Punch List: Firms Shake-Up C-Suites, Fluor Nabs 2 Energy Jobs
Fluor secured two early‑stage engineering contracts in Texas, one for America First Refining’s first new U.S. refinery in 50 years and another for X‑energy’s proposed small modular reactor. Executive reshuffles saw Skanska promote John Calvin to VP of Mid‑Atlantic operations, BL Companies hire CFO Shannon Cavallo, and Turner Construction appoint Dawn Paquette as CIO. OSHA’s Heat National Emphasis Program expired after four years of heightened inspections, while Balfour Beatty US announced a Dallas office move to a new tower aimed at talent attraction.
4 Takeaways From New York Build 2026
At New York Build 2026, construction firms highlighted a booming data‑center market but warned of rising community opposition, power constraints, data‑quality challenges for AI, and the need for prefabrication. Public pushback in dense urban areas may trigger moratoriums, while securing reliable electricity is...
Mortenson Acquires Energy Management Controls Firm
Mortenson, the Minneapolis‑based construction giant, has acquired California‑based Nor‑Cal Controls, a specialist in control systems for solar, battery storage and microgrid projects. The deal adds in‑house expertise for interfacing energy assets with the grid, complementing Mortenson’s portfolio of nearly 60...
Why High-Rise Construction Carries Higher Liability Risk
U.S. construction is booming upward as cities convert office towers into mixed‑use high‑rise buildings, but the vertical shift is driving a surge in fall‑related injuries and litigation. In 2024, more than 300 construction workers died from falls, many on multi‑story...
Trump Calls for 50% Tariff on Goods From Nations Arming Iran
President Donald Trump announced via Truth Social an immediate 50% tariff on goods from any nation supplying military weapons to Iran. The White House has not released formal documentation, leaving the legal authority unclear after the Supreme Court recently blocked...
JE Dunn Launches Offsite Manufacturing Arm
JE Dunn has created Form Off‑Site Solutions, an off‑site manufacturing subsidiary that will produce metal, wood, building‑skin, and multi‑trade assemblies. The unit offers end‑to‑end services from product planning and design through engineering, fabrication, shipping and logistics. Leveraging five years of...
Startups Are Everywhere in Construction. Builders Want Them to Meet the Moment.
Construction productivity has lagged far behind other sectors, with McKinsey reporting only 0.4% annual gains from 2000‑2022. Builders are now adopting technologies—AI, autonomous equipment, and digital invoicing—to close the gap, and many are partnering with later‑stage startups to customize solutions....
What Adjusted Steel, Aluminum and Copper Tariffs Mean for Construction
The Trump administration has raised Section 232 tariffs to as high as 50% on pure steel, aluminum and copper products, with a 25% levy on derivative goods substantially made of those metals. Contractors say the impact will vary: some materials may...
Exit Interview: Adolfson & Peterson’s Outgoing CEO on War Impacts, Construction Costs
Adolfson & Peterson CEO Jeff Hansen announced his retirement effective June 1 after a decade at the helm, during which the firm expanded from roughly $500 million to an anticipated $2.3 billion in revenue. The company posted a 25 % revenue jump from 2020 to 2021, leveraging...
5 State DOTs Kick Off Construction Season with Infrastructure Projects
State departments of transportation across the Midwest and West are launching the 2026 construction season with a combined investment exceeding $15 billion. Minnesota will execute more than 200 projects, including a $195 million Highway 65 reconstruction, while Ohio leads with $3.4 billion for 977...
Los Angeles to Open Subway Extension May 8
Los Angeles Metro’s D Line extension will open on May 8, 2026, adding a 3.92‑mile underground stretch from Union Station to La Cienega Boulevard with three new stations. The segment shortens the downtown‑to‑Beverly Hills trip to 21 minutes and is projected to generate 16,200...
5 Policy Principles that Will Be Key to Next Surface Transportation Bill
Congress is drafting the next multiyear surface‑transportation bill as the Highway Trust Fund faces a projected shortfall by 2028. A Consumer Reports white paper outlines five policy principles and compares six funding mechanisms, from modest fuel‑tax hikes to a $250...
Why Power Access Is Critical to Data Center Site Locations
Power availability has become the primary driver of data center design, influencing layout, phasing, and cooling strategies from the outset. Lenders now require executed power purchase agreements or firm interconnection commitments before committing capital, turning power certainty into a financing...
