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Thanks to clarifications from California Governor Gavin Newsom, construction work has been classified as one of the state’s “essential” services and will be allowed to proceed, with certain health and social distancing precautions, amid the increasing social and economic shutdown resulting... View full entry
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s announcement earlier this week halting all but essential construction work in the city has left contractors in other areas of the country wondering if their jurisdictions will also order a temporary stop to their projects.
[...] other areas are under orders that ban nonessential services, causing some construction leaders to wonder whether their work is considered essential or not.
— Construction Dive
With the growing coronavirus pandemic calling for frequently adjusted federal, state, and local orders, a fair amount of uncertainty has gripped the US construction industry. While Boston has completely shut down all nonessential construction activity for at least the next two weeks, contractors... View full entry
The Berlin government said on Tuesday it would create a new hospital to cope with a likely huge increase in coronavirus cases.
The facility, which will house up to 1,000 patients, will be set up in the Berlin Messe trade fair exhibition grounds in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district of the German capital.
The hospital will be built with the help of the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr.
— DW
As the coronavirus outbreak rapidly expands also in Germany, officials in Berlin hope to prevent potential bottlenecks in the capital's hospital system with a new medical facility specifically for COVID-19 patients. The country now has more than 10,000 confirmed cases — the third highest in... View full entry
Build UK and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) have said the UK construction industry is set to become ‘dramatically and severely affected’ from Coronavirus. In a joint statement released today, the two organizations warned the situation had ‘accelerated’ over the weekend.
They warned that construction sites across the country will have to close if the UK government chooses to put the country into ‘lockdown’ and takes measures to restrict the movement of UK citizens.
— The Scaffolding Magazine
According to The Scaffolding Magazine, Build UK said, the impact on construction’s supply chain, consisting of multiple layers of businesses, many of them small businesses with a significant amount of self-employed workers will be "catastrophic and unavoidable." Build UK and the CECA... View full entry
Construction tech developer Built Robotics’ fully autonomous construction equipment is now available to contractors and heavy machine operators. A software upgrade to excavating equipment will allow the machinery to operate autonomously or be piloted remotely, making it the first of its kind to be offered commercially in the U.S. — Construction Dive
According to Construction Dive, Built Robotics' software enables its equipment to perform tasks fully autonomously. Digging trenches, excavating foundations, and grading building pads can all be managed remotely via a web-based platform. View full entry
New York City will require all new and existing buildings to meet stricter energy efficiency requirements under a new energy code approved by the city council and passed by Mayor Bill de Blasio last week. The 2020 NYC Energy Conservation Code is part of the city’s implementation of its Green New Deal. — Smart Cities Dive
According to Construction Dive, the new code will require builders to improve the building thermal envelope with modified walls and windows to limit heat loss in addition to air leakage mitigation. Heating and cooling systems will also have stricter requirements. View full entry
Five months after holding a ceremonial groundbreaking, the first signs of vertical construction are now visible at the new home of OCMA at Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Center for the Arts. [...]
The approximately $73-million project expands OCMA's square footage by approximately 50 percent when compared to the museum's former home.
— Urbanize Los Angeles
Designed by Morphosis Architects, the Orange County Museum of Art's new home at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, Calif. appears to be making progress, according to a new construction photo published by Urbanized LA. The new 52,000-square-foot building will nearly double OCMA's... View full entry
The last of the 18 piers that will support the new Genoa bridge in Italy has been completed less than eight months after construction of the first foundations began. [...]
Ten of the sections of the deck that will rest on the piers have been installed so far; the current deck length of 550m is more than half of its eventual 1,067m length.
— Construction Index
43 people were killed and 14 more injured on August 14, 2018 when the nearly mile-long Morandi highway bridge in Genoa partially collapsed. Architect Renzo Piano, a Genoa native, was commissioned to design the 1,067-meter replacement bridge, and construction work started in June 2019. The... View full entry
Last week the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced its investment of $74 million "for 63 projects to research, develop, and test energy-efficient and flexible building technologies, systems, and construction practices to improve the energy performance of our Nation's buildings and electric... View full entry
Four cranes are standing tall in Exposition Park, as the steel framework begins to take shape for the $1-billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. — Urbanize LA
Urbanize LA was able to peek over the construction fence at the future Lucas Museum of Narrative Art site in Los Angeles and catch some shots of the growing steel skeleton. Designed by Ma Yansong's MAD Architects, the $1-billion museum will be one of several high-profile sports and entertainment... View full entry
Increasing automation in the construction industry could displace or replace as much as 49% of the America’s blue-collar construction workforce (2.7 million workers) and eliminate nearly 500,000 non-construction jobs by 2057, according to a new study by the Midwest Economic Policy Institute (MEPI) and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. — Midwest Economic Policy Institute
As a part of their study, Midwest Economic Policy Institute (MEPI) and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers highlighted a "decades-long decline of blue-collar labor as a total share of construction costs and the growing share of capital— which includes machinery, equipment... View full entry
In the last 25 years, the design-build delivery method has caught on with not just contractors but also government officials, customers and jurisdictions across the country. The method is now allowed on at least some types of public projects in all but two states, Iowa and North Dakota. — Construction Dive
According to Construction Dive, Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) studies have shown that design-build costs are about 6.1% less than traditional design-bid-build, with a delivery speed of around 33.5% faster. Cities like New York have introduced legislation that give design-build... View full entry
An ironworker was killed...while performing work on the $1.5 billion Amazon Air hub project at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) in Hebron, Kentucky, an incident confirmed via an emailed statement to Construction Dive from the general contractor, Whiting-Turner Kokosing JV. The Boone County, Kentucky, coroner has identified the worker as 46-year-old Loren Shoemake and said he died from blunt force trauma. — Construction Dive
According to Construction Dive, a full investigation is underway led by OSHA. In a statement, Amazon said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, along with the contractors and construction teams during this difficult time," reports Construction Dive. View full entry
Construction for David Adjaye's first NYC tower, 130 William, is scheduled to be complete this year. Topping out at 800 feet last May, the luxury condominium tower will have 66 floors wrapped in a hand-cast concrete facade featuring bronze detailing and oversized arched windows. Lightstone... View full entry
A newly erected section of the border wall on the US-Mexico border toppled over in high winds this week. The section fell over onto the Mexicali, Mexico side of the border just across from Calexico, California. Luckily, no one was injured due to the failure. According to local agent Carlos... View full entry
