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Eleven men perch precariously on a metal beam, eating lunch, lighting cigarettes or drinking from glass bottles. Wearing only cloth caps as head protection, the men dwarf the hazy background of 1930s New York City and Central Park. Much has changed since workers building the 66-story, 850-foot-tall Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan posed for “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper” in 1932, but it remains construction’s most iconic photograph. — Construction Dive
The photograph, which was originally displayed in the New York Herald Tribune on October 2, 1932, was and continues to be a positive and widely admired American symbol. However, when examining what’s being depicted, it is undeniable that there is an array of problematic safety violations... View full entry
Florida-based 3D printing construction startup Printed Farms has announced the completion of a structure it claims is the world’s largest 3D printed building — a "luxury horse barn." The company is known for completing Florida’s first permitted 3D printed house in Tallahassee. It... View full entry
Data centers will increasingly be built farther from some of the traditional locations and will move closer to the clients they serve, according to research by Gartner, an I.T. consultancy. But the search for land is not always easy. [...]
And as major players in the data industry strive to become greener in the next decade, the pressure is on.
— The New York Times
The crunch for new data infrastructure is straining local utility companies in areas such as Northern Virginia owing to a requirement for "inhaling massive amounts of energy," a reality that leads to concerns that local residents will be asked to foot the bill in the end. Water use is also... View full entry
[C]onstruction is a risky job, and even more so for undocumented immigrants, who often work under informal verbal agreements. And for women, being vastly outnumbered on every construction site means more pressure to accept lower pay and mistreatment. That’s why, as more immigrant women don hard hats in New York City, advocates are training them to stand up against exploitation – and transform the construction industry itself. — The Guardian
More than half of New York City’s 200,000-plus-strong construction workforce are immigrants. Myriad abuses abound in informal labor markets, adding to a dangerous climate that last year saw fatalities reach a three-year high. The women featured in the Guardian article also... View full entry
The latest billings data from the American Institute of Architects has found there to be a rebound in the demand for design services across May 2023. The index score in May was the highest it has been since September 2022, while inquiries into new projects and design contracts reached their... View full entry
New data from the Dodge Construction Network (DCN) has shown construction starts increasing to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.11 trillion for the month of May following the 4% decline for April that ended a steady two-month series of gains. Nonresidential starts rose 8% over the previous... View full entry
A new analysis by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has found that overall construction input prices are 3.7% lower than a year ago. Derived from new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index, the ABC analysis also found that construction input prices fell 0.6%... View full entry
In an address to the Global Cement and Concrete Association in Zurich on Tuesday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres laid out his vision for changes to the industry he says are “fundamental to building a better world.” Speaking to executives assembled in a “call to action,”... View full entry
Data from the latest Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) shows a slight decline of 2.0% to 180.5 for May, continuing a three-month downturn that follows April’s revised total of 184.1 and the 183.7 figure that was recorded in March. For the month, the DIM’s commercial component fell to 6.1%... View full entry
Engineering News-Record has released its 2023 rankings, listing the top commercial contractors in the United States. The companies were ranked by construction revenue in 2022. New York dominates the top 10 ranking with three firms, including the top spot, becoming the only state to hold more than... View full entry
New statistics from the American Institute of Architects' latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI) show a modest decrease for April, following the gains shown by the ABI in March for the first time since September. The billings score for April dropped to 48.5, down from the March total of... View full entry
According to new Dodge Construction Network data, total construction starts fell 4% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.04 trillion. This marks a slowdown after two consecutive months of increases. Nonresidential starts led the decline, falling 22%. This was balanced by a 7% rise... View full entry
New data from the latest Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) has shown a decline of 5.1% to 180.9 for April, continuing a downward trend in the wake of March’s revised total of 190.6 that has been led largely by economic turmoil in the commercial planning sector. The data showed an 8.0% decline in the... View full entry
The number of open jobs in construction dropped by 73,000 to 341,000 in March, the second lowest since mid-2021, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors’ analysis of new Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The openings represent jobs for which employers are actively recruiting. — Construction Dive
This figure reflects a 17% decrease in job openings from March 2022. The quantity of open jobs has been volatile so far this year as January saw a 50% dip followed by a sharp rebound in February. According to the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), 3.7% of construction workers were laid off... View full entry
March data from the Dodge Construction Network (DCN) has shown an increase in construction starts of 19% to what is now a three-month high despite concerns over the industry’s ties with Silicon Valley Bank following the financial institution’s controversial collapse at the beginning of the... View full entry
