How does a construction crew in Việt Nam get concrete up above ground level? How is the fresh concrete mixed?
Labor is cheap in Việt Nam, and builders takes advantage of that fact. Concrete is not pre-mixed and delivered by truck. Instead, the ingredients are brought to the site, combined, and put in place. Notice the pile of sand on the left, the pile of gravel to the right, and the pile of bags of concrete. Note too that there is no cement mixer on the site.
Be sure to click on the photos to see a larger picture.
The mixing is done by throwing the various ingredients together into a mound, then making a cone for water. Remember when you were a kid and you used to make a hole in your mashed potatoes for the gravy? Same idea. The workers combine everything together with few
turns of the shovel, then load it into a bucket which is winched to the second story.
Those of you who are involved in the construction industry are probably wondering about the consistency of the mix.
Me too.
By the way – do you notice the person in the blue shirt? That’s a woman.
At the top, each bucket was unloaded, then returned to the ground for more. I’m sure the mixing was improved a bit just by the manual effort of moving it around up there. Notice all the safety equipment the man is not wearing. Once the laws are better defined in this country, it will be a lawyer’s paradise.
But, if you think this concrete job was hard work, look at the method that was used
to mix and move concrete to the second floor of another house nearby. The concrete was mixed on site in much the same manner – combine the water with the dry ingredients using shovels – but then the mixing was really enhanced by how it was elevated. The “mixers” got a shovel full of concrete, then hoisted it up to a platform over their heads. Workers on that platform then got a shovel full, and threw it up to the next level, who then tossed it up to the floor where it was spread. That did a better job of mixing the 
concrete. The method also saved money. Remember the power winch used on the first site? No need for such expensive equipment here. Labor is cheap in Việt Nam.
And again, I noted about half of the workers were women. I’ll bet these ladies don’t go to many high-falutin’ parties.
