Two years ago, the D.C. construction community was overwhelmed with opportunities and hard-pressed to find enough hands to take on work. Harkins Builders is currently building some of the few remaining major private projects moving forward in the District, including 2300 Pennsylvania Ave. SmithGroup partnered with Freelon Adjaye Bond to design the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It will take up to three years to design the $500-million project with construction to begin in 2012. The museum is scheduled to open in 2015. These days, many firms are burning backlog and hoping they can hold on until
Nationwide research is firming up the case for "intelligent" compaction, a construction method three decades in the making that could save billions of dollars a year in potholed roads, cracked bridges, broken dams and blown-out tires. But as it represents a huge cultural shift in project delivery, the industry is struggling to find a standard way to roll it out. Photo courtesy Iowa State University IC in its simplest form is an onboard measuring device that shows roller operators whether they are overcompacting, undercompacting or right on target in soil, aggregate and asphalt. Related Links: ENR Slideshow David White, a