Total Construction Starts End 2013 With 6% Increase The dollar value of total construction starts ended 2013 with a 6% gain, according to McGraw Hill Construction's Dodge starts data for December. "The construction industry in 2013 made progress toward a more broad-based recovery after several years in which the upturn was more limited in scope," says Robert Murray, MHC's chief economist. Housing led the way with a 24% year-to-year increase, followed by a 7% increase in non-residential work.Colorado Mountain Highway Reopens After Massive Rock SlideAfter weeks of harrowing rockfall work, one lane of U.S. 550 in southwestern Colorado is open
December's Seasonal Increase Mirroring the slowdown in construction volume in cold-weather months, the industry's December unemployment rate climbed to 11.4% from November's 8.6% as the industry shed 16,000 jobs. But last year also proved to be much better for the construction workforce than 2012, as the industry added an average of 10,000 jobs per month, according to the latest Dept. of Labor figures. The data reflects a split between residential work, which gained 6,200 jobs, and the non-residential and heavy-civil markets, which lost 12,900 and 8,800 jobs, respectively.AMEC Is Set to Buy Foster Wheeler in $3.2-Billion Deal U.K.-based global engineer
Photo by Getty Images Calatrava Sued Over High Costs on Spain's Valencia Opera House The Spanish city of Valencia is suing the architect Santiago Calatrava and his firm over the high maintenance costs for the city's opera house, which Calatrava designed. Just eight years after opening, the opera house is starting to show signs of aging. The latest incident involves many of the building's mosaic tiles being torn off by high winds, which led the owner to close the venue to the public and cancel performances. Earlier, the building was subject to flooding after heavy rainfall. On that charge, Calatrava
Dodge Starts Slow in November The dollar value of total construction starts posted a monthly decline of 11% during November, according to McGraw Hill Construction's seasonally adjusted Dodge data, which was running at an annual rate of $525 billion. But on a year-to-date basis, total construction starts through the first 11 months of the year was $475 billion, which was 6% above the same period of 2012. Residential construction led the way with a 25% annual increase, followed by an 8% gain for non-residential building work. Non-building construction is still 15% behind 2012.Insurance Company OffersDiscount for Anti-Theft Program Liberty Mutual
Model Contract: New Joint-Venture Design-Build And Teaming Forms Available ConsensusDocs, which writes and publishes model contract agreements for building teams, has released joint-venture design-build and teaming agreements, which the group says are industry firsts. The JV document helps team members address licensing and insurance requirements as well as risk-allocation issues. The teaming document helps team members "memorialize" roles and responsibilities when submitting a project bid or proposal, says the group, whose documents are written and endorsed by 40 design and construction associations.Equipmen: Terex Sells Off-Highway Truck Division to Volvo Construction Volvo Construction Equipment is buying Terex Corp.'s off-highway truck business
ENR/Dodge Residential building shows strong uptick. ENR/Dodge November shows positive momentum. Related Links: Engineering News-Record Architectural Record Economics Construction starts are ending the year with a strong upturn, according to McGraw Hill Construction's Dodge.The seasonally adjusted rate for the Dodge starts last October was up 5% from the previous month.On a year-to-date basis, the dollar value of total construction starts through October was $433 billion, up 4% from the same period a year ago.Most of the increase came from a 26% year-to-year jump in residential construction, which totaled $174 billion during the first 10 months of the year. But non-residential
Photo by AP Wideworld Collapse Kills 54 in Latvia The city council of Riga, Latvia, has announced the names of the 54 people killed on Nov. 21 by the roof collapse at the Maxima supermarket in the city's Zolitude district. Investigations are focusing on the construction of a garden on the store's 4,000-sq-meter roof, according to the store's locally based main contractor, S.I.A. Re Re.Since opening two years ago, the roof had supported snow loads "substantially" greater than the soil being placed, according to the contractor. The roof was inspected by independent engineers two days before the collapse, the company
It has been a long time coming, but the construction recovery seems to be almost here. The housing market has been keeping up construction growth, which is rebounding from record lows, but now many of the non-residential building markets are starting to turn the corner, making for many optimistic forecasts for 2014. The remaining drag on construction growth for next year is the public sector, which continues to be squeezed by the battle over the federal deficit.Some economists, however, see a silver lining even there. "The recession pushed millions of
Photo by AP Wideworld Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the Visayan Islands in the central Philippines on Nov. 8 with sustained winds in excess of 148 miles per hour and storm surges estimated between 15 ft and 19 ft.It is reported to be one of the strongest storms to make landfall in history and comes on the heels of a magnitude-7.2 earthquake that hit, on Oct. 15, the central Visayan island of Bohol, destroying and weakening many buildings. The typhoon reportedly wiped out the port city of Tacloban on the island of Leyte. Initial estimates put the death toll at 10,000.Damage
Atlanta Braves Announce New$672-Million Baseball Stadium The Atlanta Braves organization on Nov. 11 announced that it is planning to build a 41,000-seat baseball stadium in Cobb County, Ga. The Braves stated that the facility, estimated to cost $672 million, will start construction in the second half of 2014 and will be completed in time for the 2017 season. The new, open-air facility—to be located at the intersection of Interstate 75 and I-285—will be owned by the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum and Exhibit Hall Authority.1 WTC Set To Beat Chicago's Willis Tower as Country's Tallest The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat's