Get More Out of Your FCA: The 5-Step Guide for Education Facilities Teams
Facility condition assessments (FCAs) in education are traditionally labor‑intensive, requiring teams to sift through disparate records and rebuild asset data every few years. Industry research shows that manual O&M data entry can cost 2–4% of project budgets—up to $3.2 million on...
Granite Scoops up $114M Job Segment on California’s Highway 101
Granite Construction secured a $114 million contract to rebuild Segment 4E North of California’s Highway 101 between Hermosillo Road and Salinas Street. The scope adds a new peak‑period carpool lane in each direction, replaces left‑hand ramps with right‑hand ramps, and installs a teardrop roundabout...
NABTU, CPWR Partner with Bechtel-Backed Suicide Prevention Initiative
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Hard Hat Courage program has teamed with the North America Building Trades Union (NABTU) and safety research firm CPWR to embed mental‑health and suicide‑prevention standards across construction sites. Backed by a $7 million Bechtel donation, the initiative...
Punch List: Turner Files $7M Lien, NYC Skyscrapers Are World’s Most Expensive
Turner Construction filed a $7 million lien on the $180 million Fairmont Heritage Place The Cedars condo project in Hendersonville, North Carolina, after stopping work and removing its crane. The lien reflects rising payment pressures in the multifamily sector, where delinquencies have...
Data Centers Must Have a Community Benefits Spec: NY Build Panel
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...
Construction at an ‘Inflection Point’: New ASCE CEO
Peter O’Neil has taken the helm as CEO of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) just as the U.S. infrastructure sector experiences historic investment and a historic “C” grade on ASCE’s own report card. He will oversee the upcoming...
How to Navigate the NRLB’s Joint Employer Rule Reversion
In February the National Labor Relations Board revoked the Biden‑era joint‑employer standard and restored the 2020 Trump‑administration rule, which limits joint‑employer status to companies that exercise direct, immediate control over a vital employment aspect such as wages. The earlier rule...
Construction Data Woes Hold Back Robot Use
Construction firms are deploying robots and AI to automate tasks like wall layout scanning and schedule analysis, promising faster decisions and risk mitigation. However, executives at New York Build 2026 warned that these tools are only as reliable as the...
Jacobs Wins Awards on $4.9B Wisconsin Infrastructure Project
Jacobs has secured multiple design contracts for Wisconsin’s $4.9 billion I‑39/I‑90/I‑94 modernization program, covering roughly 67 miles between Madison and Wisconsin Dells. The contracts make Jacobs lead designer for segment 3, including interstate widening, new interchanges, bridge reconstruction, and flood‑resilient roadway elevation. Initial...
Walbridge Uses Contech to Reduce Waste on $2.5B Ford Build
Walbridge partnered with Michigan‑based Woodchuck to cut waste on Ford's $2.5 billion BlueOval Battery Park project. In the first three months, the builder realized 40% of its projected material‑savings, diverting thousands of tons of wood, cardboard, plastic and metal from landfills. Woodchuck’s...
Granite Wins $495M in Southern Border Work
Granite Construction has been awarded a $495 million contract from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to build the LRT‑4 Webb‑Zapata project in southern Texas. The scope covers 27 miles of tactical infrastructure, including roads, fencing, bridges, culverts, low‑water crossings, and extensive electrical...
Walsh-Turner JV Finishes $1.5B Ohio State University Hospital
Chicago‑based Walsh Construction and New York‑based Turner Construction have completed a new 26‑story, 1.9‑million‑square‑foot hospital for Ohio State University at a construction cost of $1.5 billion. The Wexner Medical Center University Hospital tower houses 820 beds, 24 operating rooms, extensive NICU,...
New York City’s Data Center Opportunity May Lie on the ‘Edge’: Panel
A New York Build 2026 panel warned that the city’s aging electrical grid and strict environmental regulations could block traditional hyperscale data‑center projects, even as AI‑driven demand surges nationwide. Panelists argued the realistic path forward lies in smaller, edge‑focused facilities and vertical designs...
Barton Malow Makes C-Suite, Executive Changes
Barton Malow announced expanded duties for four senior leaders, including two C‑suite members. Brandon Booth shifts from chief legal officer to chief strategy and risk officer, overseeing enterprise strategy, innovation, outside investments and built‑environment growth. CFO Brandon Yezbick adds the...
When AI Chatbots Hallucinate, Infrastructure Pays
Construction firms are rapidly adopting generative AI copilots to speed document search and summarization. However, AI hallucinations—confident but incorrect outputs—can embed false information into safety logs, claims, and design decisions, risking costly errors. The article stresses that text alone is...
