Know What's Happening in Construction
Know What's Happening in Construction
U.S. Cement Shipments Dip 1.7% in 2025 as December Volume Slightly Rises
December 2025 cement shipments reached an estimated 6.82 million metric tons, a modest rise from 6.79 Mt a year earlier. Yet total shipments for the year fell 1.7% to about 101 Mt compared with 2024. Blended cement is overwhelmingly Type IL, making up 96% of blended tonnage, with Texas the top producer and consumer.
KATO Compact Excavator Sales launched the 110R rotating crawler carrier, a next‑generation machine built for North American job sites. The 110R features a full 360‑degree rotating upper structure, allowing dumps in any direction without repositioning. It combines an 11‑ton payload, 8 cu yd capacity, and a 256‑hp Cummins B6.7 engine within an 18.3‑ft footprint. Enhanced operator ergonomics include a 10.1‑in monitor and dual cameras for safety and comfort.
Rapid urbanisation across Africa is stretching water distribution networks, heightening the risk of pressure loss, pipe bursts, and supply interruptions. Utilities are turning to real‑time pressure monitoring as a strategic necessity to curb non‑revenue water and meet sustainability targets. VEGA...
An industry‑research partnership worth $1.2 million, involving Charles Darwin University, Civiltech Solutions and the Additive Manufacturing CRC, is developing an AI‑driven robotic system to detect and repair road cracks with minimal human input. The solution integrates LiDAR scanning, artificial intelligence, robotics...
Australia’s Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program has earmarked more than $107 million for 42 road upgrades, with $91 million targeted at regional projects. New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT will receive...
There’s no reality in which this country can do incredible things like this and then fail to build high speed rail, nuclear power and green energy.
The Housing Industry Association warns that proposed reforms to negative gearing and the capital gains tax (CGT) discount could sharply curtail new housing construction in Australia. Independent analysis suggests removing negative gearing may cut 46,000 homes, while scrapping the CGT...
The German government and the EU unveiled a massive rail investment package in response to the Iran‑induced oil supply shock after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Germany will allocate about €100 billion (≈$109 billion) for urban, regional and intercity rail,...
The Torrens to Darlington (T2D) Alliance has lifted the first 300‑tonne tunnel boring machine (TBM) cutterhead into the Southern Precinct launch box, marking a key milestone in South Australia’s $15.4 bn infrastructure program. The launch box, built after excavating roughly 120,000 m³...
In downtown Houston, an empty lot next to a light rail station becomes 375 housing units... April Fools! TxDOT actually knocked these apartments down to widen a highway. The top image is the after.
Luxury condo prices are climbing, with the median unit now at $1.8 million and ultra‑luxury units reaching $10‑15 million. Buyers expect premium sound isolation, prompting developers to treat acoustics as a core amenity rather than an afterthought. Industry panels at Bisnow’s South...
LaBella Associates, in partnership with Chartered Properties and Sunamp, won NYSERDA’s Empire Building Challenge by creating a replicable retrofit that electrifies multifamily apartments using thermal‑battery storage and air‑source heat pumps. The design stores heat during off‑peak hours or via hydronic...
The Minnesota Department of Transportation has launched a $1.5 billion construction program for 2026, encompassing more than 200 road projects across the state. The plan includes 41 new bridges, repairs or upgrades to 79 existing structures, and major resurfacing and interchange...
The Construction Conversations podcast reached its 30‑episode milestone, revealing recurring themes across leadership, technology, culture, and career development in the building sector. Guests consistently emphasized guiding teams through questions rather than directives, valuing curiosity over formal credentials, and earning authority...
Skyports Drone Services is remotely piloting a "drone‑in‑a‑box" system from its Madrid centre to conduct weekly BVLOS inspections of Hochtief’s Rheinbrücke Leverkusen bridge project north of Cologne. The flights generate 2D and 3D survey outputs via DroneDeploy, replacing infrequent, manually‑operated...
National Grid has launched a tender for a one‑year framework to install high‑voltage cable circuits across its UK network, valued at about £80 million (approximately $100 million) excluding VAT. The contracts cover 66 kV and 132 kV cables, with possible lower‑voltage work, jointing, testing,...
