'GoldieBlox' toy line tells girls they can be engineers with viral hit

A Stanford engineering graduate who wants solid encouragement for girls to go into technical fields has a building toy called GoldieBlox and a YouTube-sensation commercial.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 20, 2013

Mass. development hits brakes for redesign as construction costs rise

The proposed 15-story high-rise in Quincy has already become a six-story mid-rise.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 20, 2013

Explore the Trendline➔

Preconstruction

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

By Construction Dive staff

U.S. charges N.J. contractor skipped millions in personal, workers' taxes

The U.S. attorney in New Jersey said Frank Chimento Jr. did not collect federal and state taxes from workers, did not make union benefit payments and dodged his own taxes.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 20, 2013

Big projects kick Oct. construction starts up 5%

The value of construction begun last month hit an annual pace of $585.6 billion, but McGraw-Hill Construction attributed some of the jump to one-time starts.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 20, 2013

Braves plan to play ball outside Atlanta, starting in 2017

The National League franchise will be in a new stadium in Cobb County if the public-private project being pitched to county commissioners is approved next week.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 20, 2013

Crews spend two hours freeing worker after Mass. trench collapse

A man who was with a crew constructing a sewer-line extension in Ipswich was partially buried in sand, dirt and asphalt.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 19, 2013

New offering applies BIM to road design and construction

Taking building information modeling on the road as a design tool for highway and bridge engineers made perfect sense to software company Autodesk.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 19, 2013

Third-quarter construction backlog mostly holds steady

Associated Builders and Contractors' average backlog of work for all nonresidential construction held fast at 8.2 months from the second quarter to the third, but some sectors were up and others continued to decline.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 19, 2013

Survey: Construction faces skilled-labor shortage

Consulting company FMI said its 2013 survey of managers at contracting firms found more than half saying they were having difficulty getting the workers they need.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 18, 2013

Nature huffs, puffs and blows down building's facade in Wisconsin

Officials in Racine, Wis., say strong winds Sunday night pulled the brick facade of a building from 1920 to the street and onto a car.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 18, 2013

Despite recovery, construction's 'good old days' not expected

Business is certainly better than in the post-bubble years, but no one who writes insurance policies for the new buildings is expecting the old days to return.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 18, 2013

Construction, programming pros come together in hackathon

Team construction people with computer people and turn them loose on a problem, and the solutions can quickly become highly creative.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 18, 2013

Partnership aims for clarity and certainty about materials' LEED status

The environmental division of Underwriters Laboratories and the U.S. Green Building Council have undertaken an effort to assure correct LEED information.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 18, 2013

Cover your site, yourself and your workers with a written safety plan

Before scaffolding goes up or equipment rolls in, create a written safety plan specific to the job at hand and make every worker acknowledge getting a copy.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 17, 2013

Contractors likely among owners of Ram trucks in 1.2 million-vehicle recall

Chrysler will begin a three-phase recall to find what it thinks may be 453,000 Ram trucks in the 1500 through 5500 series with misaligned tie rods.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 17, 2013

Fla. contractor fined $77K for fatal 70-foot plunge

Coastal Masonry of Pompano Beach, Fla., has two weeks to decide if it will raise arguments against the fine levied by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 17, 2013

U.S. highway funding: What's wrong with this picture?

As explained by one state's DOT chief, issues are simply a matter of costs and habits changing, taxes staying the same and numbers adding up the way they always have.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 15, 2013

One World Trade Center is now America's tallest tower

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat ruled that the tower's spire counts.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 14, 2013

OSHA drops $397,000 in fines on demo contractors in fatal Philadelphia collapse

The government is continuing its probe of the June 5 wall collapse that killed six and hurt 14, but said no one would have died "if the two employers had followed very obvious and very basic safety precautions…."

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 14, 2013

National, global feedback hope to help communities gauge building codes

A U.S. nonprofit and the ISO are working together in hopes of helping communities have building codes that match with natural forces they should expect.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 14, 2013

Newest LEED standard records first gold effort with Chinese project

LEED v4, approved in recent months, has a gold winner — a showroom-cum-workspace in Beijing.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 14, 2013

U.S. grant supports safety training for highway construction workers

The American Traffic Safety Services Association is receiving $2.2 million to take its training programs around the country to reach as many workers as possible.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 13, 2013

Va. construction accident claims worker

In Virginia Beach, Va., authorities are investigating what happened in a fatal accident Nov. 13.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 13, 2013

CT scans can assess strength of fiber-reinforced concrete

Scientists who developed the method hope it will help the material gain acceptance.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 13, 2013

Guide to steel-building stability specs emphasizes practical application

A new design guide from the American Institute of Steel Construction is intended to make it easier for engineers to use stability-assessment methods specified in 2005 AISC specifications.

By Ron Gallagher • Nov. 13, 2013