March 16, 2026

The $5-billion-plus, 2.9-million-sq-ft Fab 52 chip fabrication facility is ENR’s Project of the Year.

Project Delivery

ENR Best of the Best 2025

March 13, 2026

Read more about the 20 projects chosen in a nearly yearlong effort by ENR editors and more than 100 construction industry judges to recognize team excellence across construction in 2025.

A rendering of the new Amex headquarters at the World Trade Center

Buildings

Foster + Partners Designs American Express Global Headquarters

Final commercial office building at World Trade Center will be 55 stories and span nearly 2 million sq ft

Justin Rice

February 25, 2026

Turner Construction will build core and shell of giant's World Trade Center building in Lower Manhattan, set to be 55 floors and 2 million sq ft, with more than one acre of outdoor space

UPDATED Mideast Construction Projects Halted as Owners, Industry Firms Steel for Impacts of War

March 6, 2026

The escalating regional conflict has already slowed or paused numerous energy and infrastructure projects in the region, but global construction firms are mum on the extent of damage, work shutdowns or supply chain interruptions.

Sports/Entertainment

Project Teams Race to Finish 2026 World Cup Venues

Toronto’s BMO Field is undergoing one of the largest renovations of all 16 venues ahead of this summer's global soccer tournament

Tim Newcomb

March 2, 2026

North American soccer stadiums are preparing for the global tournament’s largest-ever draw, featuring 48 national federation teams playing 104 matches in 16 different venues.

Transportation

US Transportation Dept. Takes Over $7B NYC Penn Station Rebuild From MTA

James Leggate

April 18, 2025

Amtrak will serve as master developer for project whose management was slammed by federal agency chief Sean Duffy for “inefficiency, waste and mismanagement”

DC Encourages Small Business Involvement in RFK Stadium Site Redevelopment

Jim Parsons

March 2, 2026

A total of $30 million will be directed to road, utility and stormwater relocation projects at the 180-acre site for the Washington Commanders' stadium.

Houston's $470M Hobby Airport Concourse Extension Reaches for the Stars

Major gate and baggage-handling expansion aims to increase capacity and enhance the passenger experience

Aileen Cho

February 26, 2026

Intuitive wayfinding, space-themed motifs and technology tools are components of the flight plan, with Hensel Phelps-led project set to finish in 2027.

Superfund Cleanup

$668M Settlement Advances Cleanup of Seattle’s Lower Duwamish Waterway

EPA agreement with Boeing, Seattle and King County will fund decade-long sediment remediation at longtime Superfund site

March 6, 2026

The settlement resolves funding sources for the continued dredging, sediment capping and long-term remediation along the city’s industrial river corridor, a declared Superfund site.

Multiservice vehicle inside Brenner Base Tunnel exploratory tunnel supporting systems and logistics.

Transportation

$11.5B Brenner Base Tunnel Nears End of TBM Excavation

With TBMs closing in, the 55-km rail European project shifts from excavation to systems integration ahead of its planned 2028 opening beneath the Alps

February 27, 2026

With fewer than 6 km left on the final Alpine drives, the $11.5-billion Brenner Base Tunnel shifts toward systems installation and a planned 2028 opening.

AI Infrastructure

UPDATED States Push Data Center Pauses to Buy Time to Gauge Impacts

Major tech firms will sign, at March 4 White House event, an administration-pushed "pledge" to pay for data center and other power costs, but few details are confirmed.

Leslie Nemo

Debra K. Rubin

March 1, 2026

More states follow municipalities to block or restrict data center expansion, claiming they need time to hear from constituents, developers and power agencies—while big tech firms will sign, at March 4 White House event, administration-pushed "pledge" to cover power costs, but with few details confirmed.

Construction Jobs

Uncertainty Over Trade Policy, Oil Prices Drives February's 11K Jobs Decline

Scott Judy

March 6, 2026

Building contractors added 6,500 jobs in February, with nonresidential firms adding 4,100, and residential builders adding 2,400 positions.

Amazon to Break Ground on $12B Louisiana Data Center Network

Multi‑site project launches major infrastructure builds across Caddo and Bossier parishes

Vince Kong

February 25, 2026

Giant tech build is about to reshape northwest Louisiana—and not everyone is ready for the impact.

