2020 was a challenging year in many respects, but none greater than from a safety standpoint. The coronavirus pandemic placed the notion of “people over profits” under the microscope, while also balancing the needs of their employees to continue to make an income under difficult circumstances. While the pandemic was a large part of the construction safety conversation last year, there were several other developments to take note of for your projects in the future.

2020 was a stressful year, so let’s decompress a little bit by reviewing some of the most fun demolition videos from the past year. A demolition that broke a 22 year old record highlights the bunch and I also stretch what the definition of “demolition” is a little bit, because I think the video is so cool. Don’t @ me.

Without further ado, here are the top 7 demolition videos from 2020:

2020 is finally in the rear view mirror – although many of its battles are still being fought – but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some good things. Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing the biggest and most interesting stories from the past year, but I’ll first be starting with those that interested you, the reader, the most.

Construction safety is one of the most important topics I believe that I cover on Construction Junkie.  It’s important to stay up-to-date with these stories not only from a governmental compliance standpoint, but to improve the lives of the workers on your jobsite and reduce the inherent risks of the jobs.

2019 saw continued advances across many sectors of construction technology. Software companies continue to be gobbled up, as consolidation and integrations are helping to streamline resources for contractors. Some robotics have made their way to the jobsite, though they’re still not ready to make a significant impact just yet.

In order to do anything in construction, typically something has to be demolished first. Throughout the year, we scour the interwebs to find the most interesting for the most interesting videos of the process across the globe.

Before I get started, let’s first state the obvious: every construction project is cool. Building anything from nothing is inherently cool, but then there are those projects that completely set themselves apart either through the design, the method, or the situation.

Construction can be an extreme business, containing some of the most awe-inspiring structures and building practices, but also some seriously dangerous situations. Those situations can be a great tool for positive marketing or a nightmare, given the circumstances, and with smartphone cameras in everyone’s pocket, it’s easy to capture those moments.

Another year is almost in the books — and what an interesting year it was. There was a lot to talk about across our favorite construction topics this year, like technology, safety, crazy videos, and tools. I’ve got a few more 2019 recap articles comping up, so you can make sure you didn’t miss anything important, but I wan ted to start with the articles that our readers found most interesting in the past year.

“Coolest,” in its very essence, is a very subjective term, but I tried my best to cover construction projects throughout the world that set themselves apart, through either design, construction method, or situation.

When we first began talking about construction technology in 2015, there were a lot of pie-in-the-sky ideas.  Many products had financial backing, but no legitimate proof of concept or path to a commercial market.  Fast forward just 3 years and many of those same products are starting to hit limited jobsites and have a viable chance to succeed in the industry.

Everyone has a camera in their pocket these days and when something goes down on the jobsite, you can bet it’s going to be captured on video one way or another. That can either be a great thing for marketing or an awful way to showcase your business. 

2018 was a noticeably slow year in the world of demolition videos , but it’s not exactly clear what caused that.  Even though the quantity of videos was down last year, we have scoured the earth for some extremely high quality and fun-to-watch demolitions.

As we approach our fourth full year on the interwebs, it’s always nice to reflect back on the some of the things that our readers enjoyed the most in the previous year. Our goal every year is to bring you the most interesting construction related stories involving technology, tools, safety, and events around the world, although some posts can be for pure entertainment, like our extensive collection of demolition videos.

Construction workers often get stereotyped for being gruff cat-callers, but truthfully, the industry is filled with men and women who are willing and able to step up to help in times of need.  Each year, we scour the news to find stories of construction workers and companies going above and beyond to serve their communities.  Below you'll find 7 great examples from last year. 

The construction industry has historically been slow to adapt to new technologies, but with a recent push from Silicon Valley, a lot of money is being poured into research and development.  Just a few short years ago, robotics on the construction site was thought of as a pipe dream, but now there are several companies around the world that are making it a reality.  It still may be years away from being adopted in a large scale, but the industry should begin to take note of the technological changes that are happening around them.

Robotics isn’t the only construction item that made headlines last year, there have also been advances in construction materials, Augmented and Mixed Reality, smart sensors, and RFIDs.

Below is our list of the best advances in construction technology from 2017:

Cameras are EVERYWHERE these days.  They’re on sites documenting the full construction process of your project, they’re on projects taking 360 degree progress footage, and most importantly, they’re in your pocket on your smartphone.  Having a camera in your pocket at all times can be a good or bad thing, especially for employers, because not only can it make lives much easier for communication and documentation purposes, but it also gives people the chance to show the world when things go absolutely terribly.

Every year, we search all year long to find construction projects that push the limits on what can be done.  Through the hard work of workers in each and every trade, new techniques and technologies are produced to allow us to achieve what was previously thought to be impossible. 

Below are 9 examples of projects that pushed the boundaries and were under construction, completed, or announced in 2017.  If you have a project that you think is really cool that you think we should include in our 2018 list, please contact us to let us know!

As the world not only becomes more familiar with green products, but also starts demanding them, researchers and contractors alike need to be ready to embrace the ever-changing world and meet their customer’s demands.  Each year, new products are released that hoping to reduce waste or harness renewable energy sources, but only some of them reach the mass market.

Below are 8 green products, processes, and stories that we found most interesting in 2017:

In regards to timelapse videos, it was a big year for sports arenas and the city of Atlanta, Georgia.  These types of videos have become more popular in recent years due to the wide availability of documentation services available.  Not only that, but civilians who own drones have also taking a liking to their area’s construction sites. 

