To most who work in construction, it may come as a surprise to learn that instant funds transfer is 150 years old this year. Starting in February 1871, telegraph operator Western Union began its service for wiring money from city to city, without the tiresome need to physically send cash or cheques. Construction may have been among the slowest industries to catch onto the new-fangled notion of speeded-up payments, but there are many other ways in which technological breakthroughs have been embraced by the sector, often fundamentally transforming the nature of work since 1871 - the year Construction News was first published. The most striking way in which the industry has changed since the Victorian era is through mechanisation. Steam power had long-since supplemented human and animal muscle by the late 19th century, but as the dawn of the 20th century approached the pace of change accelerated.
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