TeraWulf bought a Kentucky brownfield site to launch a multibillion‑dollar data center, leveraging 480 MW of power and low‑latency links to Midwest markets. At New York Build 2026, panelists warned that public sentiment now eclipses technical risk for such megaprojects. Developers are being urged...
Nista, the new UK authority formed by merging the National Infrastructure Commission and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, celebrated its first anniversary under CEO Becky Wood. In its inaugural year, the agency launched the 10‑Year Infrastructure Pipeline, a digital platform...
The Building Safety Regulator’s batching pilot, launched in September 2025, is delivering faster assessments, averaging four weeks across new‑build, remediation and refurbishment applications. In the latest 12‑week Gateway 2 update, 284 decisions were made with a 67% approval rate, covering 12,975...
The Technology and Construction Court issued a landmark ruling in Crest Nicholson v Ardmore, expanding Building Liability Orders (BLOs) under the Building Safety Act. The judgment enforced a £14.9 million (≈$19 million) adjudicator’s award and, for the first time, introduced an anticipatory...
The UK government has launched a £15 bn Warm Homes Plan, aiming to retrofit five million homes by 2030 with insulation, solar panels and heat pumps. The programme seeks to lower energy bills and meet national carbon‑reduction targets. Contractors and housing providers...
Network Rail has completed a major roof refurbishment at London’s Liverpool Street station, Britain’s busiest rail hub, by replacing thousands of discoloured glazing panels across an 11,000 m² area. The work was carried out during five weekend closures in March, turning...
GeoPura and Forth Ports have signed a 10‑year agreement to build a commercial‑scale green hydrogen plant at the Port of Tilbury. The initial 1 MW electrolyser, powered by rooftop solar, will start construction this year, backed by a £2 million ($2.5 million) seed...
Two major roundabouts on the A12 have opened, enhancing access to the Sizewell C nuclear power station construction site in East Suffolk, which will host nearly 8,000 workers at peak. The new junctions replace congested older intersections, improving safety and...
Tunisia's parliament approved a 16‑million‑dinar (≈$51.9 million) loan from the Arab Fund to fund major upgrades of the state‑owned SNCFT rail network. The first phase, budgeted at $138 million, will renew 190 km of track, while a $546 million second phase will cover an...
California HSR just released an interim plan to connect Los Angeles once the SF-to-Central Valley alignment is finished, rather than waiting to complete 28 miles of tunnels. The catch? The interim connection takes nearly 2 hours via existing Metrolink tracks,...
A dumb idea you're all going to hate: at this point, they should just prioritize opening this as operational Central Valley high-speed rail as soon as possible. The extension from Merced to Stockton/Sacramento is easy, and at least as useful...
The Ground Data for Growth Bill cleared its first reading, mandating a national repository for all geotechnical data in the UK. Industry leaders, including Arcadis, AtkinsRéalis, Arup, and the British Geological Survey, helped shape the legislation through a dedicated roundtable....
Berlin-based Ecoworks secured a €23 million contract to retrofit 192 apartments across 12 post‑war cooperative buildings in Hagen. The renovation will employ prefabricated façade panels, insulation upgrades, new windows, electric shutters, roof insulation and on‑site photovoltaic integration, aiming for a 36 %...
A tunnel boring machine (TBM) has begun excavating a 5.6 km stretch of Madrid Metro’s Line 11 extension between Comillas and Conde de Casal, advancing at roughly 15 m per day. The central 6.9‑km segment, part of a planned 33‑km “Great Diagonal” line...
The Federation of Master Builders and the Chartered Institute of Building report that 49% of UK small‑and‑medium builders are experiencing project delays because of a deepening skilled‑labour shortage, up from 61% earlier in the year. One in five firms have...
NBS, part of Hubexo, has teamed with Circular Ecology to publish a practical guide that embeds embodied carbon data into BIM objects. The guide tackles fragmented carbon information by applying BS EN 15804 A1‑A5 metrics at the object level using a...
The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) is offering members a guided tour of the Houlton Primary School in Rugby, a £12 million (~$15 million) Passivhaus‑certified project built with cross‑laminated timber (CLT). The school’s timber frame is nearing completion and features high‑performance windows,...