Take a look below at our 7 favorite construction timelapse videos from 2017:

This year saw more videos with environmental considerations taken into account, especially over waterways.  Instead of imploding entire bridges, the part that spanned over top of the waterway were manually removed. I've also grown an appreciation for in-depth footage of demolitions that occurred under some interesting conditions.  Some of the videos below show some extreme creativity to overcome obstacles.

The earth can be a sort of an unmarked time capsule in many areas. It holds secrets of the past, some of which were hoped to never be found, but others that people dream of finding.  Almost every project requires excavation or demolition in some way, so keep your eyes peeled for the next great discovery!

Jobsite pressures, such as time crunches and monetary issues can quickly tempt otherwise good people into making some pretty poor decisions.  There are also others who use their construction business as a front for other illegal activities.  Many people were arrested for a variety of reasons in 2016 and the list below should serve as both a reminder and a warning for those considering making bad decisions.

Every day, construction workers from around the world are doing amazing things on their specific job sites.  In our minds, the coolest projects are any project that a construction worker is proud to have built, one made with care and quality.  There are other factors that we consider to be cool, as well, including those that break down barriers and allow other companies to realize something they previously thought may not have been possible are actually possible.  Many of the projects we chose for this year’s list highlight workers acting as pioneers for a specific type of construction and allowing the construction industry to grow by trying new things.

In general, we don’t celebrate the good deeds and accomplishments of our friends, family, and co-workers enough.  The fact is, there are plenty of people in this world who spend plenty of their hard earned time, money, blood, sweat, and tears making a difference in peoples’ lives.  Many of those people happen to be construction workers and this 2016 countdown will hopefully serve as inspiration to our reader’s to go above and beyond and use your skills to enrich someone else’s life.

Many construction projects involve clearing heavily wooded and untouched areas, which can cause many complications, including interaction with unknown wildlife.  It’s important for all companies to understand the impact their construction work can have on wildlife, not only to avoid costly issues with government regulations, but also be good stewards of the environment.  Below are 12 stories from 2016 where construction projects interacted with wildlife and how each situation was handled.

Construction sites can be a difficult place to work, for more than one reason.  There are plenty of job site hazards to avoid on a normal project, but those issues are compounded when your co-workers are acting recklessly.  As smartphones have become commonplace on site and in public, job site videos have also become increasingly available.  Many of these videos below can raise awareness for how not to act, especially when heavy equipment is involved.

No matter how much your clients wish they could, construction projects take a considerable amount of time to complete.  After working on a project for months, even years, sometimes it’s hard to look back and realize the magnitude of the work that’s been done.  That’s one of the beauties of timelapse videos.  Where a single picture tells the story of a particular moment, a timelapse video condenses thousands and thousands of man hours down to a few minutes or seconds.  Not only does it help you appreciate the hard work that you and your co-workers put forward, but it can also be a great marketing tool for your company.

Throughout 2016, we’ve shared many newsworthy construction related timelapse videos and, with the new year upon us, it’s time to reflect on our favorite videos. 

For decades and decades, construction and technology didn’t mix.  In recent years, companies have been flocking to the underutilized construction industry to try and offer the newest solutions.  When we talk about technology, we’re not just talking about computer work, there are tons of new products out there that are challenging the way our industry thinks and acts.  

Many of the items on our 2016 technology list are still very much conceptual and will undergo plenty of testing over the next few years, but that’s one of the beauties of technological advances: many are extremely forward thinking. 

Green building is no longer something that can be ignored. According to the USGBC, green building will account for ⅓ of all construction projects by the year 2018, which is now only 1 short year away.  Construction is one of the leading industries in regards to the production of greenhouse gases, most notably due to the production of cement, which produces an estimated 5% of all carbon dioxide emissions alone.  There are many companies throughout developing new techniques and building products to help reduce the industry’s impact, so here’s a list of 6 products that caught our eye in 2016.

Whether you're feeling sad, mad, happy, or indifferent, there are few things more satisfying to watch than a good demolition video.  It's destruction for a purpose and the result is a blank slate for the next construction project.  There were plenty of good demolition videos in 2016, but we narrowed the list down to our 11 favorite and we hope you enjoy

Almost every construction project, other than interior remodels, requires that some amount of dirt be moved out of the way.  Many people don’t realize that history could be buried right under their feet.  The 12 stories that we’ve compiled throughout the year make it clear that you should keep your eyes open during excavation and dirt work.

Other than power tools, the construction industry has been historically slow to adapt to technology.  We’re seeing some slow and subtle infiltration into the industry, but the most promising aspect is that more and more technology is being designed specifically for the construction professional.  There’s a clear market opportunity and hundreds of companies are trying to get their piece of the pie.

Construction is a dangerous profession.  Every day, we worry about people getting injured on the job and, all too often, people lose their lives.  Apparently, that’s not the only thing contractors should be worried about... there’s also plenty of ways to get arrested.  Below are 9 stories that involved contractors being arrested or convicted of a crime.

Thousands of construction projects happen every year, involving millions of construction workers, so it is indeed difficult to pick the coolest of them all in any given year.  Nevertheless, we have compiled a list of 8 of our favorite and coolest building projects from around the world for your enjoyment.

I’m not sure that there are many things more satisfying to watch than a good demolition video and 2015 was full of them.  Emerging technologies, like drones, only make the views even better.  We’ve compiled our favorite demolition videos from the past year, from the incredible to the heart stopping.  Enjoy!

Some say the news is all doom and gloom, and, for the most part, they’re right.  People respond to controversy and negativity, but there is always room to highlight the positive things in the world.  Throughout the year, we’ve compiled a list of positive stories that prove that construction workers aren’t just the cat-calling, hard headed men that we’re so often portrayed as.