Mechanic: Lift was being misused when fatal tip happened

A worker died in Canada in 2011 when a lift tipped with him in the basket, and a mechanic told a coroner's inquest recently that an alarm appeared to have been blocked.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 20, 2013

Demand for composite beam depends on 'subculture' favoring new ways of building

John Hillman, inventor of the hybrid composite beam, admits its hard to crack the market with a proprietary product, but says there are engineers, contractors and owners who want it.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 20, 2013

Explore the Trendline➔

Recruiting, retention and training in construction

A roundup on articles focus on recruiting and retention for construction.

By Construction Dive staff

Housing project in L.A. sized up for $1 billion mixed-use makeover

The Los Angeles City Council wants to replace 700 apartments in one of its worst neighborhoods with 1,800 mixed-income units, green space and retail.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 20, 2013

Dallas code would take a lot of the shine off new downtown towers

New building code language awaiting a City Council decision would limit reflectivity of new buildings to 15% of the exterior surface in a war on glare.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 20, 2013

Hollywood skyscraper developer worried about fault line

Digging down will reveal whether 35- and 39-story towers can go up in Hollywood or if the Hollywood Fault runs under the project, which would kill it.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 20, 2013

Construction workers get credit for collaring Ore. bank-heist suspect

When a man suspected of robbing a Portland, Ore., bank took a swing at a construction worker, his flight from the crime scene came to a quick end.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 19, 2013

Mortenson Construction gets federal award for using small businesses

Mortenson officials said their company started small, and they know how important it is to get a seat at the table when work on major projects is available.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 19, 2013

Next phase of Cincinnati's The Banks development to break ground in December

Developers are confident, but county approval still awaits.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 19, 2013

Monitor worn on a hard hat protects from carbon monoxide build-up

A prototype device that's easily attached to a worker's hard hat monitors carbon monoxide levels for safety in enclosed work areas.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 19, 2013

Construction manager certification gets industry group's backing

A program that certifies managers as having the skills to handle commercial construction projects has been endorsed by the Construction Industry Institute.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 18, 2013

Common-area lighting requires some thinking in commercial refits

Contractors who are helping clients through a commercial rehabilitation need to think through conventional lighting when weighing it against new technologies.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 16, 2013

AGC urges contractors to be heard on immigration reform

The construction industry has a significant stake in immigration reform, and Associated General Contractors is urging members and others to make sure members of Congress know it.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 16, 2013

Design-build advocate claims 40% usage among U.S. nonresidential projects

The Design-Build Institute of America commissioned a new report assessing how frequently design-build gets chosen.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 15, 2013

Gilbane foresees growing nonresidential volume, but also costs, for rest of 2013

Gilbane Building Co. says in its summer analysis of nonresidential building construction that the outlook for the rest of this year is good, but all of a 2013 construction gain of 5% will be from residential.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 15, 2013

Construction materials prices hold the line in July in government index

Construction materials overall were going for the same prices in July as in June, which put them 2% from July 2012 and a little bit behind the rise in all wholesale goods for the period.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 14, 2013

Toyota gunning for more of the work-truck market with lower Tundra prices

Toyota's fleet of 2014 Tundra full-size pickups is down $263 overall from the sticker prices on 2013 models, and it's biggest seller gets $650 worth of equipment for the same price.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 14, 2013

New tech lets materials tell you when they degrade

Australian researchers have a preliminary version of a system that uses transducers and waves' behavior.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 14, 2013

O'Hare modernization has been an exhibition of staging excellence

The assignment: Remake and add to the nation's busiest airport while keeping planes flying and 68 million passengers a year getting onto and off them.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 14, 2013

The warehouse of 2020: Turn that big, flat box into a tower of e-commerce power

Winners a NAIOP competition thought about what distribution and fulfillment centers will look like at the end of the decade.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 14, 2013

Allocate overhead by man-hours worked in the field, consultant advises

Consultant Ron Roberts argues that for trade contractors, allocating overhead based on project costs will not give an accurate picture of how you did on a contract.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 13, 2013

Construction industry: What will driverless cars mean for infrastructure?

When transportation thinkers and bigwigs get together this fall for a conference, they're going to ask about self-driven vehicles.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 13, 2013

Study suggests safety incentives can drive under-reporting

The Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) backs a study that found fear of losing safety incentive money sometimes keep workers from reporting injuries.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 13, 2013

Texas takes aim at bogus use of 'self-employed' workers

Claiming workers are not actually employees of any contractor or sub on a building project may leave them unpaid and the state without taxes it should collect on the wages.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 12, 2013

A 242-ton crane with a delicate touch for wind-turbine work

In Kansas, a new giant from Liebherr with a telescoping 197-foot boom and variable-width tracks is helping move among the windmills as Transportation Partners and Logistics assembles the towers.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 12, 2013

How do you raise a New Jersey coastal town 11 feet?

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study will look at whether or not it's an option for Highlands, N.J.

By Ron Gallagher • Aug. 11, 2013