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After a strong 2015, there is a growing sense that the construction industry expansion will be more tempered over the next eighteen months. [...]
The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast, a survey of the nation’s leading construction forecasters, is projecting that spending will increase just less than six percent for 2016, with next year’s projection being an additional 5.6% gain.
— AIA
“Healthy job growth, strong consumer confidence and low interest rates are several positive factors in the economy, which will allow some of the pent-up demand from the last downturn to go forward,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “But at the same time, the slowing... View full entry
The [plastic] materials are thoroughly cleaned, before being ground into a rough power, mixed, melted and extruded into a range of shapes – mostly beams, blocks and pillars – which lock together to form buildings. Importantly, [Conceptos Plásticos] also trains communities in how to build these structures, giving them ownership over their homes [...]
Like LEGO blocks, these interlocking structures don’t need adhesive to be strong and sturdy, which makes them a good option for mobile shelters.
— forbes.com
Related on Archinect:Rotterdam considers paving its roads with recycled plasticStudent Works: This house made of trash teaches a lesson in green housekeepingTaiwan tests recycling's limits with bus stops out of bottlesRaumlabor’s ‘Big Crunch’ is an Incredible Building Made from Discarded... View full entry
According to a report from Reuters, construction spending fell in American for the second month in a row, following a steep 2% drop in April. April's drop was the largest since January 2011. The US Commerce Department states that May construction spending dropped 0.8%. The drop indicates that... View full entry
Hoping to show the world his country is doing just fine despite sanctions and outside pressure over its nuclear weapons program, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has put his soldier-builders to work on yet another major [skyscraper] project
Pyongyang’s new Pyonghattan, officially called “Ryomyong Street,” is to have the country’s tallest apartment building, at 70 stories, along with a 50-story building and a handful of smaller ones in the 30-40 story range.
— The Japan Times
“[Kim's] soldier-builders are now putting up the frames for each new floor at the reportedly breakneck-pace of 14 hours to get it all done by the end of the year.”More on Archinect:‘Pyongyang Speed:’ North Korea miraculously cranks out massive residential development for scientists in only... View full entry
A team of construction workers is pouring concrete onto the frame of a structure that will eventually become a wastewater treatment plant. It's 1 a.m. on a clear night in the suburbs of Phoenix.
The temperature is still in the high 80s. But that's way down from the area's recent record high temperatures, up to 118 degrees. [...]
"We try to pour and place and finish concrete when it's below 90 degrees," says Daniel Ward, the construction company's project director.
— npr.org
Related stories in the Archinect news:L.A.'s urban heat island effect accounts for temperatures up to 19 degrees hotterCan Phoenix un-suburbanize?"7,000 construction workers will die in Qatar before a ball is kicked in the 2022 World Cup," new ITUC report finds View full entry
In a ceremony packed with construction workers, news crews, and real estate folk, the final bucket of concrete made its way to the top of 3 World Trade Center, marking the topping out of this 1,079-foot supertall tower. The 80-story building was designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and spans 2.5 million square feet. Once complete in 2018, it will be the fifth tallest tower in New York City. — Curbed NY
↑ Silverstein Properties Chairman Larry A. Silverstein (right) and Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Executive Director Pat Foye at the topping out ceremony signing the final bucket of concrete.↑ This rendering shows what the completed 1,079-ft tower will look like.Related... View full entry
Elevators are [the] transportation breakthrough that made steel frame construction genuinely useful... tall apartment buildings make it possible for there to be plenty of housing for everyone even where land is scarce.
If elevators were more widely used, they could unleash not just a boom of new construction in America's most expensive areas but an important secondary boom of higher wages for workers at all skill levels.
— vox.com
Related on Archinect:World's tallest elevator tower is going upWilshire Grand Tower, the West Coast's tallest building, structurally tops out in LAMichael Maltzan's One Santa Fe tries to make density appealing in Los AngelesTokyo Takes New York: Astounding Housing Facts View full entry
[...] the stalagmite rings were older than any known cave painting. It also meant that they couldn’t have been the work of Homo sapiens. Their builders must have been the only early humans in the south of France at the time: Neanderthals.
The discovery suggested that Neanderthals were more sophisticated than anyone had given them credit for. They wielded fire, ventured deep underground, and shaped the subterranean rock into complex constructions.
