Columns sloping as much as 40 degrees from vertical were among the methods that builders used to address the Hard Rock hotel's challenging curves.

Southeast Specialty Contractor of the Year puts itself on firm footing for the future

With a climb seen in U.S. construction activity and a sense that equipment makers may finally have absorbed price hikes from decades of emissions-compliance upgrades, activity was brisk at the World of Concrete show, held in Las Vegas on Jan. 23-26.

Earlier this month, just over two years after Los Angeles passed a law requiring seismic retrofits of older, nonductile concrete buildings, the city’s Dept. of Building and Safety began sending compliance orders to owners.