Skanksa, robots and China: This week's most read construction news

Head into your weekend better informed with this weeks most popular Construction Dive posts.

By Brian Warmoth • July 19, 2013

Fed's latest national economic report is good on construction, real estate

The latest Beige Book—the Federal Reserve's eight-time-a-year look at the economy across its regions—has good, if modest, things to say about construction.

By Ron Gallagher • July 18, 2013

Explore the Trendline➔

Preconstruction

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

By Construction Dive staff

Look for new OSHA rules on silica dust by month's end

The American Subcontractors Association expects new permissible levels of silica-dust exposure for construction workers to be issued by July 31.

By Ron Gallagher • July 18, 2013

Clients will need contractors' help if inflation takes hold in U.S.

Looking at construction from the customers' side, two Leopardo Cos. executives explain what pressures on projects will come if inflation accompanies recovery.

By Ron Gallagher • July 18, 2013

LEGO has a humdinger for you if you like building in your off-hours, too

The company that rules the world in plastic-brick building is bringing out a 2,989-brick $300-plus version of the Sydney Opera House.

By Ron Gallagher • July 18, 2013

Multifamily drags down June housing starts and permits

Multifamily housing, always more volatile than the single-family market, pulled June housing starts and building permits down 9.9% and 7.5%, respectively.

By Ron Gallagher • July 18, 2013

Another bright idea: An iPhone app to help light your site

Available for iPad and iPhone, the app lets you bring up a satellite image of the construction area and experiment with various arrangements and types of lighting.

By Ron Gallagher • July 17, 2013

Less sulfur in diesel means bigger explosion risk, machinery-makers warn

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers says that newly-required low-sulfur diesel cannot dissipate static electricity as well as the old, so proper fueling is critical.

By Ron Gallagher • July 17, 2013

Real estate giant CBRE funds research on commercial green building

CBRE set up a program to put $1 million into research into real-world opportunities and effects of green building, and the company has selected five projects to back.

By Ron Gallagher • July 17, 2013

Public-private plan for Nev. highway project breaks new ground

In need of I-15 improvements in Las Vegas that would suck up too much of the state's bonding capability, Nevada is going with a 35-year public-private partnership.

By Ron Gallagher • July 16, 2013

Robots in construction: How soon, how much?

Even people who do not like the idea seem to agree that robots will play some role in construction as we go forward.

By Ron Gallagher • July 15, 2013

Architects, engineers don't really know about demolition, industry group tells Pa.

Pennsylvania is looking at regulations in the wake of the June collapse that killed six in Philadelphia, but the NDA wants a second opinion.

By Ron Gallagher • July 15, 2013

Materials prices finish second quarter with almost no increase

Construction materials prices as a whole finished June down 0.1% from May and are just about even with the first quarter of the year, federal figures show.

By Ron Gallagher • July 15, 2013

Lawsuit settlement in Calif. is cautionary tale for engineers

With interest running at $14,000 a day during an appeal, Jacobs Engineering cut its losses and settled with its former client.

By Ron Gallagher • July 15, 2013

Driggs promoted to president of Heery International

Rich Driggs came aboard the Parsons Brinckerhoff subsidiary last year as national director of construction management after 21 years with Lend Lease.

By Ron Gallagher • July 15, 2013

Sequestration effect: Bigger fish are feeding in a smaller pool of gov't work

Contractors who seek smaller federal contracts are finding themselves competing now with big new names.

By Ron Gallagher • July 14, 2013

20-story Atlanta Ferris wheel to open after construction 'oops'

A construction surprise delayed the Fourth of July opening of a 20-story Atlanta Ferris wheel – electrical ducts no one expected to find.

By Ron Gallagher • July 13, 2013

Prescott, Ariz., code to raise standards, post energy numbers for buyers

As soon as the city council approves, 2012 international codes will be incorporated in municipal building codes, and builders will have to test finished systems.

By Ron Gallagher • July 12, 2013

Bentley Systems' map app brings geospatial data to field devices

The company, which makes a range of design software, is boosting its output of applications for tablets and smartphones used by field workers.

By Ron Gallagher • July 12, 2013

LEEDv4 and apartments: This week's most read construction news

Head into the weekend better informed with the week's most popular news posts.

By Brian Warmoth • July 12, 2013

Philly construction worker hurt; sheared bolt in steel frame blamed

Another Philadelphia construction worker has been involved in a collapse, this time on a construction site instead of a demolition job.

By Ron Gallagher • July 12, 2013

Canadian police plan 'tattoos' to give them an edge over equipment thieves

In Edmonton, Alberta, police will begin giving away ultraviolet markers and hard-to-remove paint to contractors, urging them to "tattoo" their equipment.

By Ron Gallagher • July 11, 2013

Vest with lights sewn in is a bright safety idea

A Colorado company developed a safety vest that uses lights, including lighted words, to make workers much more visible at night.

By Ron Gallagher • July 11, 2013

Federal buildings will have to meet ASHRAE's latest standards

The Department of Energy has new rules that require federal buildings to be built to meet the latest standards for energy conservation.

By Ron Gallagher • July 11, 2013

Skanska to U.S. Chamber: No LEEDv4, no Skanska

In a dispute that revolves around whether LEED will effectively be blocked as a standard for federal buildings, Skanska USA has withdrawn from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

By Ron Gallagher • July 11, 2013