— theatlantic.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:The Age of the Anthropocene: a change as big as "the end of the last ice age"A Man Renovating His Home Discovered A Tunnel... To A Massive Underground CityMassive tomb complex unearthed in Beijing suburb View full entry
As Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct sat free of cars overhead and drivers attempted to move around the city during the roadway’s planned 2-week closure, a new drone video Tuesday showcased again what all the fuss is about. A view inside the SR 99 tunnel won’t get much better than this until you’re actually able to drive through it. [...]
The 4-minute video captures what has been built behind nearly 1,600 feet of mining along Seattle’s waterfront.
— geekwire.com
Bertha previously in the Archinect news: Seattle's massive Bertha tunnel drill is up for repair, but still faces a shaky outlook View full entry
Work will go ahead to construct an “elevated island park” in the Hudson River off Manhattan after a judge dismissed a lawsuit from environmental and civic advocates.
The $130m park, which has been given the go-ahead by the US Army’s Corps of Engineers, will be based on the Hudson River...
Judge Joan Lobis, who threw out the lawsuit, said: “A significant purpose of maintaining event spaces in the park is to generate funds for the ongoing upkeep of the park, which is surely a park purpose.”
— Global Construction Review
Previously on Archinect:Looking at all sides of the Pier 55 offshore park developmentBarry Diller Pledges $130M for Futuristic Offshore Park on the West Side View full entry
Eleven people died while working on Olympic facilities or Games-related projects between January 2013 and March 2016, according to a report released Monday by Rio de Janeiro's Regional Labor and Employment Office.
The report, released by Elaine Castilho, the auditor for the Rio Olympic Games works, also notes that no workers died in the preparations for the 2012 Summer Games in London.
— ESPN
Related stories in the Archinect news:With the Rio Olympics opening in less than four months, sports federation concerned over problem with venuesBrazil's economy is a mess and its President is facing impeachment. Can Rio make it to the Olympics?"7,000 construction workers will die in Qatar before... View full entry
Workers have almost completed mounting the copper paneling on the American Copper Buildings (née 626 First Avenue), the new tilting, two-towered development on Manhattan’s East Side, but their most striking feature—a three-story, 100-foot-long skybridge—is still open to the elements. [...]
The skybridge itself, though, is designed to be the showstopper. The architects placed a 75-foot lap pool on the bridge, so residents can swim 300 feet in the air [...].
— bloomberg.com
↑ Interior rendering of the skybridge pool area on the 29th floor. ↑ Exterior rendering of the SHoP-designed towers with the skybridge spanning the 27th to 29th floors. (Image: JDS Development; via bloomberg.com)↑ JDS Developers hope to have the towers completed in 2017.Images via the... View full entry
The Associated Press reports a California legislative panel advanced a bill Tuesday committing the state to cover up to $250 million in cost overruns as part of Los Angeles’ bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The Senate Governmental Organization Committee approved the bill in a 7-0 vote after proponents said they’re confident they can provide the Games without the serious deficits that have challenged other recent host cities. They pointed to Los Angeles’ profitable hosting of the 1984 Olympics.
— gamesbids.com
Previously in the Archinect news:LA 2024 plays up a sunny disposition in their logo for the Olympic bidL.A. seeks to accelerate infrastructure projects in advance of potential OlympicsLA mayor Garcetti confident that 2024 Olympics in his city would pay for themselves View full entry
A painting contractor based in New England has been ordered to pay two former employees more than $1.5m each by a court in New Haven, Connecticut.
The court ruled that the company had discriminated against the men on racial grounds.
— Global Construction Review
The lawsuit alleged that a Sudanese-American employee, Yosif Bakhit, and an African-American employee, Kiyada Miles, of the firm Safety Marking faced a "pattern of abuse," racist harassment including insults and slurs, and racial discrimination, including being passed over for promotions that were... View full entry
Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, which is set to the world’s tallest building, is over 20% complete, according to the developers.
The planned 1km-tower has already reached the 37th floor and is on track for completion by 2018 [...].
Although the number of habitable floors has not yet been revealed [...] expects it to be around 167 floors tall on completion.
Jeddah Tower, formerly known as Kingdom Tower, is set to overtake the 830-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai as the world’s tallest tower.
— meconstructionnews.com
Kingdom—pardon—Jeddah Tower previously in the Archinect news:Kingdom Tower megaproject secures new funding to complete long-delayed constructionInstallation of UltraRope elevators begins at Kingdom TowerWork to start next month on 1km Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaAS+GG Designs Kingdom... View full entry