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A survey of construction industry professionals in the UK has found that uncontrolled value engineering and poor workmanship present the biggest risks to the built environment. The study was commissioned by the British Board of Agrément (BBA), a major UK body for issuing certificates for... View full entry
Late last month, however, the Pacific Northwest saw the temperature skyrocket and break multiple records. The thermometer soared to 115 in Portland and 108 in Seattle. The heatwave caused up to 100 deaths in Oregon [...]. The usual regional temperature in June is in the high 80s.
For outdoor construction work, the heat posed an unusual challenge in the region.
— Construction Drive
The potential for disruptions due to extreme weather comes as the industry was beginning to pull away from materials shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Oregon has joined several other states in adopting protective labor laws. An updated OSHA protection rule is expected soon... View full entry
Jean Nouvel’s Tour Hekla development in Paris’ La Défense financial district is nearing completion after construction began in late 2018. The 49-story building represents the Pritzker winner’s third attempt to build in La Défense after designs in 1989 and 2008 went unrealized owing to... View full entry
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery has reached a major milestone in its ongoing $160 million expansion project overseen by Shohei Shigematsu and OMA in cooperation with Cooper Robertson. Construction has topped out on the new Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building on the soon-to-be renamed museum’s... View full entry
Residential construction in the United States is accelerating, despite the high costs of materials caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Within their report, which focuses on new... View full entry
At the Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) Q2 Construction Economic Update and Forecast webinar, ABC chief economist Anirban Basu affirmed that the construction industry is on the path to normalcy. Enthusiastically, he claimed that high raw material prices will eventually go down, going... View full entry
Lumber prices have seen their largest monthly drop on record, after a year of inflated prices driven by COVID-19 disruption. Throughout June alone, lumber prices declined more than 40%, driving an 18% overall decrease throughout 2021. The decline is attributed to a number of factors, including... View full entry
A New York-based construction robotics startup that makes prefabricated rebar cages for concrete structures has announced that it has secured $8 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Tribeca Venture Partners and featured Blackhorn Ventures, Point72 Ventures, New York... View full entry
The New York City Department of Buildings has shut down 322 construction sites across the city due to hazardous conditions in June 2021. The DOB issued full and partial stop-work orders to the affected sites, citing more than 1,129 violations for safety and non-compliance issues. In... View full entry
Autodesk and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) have launched the Construction Diversity Image Library, a joint initiative that aims to increase representation and attract a more diverse AEC workforce. The library is a collection of photographs, for use by media outlets, featuring... View full entry
China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) celebrated the completion of the concrete structure of Iconic Tower in the Central Business District of Egypt’s New Administrative Capital last week on 17 June.
Now the tallest tower in Africa, Iconic Tower’s concrete structure is 373.2m while its highest point is 385.8m, CSCEC Egypt said.
— Global Construction Review
The 78-story Iconic Tower is the centerpiece in an ambitious mega-development of several planned skyscrapers in Egypt's New Administrative Capital outside of Cairo. Designed by China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), construction work started on May 2, 2018. #WitnessHappiness The... View full entry
The United States needs to construct an additional 5.5 million housing units to compensate for a slowdown in housebuilding over the past two decades, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors. The housing lobby group, who published the report last week, says that “the scale... View full entry
The cases against concrete and its environmental impacts are prevalent in the AEC community. As a result, numerous attempts and research initiatives have been made to help mitigate the material's environmental impact. Research from firms like Snøhetta and their net-zero concrete to companies like... View full entry
The Michael Maltzan Architecture-designed Sixth Street Viaduct is slowly taking shape in Los Angeles as new photos by LA Times photojournalist Allen J. Schaben show. The $588 million bridge project, the biggest in the city's history, emerged as the winning entry in the 2012 design competition for... View full entry
An executive told employees on a video call that the firm didn’t have enough money to pay severance packages or unused paid time off, a person who attended the meeting said. The executive said the effects of Covid-19, as well as rising costs of labor and construction materials, contributed to its latest cash crunch. — The Information
Katerra, a closely watched startup founded 6 years ago, had a vision to reinvent the massive construction industry. After a few years of challenges and bailouts from investors, they've announced this week that they will shut down. The CEO of SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, indicated that Katerra... View full entry