Georgia Advances $4.6B SR400 P3 Infrastructure Project
Georgia’s Department of Transportation has launched a $4.6 billion, 16‑mile State Route 400 Express Lanes project, with construction slated to begin in April 2026. The corridor will be delivered and operated for 56 years by SR400 Peach Partners, a consortium of Acciona Concessions,...
Turner Goes Vertical on $900M Pennsylvania Hospital Expansion
Turner Construction has begun vertical construction on an 11‑story, 600,000‑square‑foot expansion at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, a $900 million project that will raise bed capacity from 356 to 500 and increase operating rooms to 18. The tower will contain more...
Builders Face Uncertainty without New Highway Bill: Association Exec
Industry leaders met with the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee to discuss the looming expiration of the current surface‑transportation authorization on Sept. 30, 2026. The Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) is urging Congress to pass a new five‑year highway bill, targeting roughly $550 billion...
‘It’s Not Weak to Speak’: NYC Construction Unions Launch Mental Health Initiative
The Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York launched the Building Trades Peer Support Network to combat the construction industry’s alarming suicide rate. The program aims to train 1,000 peer supporters—about 1% of its 100,000 members—to identify and...
With Record Backlog, Balfour Beatty Targets More U.S. Data Center Jobs
Balfour Beatty announced a strategic push into U.S. data center construction, leveraging its two‑decade experience in shells and cores. The firm reported a record £22.7 billion backlog and a 7.5% revenue increase to £10.8 billion for 2025, with pre‑tax profit jumping 51%...
Bryan Construction Names New CFO
Bryan Construction announced that Kristi Rader will serve as its new chief financial officer, bringing more than 25 years of financial leadership after joining the firm in September 2023. Rader, formerly controller at Norwood Development Group, will oversee finance, accounting,...
6 Contech Firms Raise a Combined $126M
Six construction‑technology startups raised a combined $126 million in early 2026, underscoring AI’s surge in the sector. London‑based Fyld secured $41 million to expand its video‑based safety analytics, while Colorado’s Sensera Systems closed $27 million for its OSHA‑focused SiteCloud platform. San Francisco’s XBuild,...
AECOM Wins 3 Contracts on $1B Seattle Light-Rail Work Package
AECOM secured three multiple‑award task order contracts from Sound Transit as part of a $1 billion engineering services package for Seattle’s light‑rail expansion. The five‑year awards cover construction management, civil and structural design, and planning and environmental services. While the contract...
Tampa Bay Rays Unveil Designs, Plans for $2.3B Ballpark
Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays unveiled renderings for a $2.3 billion, 31,000‑seat ballpark anchored in a 130‑acre mixed‑use development in Tampa’s Westshore District. The team will finance 50 % of the cost, while Hillsborough County and the city are expected to...
Penzance to Invest $4B for West Virginia Data Center Build
Penzance, a Washington, D.C.-based real‑estate developer, announced a $4 billion private investment to build a 1.9 million‑square‑foot data center campus in Berkeley County, West Virginia. The facility will generate 600 MW of IT power and create roughly 1,000 construction jobs during development. The...
DPR Opens New Silicon Valley HQ, Establishes Tech-Forward Prefab Lab
DPR Construction opened a 113,702‑square‑foot flagship campus in Santa Clara, consolidating its administrative, craft and prefabrication teams. The site includes 68,160 sq ft of open office space and a 45,542 sq ft Prefabrication Assembly Facility that uses virtual design tools to pre‑assemble building components....
Data Centers Propelled Turner to Record $29.2B in Revenue in 2025
Turner Construction posted a record $29.2 billion in 2025 revenue, a 40% jump from the prior year, cementing its position as the largest U.S. contractor by revenue. The firm’s backlog surged 34% to $44.3 billion, with data‑center projects accounting for roughly 37%...
WSP Cautions Against ‘AI Hysteria’ on Q4 Earnings Call
WSP’s CEO Alexandre L’Heureux told investors that the firm is not threatened by the current wave of AI hype, describing the market mood as shifting from “AI euphoria to AI hysteria.” He highlighted the company’s “machine‑in‑the‑middle” approach, where human expertise...
Autodesk Invests $200M in AI Startup
Autodesk announced a $200 million investment in World Labs, marking the largest startup deal in its history. The funding pushes World Labs' total capital to $1 billion and backs its Marble platform, which creates 3D environments from images, video, or text. Autodesk...
