Jan 11, 2021

Cameras and Construction

ENR's 2020 Photo Contest Winning Images: An Unforgettable Year

January 7, 2021

One Comment

See all the stunning visual drama of construction from an unprecedented and controversial year.

Infrastructure Spending

Massive Omnibus Bill Has Cuts and Hikes for Construction Programs

Tom Ichniowski

December 21, 2020

One Comment

$1.4-trillion measure has mostly small boosts or cutbacks for construction accounts in 2021.

Congress Passes, President Signs Sweeping Energy Measure In Spending Bill

Renewables tax credits are extended but without prevailing wage provisions

December 22, 2020

Bipartisan bill extends renewables tax credits, but without prevailing wage provisions; energy and business groups support the legislation.

Coronavirus & Construction

CDC Recommends Construction Workers Get Vaccines After 'Frontline' Essential Workers

Richard Korman

December 20, 2020

3 Comments

It is not clear how long the wait will be for COVID-19 shots for all essential workers.

Transportation Officials Make the Best of a Bumpy 2020

Jim Parsons

Aileen Cho

January 6, 2021

No Comments

The year 2020 provided a bumpy budgetary ride for all modes of transportation, and some industry insiders don’t expect airport and transit ridership to return to pre-pandemic levels for years.

Boston Construction Bands With Health Care to Fight COVID-19

A testing, tracing and treatment initiative targets tens of thousands of workers across city

Scott Van Voorhis

December 22, 2020

No Comments

Union leaders, industry executives and international experts team to stop virus spread in city's booming construction sector.

Sustainable Materials

Low-Embodied-Carbon Concrete Options Set to Benefit From Proposed New York Law

Eydie Cubarrubia

December 17, 2020

No Comments

Pozzotive, a ground glass pozzolan to be produced at new Connecticut plant, is one innovation that could qualify.

Jobsite Fatalities

UPDATE: Laborer Jamie Fitzgerald, Killed in Dec. 9 Ohio Plant Collapse, is Recovered on Jan. 9

Mary B. Powers

Debra K. Rubin

December 21, 2020

No Comments

At power plant demolition site where Fitzgerald and another worker died, contractor Adamo Group also imploded a 900-ft stack it says posed a site hazard.

Boston First to Embrace Obama-Era Zoning Rules

Development association backs plan to incorporate fair-housing review for residential projects

Scott Van Voorhis

December 21, 2020

No Comments

Boston has become the first major city in the country that will incorporate Obama-era, federal anti-discrimination rules into the process of reviewing major new apartment and condo projects.

Obituary: Innovator Jim O'Brien, 91, Kept Projects, Clients, on Critical Path

Debra K. Rubin

January 6, 2021

No Comments

CPM scheduling guru and CM firm co-founder also authored the field's first textbook in 1965, still in wide use.

DOE Abruptly Cancels $13B Cleanup Award to BWXT-Fluor Team

Mary B. Powers

Debra K. Rubin

December 31, 2020

No Comments

Agency will reprocure an expanded Hanford nuclear site mega-contract but offers scant detail on new value, scope, timeline or bidders; separately, site women settle $450K bias complaint

Entertainment Venues

AECOM Out as General Contractor on $1.6B MSG Sphere in Las Vegas

Doug Puppel

December 18, 2020

No Comments

Company, brought on board as GC in June 2019 shortly after work started, has been relegated to a supporting role on the project.

Tunnels

Elon Musk’s Underground Vegas Loop Tunnel Is Approved

Doug Puppel

December 16, 2020

No Comments

Las Vegas City Council will allow construction of under-development tunnel transit system to extend into downtown and resort areas.

Construction Litigation

Big Mario Cuomo Bridge Consortium Targets Demolition Engineer in Lawsuit

Richard Korman

December 29, 2020

One Comment

Newest litigation by Fluor-led consortium on New York Hudson River crossing also seeks payment.

Safety Technology

Wearable Biometric Sensor Brings Better Data on Heat-Related Illness in Construction

Jeff Rubenstone

December 29, 2020

One Comment

A new wearable sensor is offering construction workers and safety managers an early-warning signal.

Picking the Photos That Tell Construction's Story

Scott Blair

January 6, 2021

No Comments

Despite a tumultuous year that made traveling to jobsites difficult at best, ENR readers still came through—and then some—by submitting more than 900 entries to our annual photo contest.

Portland, Maine's Green New Deal Worries Local Contractors

Stringent apprenticeship requirements take hold on Jan. 1

Johanna Knapschaefer

December 27, 2020

One Comment

Firms are concerned that new ballot initiative's mandates, which take effect Jan. 1, could threaten their eligibility for city public works.

P3 Considered for New Streetcar Corridor in Tampa

January 6, 2021

No Comments

The city of Tampa, Fla., is consdering a public-private partnership that would create an 8.25-mile, 18-station streetcar connection between downtown and the city’s airport.

Former Trump Atlantic City Casino Set for February Implosion

Stephanie Loder

December 28, 2020

One Comment

Contractor H&K Group will take down the derelict 39-story NJ beachfront structure now owned by investor Carl Icahn.

US Railroads Finally Meet Positive Train Control Install Mandate

Jim Parsons

December 30, 2020

No Comments

Lines such as NJ Transit comply with Dec. 31 deadline for key safety technology, spending about $11.5 billion, with $3.4 billion in federal grant and loan funds provided.

Pulse: Project News for the Week of January 11, 2021

January 6, 2021

No Comments

Treasure Valley Renewable Resources is planning to construct a sorghum and biogas manufacturing facility in Parma.

Viewpoint On Importance of Quality and Aesthetics

K.N. Gunalan, PhD, P.E., AECOM

January 6, 2021

2 Comments

Infrastructure marvels and structures in any period of history—from the Hoover Dam to the Washington Monument—often amaze us by their scale and technical innovation and all that is needed to build them.