Rendering of Google headquarters shows a worker-to-worker web

Google's latest foray into building a new headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., would have a collection of bent buildings that form courtyards, are connected and put every worker within 150 seconds of every other worker.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 25, 2013

Steel construction industry looks for advice on melding BIM, existing guidelines

The American Institute of Steel Construction wants to blend its existing guide to best practices with the growing use of building information modeling to drive projects.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 25, 2013

Explore the Trendline➔

Preconstruction

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

By Construction Dive staff

Boyer moves from Shaw Environmental to lead Atkins' North American arm

The England-based engineering and consulting firm has hired Joe Boyer to replace the retiring L. Dean Fox as CEO of the North American subsidiary of the company.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 25, 2013

Turner technique for transit tunnel: Expand, pour, collapse, move on

In Seattle, the company will use a framework that can be inserted into a tunnel and expanded to allow for pouring concrete, then collapsed back down and moved ahead for another pour.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 25, 2013

Dutch scientists announce self-healing concrete

In the wake of Korean scientists' devising a self-activated coating, Dutch scientists announced a bacterial mix-in patch which activates when water gets in the small cracks in concrete.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 22, 2013

The big thinking behind designing tiny apartments

The architect who won a contest to design a New York City micro apartment shares some insights on living large in a small space.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 22, 2013

Defense Dept. report: Green buildings save money

The National Research Council says the Defense Department is on the right track in requiring LEED Silver or better for new construction and large renovations.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 22, 2013

New line of modular Starbucks shops won't have chairs

The king of the coffee shops has a new look of about 500 square feet that will use local materials and will not offer seating.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 22, 2013

In R.I., there's a chance to have a 19th-century home by living at the mall

The nation's first indoor shopping mall – built in 1828 – fell victim to the 21st-century recession, but it's being reborn as mostly tiny apartments above small shops.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 21, 2013

Nice color on the polished concrete – but could you change that red, please?

Grand Prospect Corp. overcame several challenges in grinding and polishing concrete floors in the remodeling of Ted Stevens Airport, not least of which is a last-minute design change.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 21, 2013

Housing starts down, but builders say single-family is strong and permits are up

January federal data for housing starts shows the total fell 8.5% from December's pace, but the National Association of Home Builders lays that to normal multifamily volatility, not weakness.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 21, 2013

Engineer: Steel-laced concrete beams are development of seismic proportions

After working on a 24-story Seattle apartment building using steel-reinforced concrete to reduce the use of rebar, engineer Cary Kopczynski claims the new technique has arrived.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 20, 2013

New coating holds promise of self-repairing concrete

Researchers in Korea say they have developed a coating for concrete that carries micro-capsules of patching material that break open when concrete cracks.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 20, 2013

Rising materials prices in Jan. outpaced falling ones for 0.7% net increase

Construction materials pulling prices up out-muscled those pulling the average down last month for a net rise of 0.7%.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 20, 2013

Be ready if/when a construction accident happens

Nobody wants it but everybody should expect it and be ready with a plan and procedures to follow before an accident happens.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 20, 2013

Tunneling robot analyzes work, saves money and time

Edmonton, Alberta has tested a robot that tracks a tunnel's alignment in real time and generates as-built drawings, finding it to be a major time-saver.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 19, 2013

Commercial construction outlook: Better flat than backsliding

The backlog of signed commercial construction deals stuck at eight months from the third to the fourth quarters of 2012, and ABC expects that to remain the same through the first part of this year.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 19, 2013

Tips on how to win and keep community colleges as commercial clients

Community colleges are in great demand as displaced workers try to retrain, so it's worth hearing how to get and keep growing clients.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 19, 2013

ASCE group is developing building codes to cope with tsunamis

A group of engineers from the West Coast of the U.S. are working on codes to encourage designs that can better withstand the punishment of pounding water.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 19, 2013

Midst Pakistan's problems, perhaps the world's tallest building

A $45 billion investment deal for Pakistan appears to include construction of a tower that backers say will stretch above the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the current record holder.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 17, 2013

You can't buy what satisfied customers say about you for free

Treating customers well and making right any problems regardless of warranty gives you an advertiser for whom you could never pay enough.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 15, 2013

Big name backing big project brings approval in Michigan

Knowing the pain of disinvestment and downturn all too well, Michigan has approved a proposal by a group of investors that includes native son Earvin "Magic" Johnson.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 15, 2013

The big mo is behind U.S. motels

There appears to be no doubt among hotel investors that the industry has a bright U.S. future.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 15, 2013

Most Read Construction News of the Week: Labor, Obama and Lumber

Feel like you fell behind on the construction news this week? Get up to date with our recent popular reads.

By Brian Warmoth • Feb. 15, 2013

OSHA fines Ariz. contractor in death of worker struck by shovel bucket

The agency said Ellison-Mills Contracting of Casa Grande, Ariz., didn't take proper precautions that may have averted the accident during a waterline installation.

By Ron Gallagher • Feb. 14, 2013