Water/Environment

NYC to Replace 160-Plus-Year-Old Equipment From Central Park Reservoir

New York City is looking to renovate drawdown infrastructure in the famous park’s largest body of water

Leslie Nemo

March 4, 2026

Parts of the former 106-acre drinking water source in Manhattan, built in the 1860s, will soon be replaced.

Aerial view of DC Water’s Blue Plains wastewater treatment plant with circular clarifier basins along the Potomac River.

News Analysis

Municipal Water and Sewer Capacity Constrain DHS Detention Buildouts

Design ceilings, 80% planning thresholds and downstream sewer hydraulics emerge as critical factors in high-occupancy warehouse conversions

February 24, 2026

Can municipal water and sewer systems absorb sudden high-occupancy detention conversions, or do peak-day margins and pipe limits dictate expansion first?

Machines for the Moment at CONEXPO

Jeff Rubenstone

March 12, 2026

Triennial trade show in Las Vegas showcases updated equipment, electric battery power and fresh AI integrations.

Government

US Labor Dept. Eyes Repeal of Biden-Era Independent Contractor Classification

Esther D'Amico

March 4, 2026

Industry groups support the federal proposal to rescind a 2024 regulation that makes it harder for businesses to classify workers as independent contracts under the Fair Labor Standards Act. which governs when minimum wage and overtime pay are required.

Table from Associated Builders and Contractors showing Construction Backlog Indicator values for February 2026 by industry, region and company size, with total backlog at 8.1 months.

Construction Economics

Backlog Rises in February Following 'Historic' Low

Heavy industrial posted the largest monthly gain while infrastructure backlog dropped from January’s level; Midwest construction activity strengthened

Alisa Zevin

March 10, 2026

Contractor backlog edged up in February but remains below historical norms, with Midwest growth driving gains even as infrastructure work and profit-margin confidence soften.

Energy Secretary Backs Restart of Indian Point Nuclear Plant in NY

Decommissioning already is far along, and local opponents remain

Richard Korman

March 9, 2026

Trump administration support for restarting the shuttered plant would face stiff local opposition.

Coal Power

UPDATED Multiple Suits Target Trump 'Emergency' Order Keeping Washington State Coal Plant Open

Tim Newcomb

Debra K. Rubin

March 8, 2026

State disputes claimed regional power supply gap—saying the barely functional early 1970s plant, now ordered to operate through June 14, awaits a planned $600M conversion to natural gas—while legal action also is likely for aging Colorado plant ordered to operate.

Aerial view of construction crews installing large water transmission pipeline segments along a rural corridor in Central Texas.

Water Infrastructure

Rural Texas Utility Plans $29.4M Transmission Upgrade to Support New Groundwater Supply

STV to design replacement of 7.2 miles of pipeline and new storage infrastructure under water development board revolving fund financing

March 4, 2026

A central Texas utility plans a 7.2-mile transmission replacement to carry new groundwater supplies, pairing well expansion with modernization of a 60-year-old system.

High-voltage electrical substation with transformers, switchgear and buswork supporting transmission grid infrastructure.

Electric Grid

Littlejohn–GDS Deal Targets Planning Bottleneck Slowing US Grid Projects

With interconnection queues topping 2,000 GW of capacity, firms aim to expand engineering and advisory services upstream of transmission and generation construction

March 5, 2026

Private equity firm Littlejohn is backing grid consultant GDS as interconnection queues and power demand reshape when transmission, generation and substation projects reach construction.

Construction Technology

Thermal Bridging, Risk Models Add to Toolset of Vendor IES

Jeff Yoders

March 12, 2026

Engineers know that energy modeling is a moving target.

Products in Practice | Equipment

AI Insights Drive Improvements in Equipment Safety, Training

Jeff Yoders

March 12, 2026

Artificial intelligence continues to dominate the equipment development conversation, particularly for more than 140,000 attendees at the CONEXPO-CON/AGG trade show earlier this month in Las Vegas.

Construction History

From the Archives: April 11, 1985

Scott Lewis

March 13, 2026

This 1985 cover image depicts the largest iron ore mine in the world, Carajas, in Para State in Brazil, developed by CVRD, now known as Vale.

Viewpoint: The Power Shortage and the Skills Gap: Make the Case for Joining

Jennifer Cahill

March 13, 2026

Large critical infrastructure projects involve lots of moving parts, and mistakes do occasionally happen.

Construction Economics for March 16, 2026

March 13, 2026