Plaza Construction Erects First Permitted Flood Protection System in New York City

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NEW YORK, N.Y. — Directly following Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, Plaza Construction was asked to start working on the development of a flood prevention solution for 55 Water Street, one of New York City’s largest office structures with 54 stories and 3.8 million square feet located in the financial district. Hurricane Sandy was the second-costliest storm in U.S. history with damages to New York City estimated at $50 billion due to storm surges flooding streets, tunnels and subway lines and cutting power in and around the city. Plaza Construction with a team of experts consisting of EKO Flood USA, […]

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OSHA Announces New Interactive Training Webtool to Identify Workplace Hazards

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration released a new interactive training tool to help small businesses effectively identify hazards in the workplace. Employers and workers can virtually explore how to identity common workplace hazards in the manufacturing and construction industries. Users of the new training tool will learn not only hazard identification skills, but also learn about hazard abatement and control. “Hazard identification is a critical part of creating an injury and illness prevention program that will keep workers safe and healthy on the job,” said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety […]

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U.S. Construction Machinery Exports Drop 18.8% in First-Quarter 2014

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Total U.S. construction machinery exports for first quarter 2014 totaled $4.292 billion compared to $5.287 billion in the first quarter of 2013 — a drop of 18.8 percent, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, citing U.S. Department of Commerce data. The AEM off-road equipment manufacturing trade group produces global trends reports using Commerce Department information to assist members" business planning.Nearly all world regions recorded high single-digit or double-digit declines, except Africa, which experienced double-digit growth in exports. Q1 2014 U.S. construction equipment exports by major world regions compared to Q1 2013:   Exports to Canada declined 8.5 percent, for […]

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Swinerton to Celebrate Topping Out at Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s New Parking Structure

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In April 2013, the design-build team of Swinerton Builders and IDG Parkitects broke ground on the new West Arroyo Parking Structure at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. While serving as design-build contractor on this project, Swinerton has previously completed successful jobs at the NASA Ames Research Center; Sustainability Base and the NASA JPL Flight Projects Center. Design-build members include Structural Engineer Jessen-Wright; Civil Engineer Land Design Consultants, Inc. and Traffic Consultant LSA Associates. The $17.5-million project consists of a new 5-story, 1,425-stall, cast-in-place and post-tension concrete parking structure. The last elevated concrete deck was scheduled to be poured […]

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Digital Innovation Slows Construction Forecast

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RALEIGH, N.C. — FMI recently released its Q2-2014 Construction Outlook. The forecast shows cautiously optimistic growth, as the forecast has been lowered a percent since the Q1-2014 Outlook. Construction-put-in-place for 2014 is now predicted to increase 7 percent over 2013 levels. One reason for the prediction is the growth of the digital world. With e-commerce becoming a larger market, especially in the retail and educational industries, brick and mortar will inevitably grow at a slower rate. This trend also is slowly affecting office, travel, recreation and even healthcare, as more time is spent online. Select market predictions include : Residential —Affordability, […]

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