Tag: construction: Page 226

Gear

Wirtgen’s plug-and-play AutoPilot Field Rover eliminates stringlines

Last week, we told you about Wirtgen receiving an innovation award at the latest Bauma construction equipment show in Munich. We wrote in that post about why Bauma chose to give Wirtgen that award, but today we’ve got a bit more information about the product itself. Stringlines have been guiding paving machines for a long […]

April 25, 2013

Business

Housing starts jump 7% in March to highest level since before recession

The housing recovery boom marches on. Following a month of stagnation in February, housing starts jumped 7 percent in March to their highest levels since June 2008, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Commerce Department. The big month pushed construction on houses and apartments over the seven figure threshold to a seasonally adjusted rate […]

April 16, 2013

Business

$2.3 billion of 2014 Army budget goes to construction

Army officials recently took time to discuss their military branch’s $129.7 billion portion of the federal budget for the 2014 fiscal year, beginning October 1st. It should come to no surprise that the vast majority of that money, 44 percent or $56.6 billion, will go to military personnel. But about $2.3 billion is marked for “military construction, […]

April 15, 2013

Business

Construction, other industries speak out against guest worker deal

Just when it looked like the final hurdle to immigration reform had been cleared, dozens of business groups, including half a dozen representing construction professionals, have called into question a new guest worker program agreed to by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. As we recently reported, the new guest worker program, called […]

April 12, 2013

Roadbuilding

In the Persian Gulf: It’s art. It’s a bridge.

There is this bridge. And it is something to see. The Sheikh Zayed Bridge joins Abu Dhabi Island to the mainland on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf, and it is an excellent example of the seamless coming together of design, engineering and construction within a single transportation project. New photos from London company […]

April 10, 2013

Workforce

Construction adds 18k to workforce amid weak jobs report

Though industry growth slowed considerably month-to-month, by adding 18,000 jobs in March, construction continued its streak of job growth, according to preliminary figures from the U.S. Labor Department. Construction’s unemployment rate dropped to its lowest rate since 2008 to 14.7 percent. In January, the unemployment was at 15.1 percent. March’s tally is just under one-fourth […]

April 5, 2013

Business

Manufacturing growth slows despite increase in construction spending

The majority of financial analysts expected growth in the manufacturing sector to accelerate in March thanks to the boom in housing and increases in construction spending. However, companies reported “fewer new orders and less production” in March than in February, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, the Institue for Supply Management’s purchasing manager’s […]

April 5, 2013

Business

Construction of 2nd tallest building stopped over corrosive concrete

Construction has been halted on what is expected to be the world’s second tallest building due to an investigation into whether the contractor building the skyscraper used corrosive concrete. According to Bloomberg, samples from the Ping An Finance Center are being tested to see if concrete containing sea sand rather than river sand was used […]

April 5, 2013

Business

Construction jobs limited to 15k visas per year under new guest worker agreement

The path toward a final deal on immigration reform has likely been cleared now that the country’s business and labor unions have reached an agreement on a guest worker program for immigrants. The New York Times reports that on Friday Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, held a conference call with U.S. Chamber of Commerce President […]

April 1, 2013

Business

Construction spending up 7.9 percent annually, home building at highest level in 4 years

Thanks to a surge in home building, construction spending grew 1.2 percent in February, according to seasonally-adjusted data from the U.S. Commerce Department. After a nine-month string of monthly increases was snapped with a 2.1-percent dip in January, construction spending is now at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $885.1 billion. Compared to February 2012, that […]

April 1, 2013

Gear

GEAR: 1955 Mercedes-Benz 404 Unimog is a piece of construction’s past and present

This 1955 Mercedes-Benz 404 Unimog is one of the cooler vintage vehicles we’ve stumbled upon. This one in particular is the fourth that rolled off the assembly line in 1955 and is located in Orange County, California. The 404 Unimogs were built to be cross-country trucks and judging by the seller’s description it accomplishes that […]

March 27, 2013

Business

Smart, skilled class of contractors necessary to navigate worst recovery in modern history

In this era of partisan news both sides will spin any facts any way to make their side look better. So getting any kind of macro-level read on the real state of the economy is difficult if not impossible. But from what I’ve seen with my own two eyes and heard with my own two […]

March 26, 2013