Tag: construction: Page 173

Business

Economists hail construction as strongest sector of U.S. economy

With construction spending at a 7-year high, single-family home starts up 19 percent year over year, and hiring at pre-recession highs despite a widespread shortage of skilled workers, it’s no secret within the industry that things have picked back up and then some. And though financial analysts have largely taken a wait-and-see approach before hailing the […]

September 16, 2015

Roadbuilding

AGC expands highway work zone safety training with $120,000 federal grant

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) will be expanding its highway work zone safety programs next year via the $120,000 Susan Harwood Training Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL). AGC officials said the grant would be used to offer training classes “designed to prevent injuries among highway, street and bridge construction workers”. […]

September 16, 2015

Roadbuilding

Worker struck and killed by dump truck in Tampa work zone

A construction worker doing pavement work died last week after he was hit by a dump truck. According to WFLA, 26-year-old Kimbrough Haines III was working on Veterans Expressway in Tampa late Wednesday night when the dump truck he was standing behind began to back up. Haines was hit by the truck and stuck underneath. […]

September 16, 2015

Business

Number of construction firms reporting shortage of skilled workers rises to 86%

The construction industry’s shortage of skilled workers has only gotten worse in the last year, according to the latest national survey of firms conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America. Surveying 1,358 contractors, the AGC study found that 86 percent are struggling to fill salaried professional positions and find enough hourly skilled, or craft, […]

September 15, 2015

Safety

Worker killed in retaining wall collapse in New York City

One worker was killed and two others injured in a retaining wall collapse in New York City earlier this month. According to a report from the New York Times, 19-year-old Fernando Vanegas was working on a Brooklyn jobsite where crews were converting a one-story commercial building into a five-story building with residential units. On September 4, a […]

September 15, 2015

Roadbuilding

West Virginia DOT workers spit on, cussed out by drivers angered by construction

Road work is already a dangerous job, but some drivers in West Virginia aren’t making things any easier for the guys in the reflective vests. The West Virginia Department of Transportation told WSAZ that more and more frequently, workers with the Division of Highways have been facing harassment from drivers in work zones. WVDOT Communications […]

September 10, 2015

Roadbuilding

Wisconsin sheriff calls for legislation against driving with pets following highway worker’s death

A Wisconsin highway worker was killed in May after he was hit by a vehicle driven by an inattentive driver. But the driver wasn’t texting or drunk, he had a dog in his lap and another on his shoulder. WBAY reported that Derek Stempa was working as a flagger during a county highway project when […]

September 10, 2015

Safety

Worker killed in fall from scaffolding on NYC jobsite

A construction worker on New York City’s Upper East side was killed last week after suffering a fall. According to a report from the New York Daily News, 30-year-old Juan Cerezo was working as part of a crew performing renovations to the Sherman Towers on East 76th Street. Cerezo was working on the building’s facade from scaffolding about […]

September 10, 2015

Roadbuilding

Road worker injured while placing cones on highway in Hawaii

A road worker in Oahu, Hawaii, was injured last week after he fell while placing orange safety cones along a highway. According to Hawaii News Now, the road worker was seriously injured September 4 at about 5:40 a.m. when he fell from a road crew truck that had been contracted to do work on Kalanianaole Highway. The […]

September 10, 2015

Business

Company focused on construction staffing and skills training opens in Alabama

A new company focused on training up skilled construction workers opened its doors recently in Alabama. Wright Way held its ribbon cutting ceremony August 21 in Birmingham. The new company’s emphasis is welding training but the center will work to train up and place students in a number of positions in the construction, maintenance and […]

September 9, 2015

Roadbuilding

NAPA seeking nominations for Larry H. Lemon Quality in Construction Award, honoring high-quality small projects

The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) is seeking nominations for its Larry H. Lemon Quality in Construction (QIC) Award, which recognizes high-quality small projects using less than 50,000 tons of asphalt. The award was created in 2013 and recognizes the ten top-rated general asphalt paving projects meeting the size criteria. It is named after Larry […]

September 9, 2015

Safety

Worker dies following fall into water-filled trench near Seattle

A construction worker died last week near Seattle after suffering a fall into a trench likely caused by a medical emergency. According to a report from KCPQ TV, the unidentified worker was found August 28 face down at the bottom of a 10-foot trench with about two feet of water on a jobsite in Bellevue. […]

September 8, 2015