Crews knee-deep in grit and mud at a jobsite don’t often think about aesthetics, but under a photographer’s watchful gaze, intense action becomes frozen in time and often reflects a poignant beauty.

The photo that appears on the cover of this issue of ENR, a drill rig puncturing concrete or stone at the base of a new retaining wall being built in Chattanooga, Tenn., came out on top in online voting for the image that would make the best foldout cover.

ENR’s annual photo contest shows readers and online viewers how team effort, like the scene pictured here, gets construction projects done.

Selecting the photos for ENR’s  annual Year in Construction winners gallery offered lessons about the intersection of work, safety, beauty and construction. 

Our annual photo contest issue comes about as close as we can get to the direct delivery of reader­- driven content in ENR.

A Q&A with a Structural Engineer who hung it up for construction photography

Vast expanses. Whimsy. Repeating patterns. Unusual vantage points. During judging of the hundreds of photos submitted into the 2017 ENR Photo Contest, entries seemed to organize themselves into discrete subjects.

The submissions keep getting better from year to year. Send yours by Nov. 18!

The 2016 ENR Photo Contest drew nearly 1,100 entries.