The American Society of Civil Engineers will conduct a public comment period on the update to ASCE/SEI 7 Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures. The public comment period will begin on June 17 and remain open through Aug. 2. ASCE/SEI 7 Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures is the most up-to-date and coordinated loading standard for general structural design. ASCE 7 describes the means for determining design loads including dead, live, soil, flood, tsunami, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, earthquake, wind including tornado, and fire, as well as how to assess load combinations. Accessing the ASCE Public … Read more
Analysis Reports Construction Employment Slips by 20K in May, Supply-Chain Problems Plague Nonresidential Contractors
Construction employment declined for the third time in the past four months in May as nonresidential contractors coped with lengthening and unpredictable delivery times that limited their ability to start or complete projects, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data. Association officials added that many contractors report they are having a hard time finding qualified workers to hire as some people remain reluctant to return to work while their children are learning from home, or they are collecting elevated unemployment supplements. “Steadily worsening production and delivery delays have exceeded even the record cost … Read more
Maria Lehman Elected 2023 President of ASCE
The American Society of Civil Engineers members elected Maria Lehman, P.E, F.ASCE, ENV SP, as president of the Society for the 2022-2023 term. Lehman is ASCE’s national treasurer, serves on the Society’s Industry Leaders Council and is a member of the ASCE’s Committee on America’s Infrastructure, which is responsible for preparing the quadrennial Infrastructure Report Card. She is also GHD Inc.’s infrastructure market leader for the United States. Lehman was the former vice president for critical infrastructure for Parsons, COO and executive director of the New York State Thruway Authority and Commissioner of Public Works for Erie County, New York. She … Read more
Contractor Confidence up Despite Slow Recovery, Finds Marcum Commercial Construction Index
The Marcum Commercial Construction Index for the first quarter of 2021 reports that the industry has yet to reach the broader economy’s pace of recovery despite elevated contractor confidence. The construction industry has added 917,000 jobs since May 2020, equivalent to roughly 82% of the jobs lost during the initial months of the pandemic. The index is produced by Marcum LLP’s national Construction Services group. “Despite the malaise characterizing a number of commercial real estate segments, contractor confidence increased steadily during the first quarter of 2021,” wrote Anirban Basu, author of the report and Marcum’s chief construction economist. “According to … Read more
UK, U.S. Collaborate to Improve the Built Environment
A memorandum of understanding has been announced between representatives for the United Kingdom and the USA, cementing a pledge to work together on the development of the U.S. National Building Information Management Program. Marking the next step in a two-year collaboration, the MoU will see the National Institute of Building Sciences work with experts from the UK’s Centre for Digital Built Britain on the development of a National BIM Program for the U.S., supporting international alignment on technical standards for the built environment. The US-UK collaboration has been enabled through the support of the UK’s Construction Innovation Hub. NIBS will … Read more