A California-based contractor and materials provider has won a $7,000 award from Associated General Contractors of America for is development and use of an AI-based virtual assistant built on decades of experience.
At its recent annual convention in Columbus, Ohio, AGC announced Granite Construction was the grand prize winner of the AGC Innovation Awards for its Granite Asphalt Guru tool.
For a video further explaining how the tool is used, scroll to the end of this article.
Designed to lessen the blow of losing decades of experience when industry veterans retire, Asphalt Guru’s database foundation came from interviews with seasoned asphalt experts, which were transcribed to capture insights, real-world experiences and strategies.
Additional content was drawn from Granite’s Asphalt Basics courses, industry publications, OSHA safety reports, equipment specifications, and internal knowledge libraries.
The AI-powered database was a collaborative project between Granite’s IT department, the Asphalt Center of Excellence and the Construction Technology group.
The award from AGC is meant to help Granite Construction improve and promote the Asphalt Guru tool.
The second-place award went to LIFTbuild’s Vertical Manufacturing method for high-rise construction, which assembles floors at ground level and lifts them into place for safer and faster building. Third place went to Old Fashioned LLC for its union-led apprenticeship program, which addresses the construction industry labor shortage and creates a structured path to legal status and citizenship for non-U.S. citizens.
