Related Links: Read the CII Study Corps Delivers 100-year Protection Plan Long before statistical whiz Nate Silver predicted the outcome of the 2012 presidential election and "Moneyball" became a household word, structural engineers employed the Monte Carlo method of simulating failures to fine-tune their designs of tall buildings and other critical structures. Now probabilistics is finding broader use among project estimators, planners and risk managers looking to cut down on schedule and cost variables that can suck valuable time, money and profit out of construction work.Roughly 56% of firms involved in construction use probabilistic methods to manage risk, according to

Photo by Tudor Van Hampton All Smiles Patrick Allin, Textura CEO and co-founder, met with upbeat investors on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on June 7 to watch the company trade its first shares on the open market. Related Links: Textura IPO Turns Up the Heat on Construction Tech Startups Textura Buys GradeBeam, Plans New Bidding Platform Before the opening bell rang on June 7, it took about 20 minutes for traders at the New York Stock Exchange to agree on a fair price for Textura Corp.'s initial public offering. The problem was a gap in supply

Courtesy Ford Motor Co. Ford Motor Co. this fall will roll out an F-150 pickup truck with a factory-installed gaseous prep kit. Courtesy Ford Motor Co. In addition to the $315 engine prep kit, the extra cost to add a CNG/LNG fuel system is $7,500 to $9,500, Ford estimates. Related Links: Test Drive: Life On the Road With Natural Gas Chrysler, Ford, GM Introduce Natural-Gas Pickup Trucks Starting this fall, Ford Motor Co. will offer natural gas power in a half-ton pickup truck. Previously, truck makers have installed factory kits into larger vehicles only.Available as a retrofit for years, the

Made in China, SDLG wheel loaders will go on sale in North America this September. Related Links: Volvo Opens $100-Million Factory Expansion Volvo Finds Smooth Sailing by Going Offshore Rather than compete with Chinese manufacturers in North America, Volvo has decided to join them.Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery Co. Ltd. (SDLG), a China-based unit of Volvo Construction Equipment, has started importing wheel loaders into North America. The company plans to put them on sale the first week of September.Until now, SDLG has been focused on emerging markets, such as Brazil, whose buyers place less of a value on

With just a few quick blasts and a puff of smoke, Advanced Explosives Demolition workers imploded the 700-ft-long main span of the Milton-Madison Bridge on July 23 to make way for a new crossing over the Ohio River.

The tunnel boring machine looks fairly modern, but it is actually more than 35 years old. Rebuilt shortly after churning its way through the Second Avenue Subway in New York City, the 450-ft-long Robbins main-beam TBM is now taking a spin through subterranean Indianapolis as part of the Circle City's $1.6-billion, 20-year plan to control its combined sewer overflows.

Much of the June 12 federal lawsuit that Manitowoc Cranes LLC has filed against Sany America Inc. discusses veteran crane engineer John Lanning's departure from Manitowoc to help Sany bring crawler cranes to the American market.

Photo by Tudor Van Hampton for ENR Traders wearing hardhats kicked off Textura's fiery IPO as the firm's share prices rose by 68%. Related Links: Textura Buys GradeBeam, Plans New Bidding Platform Textura Puts the 'Pay' Back Into Paycheck The construction industry's increasing appetite for collaboration and web-hosted tools is playing out on the New York Stock Exchange. On June 7, spirited trading of Textura Corp.'s initial public offering sent shares shooting past their original price of $15: Opening at $24, they hit $25.19 before settling at $20.91.The Deerfield, Ill.-based company makes web-based collaboration software that can be accessed from

Photo by Tudor Van Hampton for ENR Ford's 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine uses turbochargers and direct injection to deliver V-8-like power and torque with the fuel economy rating of a V-6. Related Links: Test Drive: 2011 Ford F-150 (ENR) Feds Probe Ford F-150 EcoBoost (USA Today) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is looking into nearly 100 complaints related to the performance of Ford Motor Co.'s popular EcoBoost engine. Consumers driving the turbocharged V-6 in F-150 pickups allege "unexpected, sharp reductions in engine power during hard accelerations at highway speeds," according to NHTSA.Since the 3.5-liter V-6 was introduced in 2011, Ford

Lacking reliable infrastructure, nearby suppliers and skilled workers, the project team building a $135.8-million U.S. embassy in war-torn Liberia faced an uphill battle.