changes forever. The...