Pent-up pickup demand is busting out all over

It's been three decades since contractors and builders bought more than half of the pickup trucks sold in the U.S., but the first half of this year got there.

By Ron Gallagher • Oct. 1, 2013

Construction data falls victim to U.S. government shutdown

If you were waiting on construction spending data this week, you may have noticed that something was missing on the first of the month. Thank Congress.

By Ron Gallagher • Oct. 1, 2013

Explore the Trendline➔

Preconstruction

Careful collaboration before shovels hit dirt is key to a successful project, experts say.

By Construction Dive staff

Calif. extends program to help diesel owners clean up older vehicles

The state's Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program and another program will get $2 billion over 10 years to help contractors and other owners.

By Ron Gallagher • Oct. 1, 2013

Ind., Ill. ready RFQ's for Illiana Corridor highway

The states have settled on how each will handle its piece of the 47-mile connector between I-65 in Indiana and I-55 in Illinois, with requests for qualifications set for this fall.

By Ron Gallagher • Oct. 1, 2013

KB Homes kicks off 74-unit San Francisco condo project

The company is putting up what it describes as a mid-rise luxury-condo building, hoping to replicate earlier successes with condominium and townhome projects in the Bay area.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 30, 2013

Santa Monica plane crash claims construction exec, son

Morley Construction Co. says it believes CEO Mark Benjamin and his son, Luke, were aboard a Cessna jet that veered off a runway and crashed into a hanger Sunday night.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 30, 2013

I-43 bridge in Wisconsin sags beneath travelers

A bridge that carries Interstate 43 over the Fox River is closed indefinitely because a portion took a dip toward the river a little over a year after it was last inspected.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 30, 2013

Shhh! Report looks at ways to reduce noise on a range of pavement types

An international association has published its 2013 guide to reducing tire-pavement noise from driving on asphalt and cement road surfaces.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 30, 2013

Beschauer Phillips in Olympia, Wash. changes name to Forma Construction

Restructured ownership prompted the company to switch names as it moves forward.

By Nicole Wrona • Sept. 30, 2013

Ohio's cranking up highway projects to tune of $2.9 billion

The state DOT gave credit for quick project starts to the governor for proposing that the state issue Ohio Turnpike bonds to get the cash for the work.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 26, 2013

After the current federal fiscal fight, Highway Transit Fund woes loom

ARTBA says road and bridge contractors will be contributing to joblessness, not employment, if Congress does not find a way to keep the Highway Trust Fund in business.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 26, 2013

Construction confidence measure breaks annual pattern of third-quarter collapse

The Construction Industry Confidence Index compiled by Engineering News Record did slide back two points to 67, but this is the first time in four years that the quarter has remained strongly positive.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 26, 2013

Your new friends: Robots that fabricate timber products

The University of Stuttgart has teamed with several German companies to see if it is possible to use robotic manufacturing to make complex fabricated timber elements for construction.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 26, 2013

Can technology for showing off building concepts be too good?

In some cases, 3-D renderings may be setting clients up for disappointment with buildings that are impossible to deliver.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 25, 2013

Chicago contractor cited for second trench-safety violation

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it cited Reliable Contracting and Equipment for the same problem less than 12 months ago.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 25, 2013

Army Corps, EPA working on uniform (and perhaps wider) wetlands jurisdiction rules

They have sent a not-yet-public draft for Office of Management and Budget review, but the agreement may well institute a very broad definition of where the Clean Water Act applies.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 25, 2013

New Zealand now has a 'paper' cathedral

There are acrylic panels and concrete and shipping containers, too, but 2-foot-diameter paper tubes are the soaring rafters of the Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 25, 2013

Green construction liability claims have much in common with traditional claims

An attorney says that the specific may vary, but issues over sustainable buildings are still about parties who are unhappy with what they got.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 24, 2013

Louisville contractor says labor costs are rising, margins should too

Joe Kelley runs a construction company in Louisville, Ky., and he says the days of clients being able to pit contractors against one another to get lower prices are over.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 24, 2013

Economist tells equipment industry that good times are 12 to 18 months out

Construction equipment sales got ahead of the recovery in 2012, so they have slowed, but a construction recovery is in store through 2018, and sales will go up again.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 24, 2013

Report: FHWA can help states use unspent Recovery Act road money from Washington

There are legal ways that the Federal Highway Administration can help states commit unspent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, according to an inspector general's report.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 24, 2013

Returning business means 2 big truck problems for contractors

A lot of companies got rid of rolling stock in the downturn, but just buying new trucks as business grows does not get a fleet back to what it was.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 24, 2013

Korte scores 42nd post office contract with design-build work at Houston facility

The Korte Company says it has been given its 42nd contract to work on a U.S. Postal Service facility, and No. 42 comes with a $42 million contract.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 23, 2013

Cat turned out an altogether better backhoe in meeting emission standards

Lower engine emissions were bound to drive up price, so Caterpillar added features in its F series to help justify the expense for customers.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 22, 2013

Equipment dealers say 'no way' to proposed Buy America constraint

A U.S.-Canadian trade group a proposal to restrict equipment bought with federal money to American-made machines is all-around bad idea.

By Ron Gallagher • Sept. 22, 2013