Urban density and soaring land values force cities to choose between large civic buildings and open public space. The article examines how the modernist pilotis concept, introduced to create a sense of lightness, enables the design of civic voids that...
Irish homebuilder Cairn Homes has entered a multi‑year enterprise agreement with DroneDeploy, deploying the firm’s aerial and ground reality‑capture platform across more than 25 residential projects. The partnership standardises the use of drones, 360‑degree cameras and handheld 3D scanners, delivering...
The South Shore Line inaugurated the Monon Corridor, an eight‑mile spur from Hammond Gateway to a new Munster/Dyer station, adding wheelchair‑accessible and bike‑friendly stops at South Hammond and Munster Ridge. The project, financed by a $1.5 billion federal grant, was celebrated...
This is great. The Midwest built some truly insane urban freeways, and is now taking the right approach on removing them: don't replace them with a giant dead park, or a dangerous boulevard, but a multimodal corridor surrounded by a...
Southwest Metro has entered the final integration phase for the Bankstown extension, testing trains, signalling, platform screen doors, gap fillers and station systems together for the first time. Over 2,500 of the required 9,000 testing hours and 17,000 of 30,000...
Serco has secured a contract to design and build a new freight vessel for Lord Howe Island, part of NSW’s Critical Infrastructure Program, ensuring supply for the next 40 years. The vessel will feature roll‑on/roll‑off and lift‑on/lift‑off capabilities, handling up...
Testing of a new rooftop helipad at John Hunter Hospital has been completed, marking a key milestone in the $835 million redevelopment of the John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct. The helipad, 30 metres above ground with two landing pads and a...
Akron just released its plan to demolish its hardly used inter freeway belt to make room for 4,500 homes and re-stitch the street grid. Please please please make this happen.
Connecting Madison and Milwaukee via rail is painfully obvious. The Hiawatha West service is a must, and I am glad Amtrak is working to get it across the line over the next few years. Thoughts?
Purple pipe designates pipelines that transport reclaimed, non‑potable water, distinguishing them from drinking‑water and wastewater lines. Utilities adopt these color‑coded networks to stretch limited potable supplies, lower wastewater discharges, and boost system resilience. The approach follows standards from the AWWA...
Lennar—America’s second-largest homebuilder—had to spend $62,700 on incentives per average home sale last year Back in 2022, that figure was $17,300 via @ResidentialClub
Rolls‑Royce’s MTU power‑systems division has begun construction of a 43 MW, 86 MWh battery‑storage facility at Falkirk’s Bankside site under an EPC contract with Voltario Helios Energy Storage. The plant will connect to the grid later this year and become operational in...
Barhale, a UK‑based civil engineering and tunnelling specialist, has launched Barhale Canada Inc in Toronto, marking its first permanent North American base. The new unit will concentrate on clean‑water resilience, stormwater management, and the firm’s Low Carbon Solutions portfolio. Early...
Assembly has started on two 14.42‑metre diameter Earth Pressure Balance TBMs for Mumbai’s Goregaon‑Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project, marking India’s largest TBM deployment. The machines, supplied by TERRATEC and managed by J.Kumar‑NCC JV for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, are being...
Dawsongroup Energy Solutions has taken delivery of JCB’s first hydrogen internal‑combustion generator, the G60RS H genset, designed for top‑up and peak‑power alongside battery and grid supply. The unit matches diesel performance while emitting zero carbon at the point of use and...
Construction is entering an AI‑first era where new firms embed technology directly into delivery processes rather than selling standalone software. Recent stealth launch Zero RFI ($13.8 M) and Unlimited Industries ($12 M) illustrate investor appetite for vertically integrated, AI‑native contractors, while private...
The Victorian Government will enforce the 2025 update of the National Construction Code (NCC) on May 1, 2024, giving the building sector just 30 days to adjust. In contrast, Queensland and New South Wales have postponed their adoption until May 2027, citing industry...
Rawlinsons has launched Estimator Suite+, a web‑based platform that gives Australian design and construction professionals full access to the nation’s most extensive cost database. The solution provides over 22,000 current cost lines for 34 building types and historic data dating...
