Explosion at Under Construction Texas Hospital Leaves 1 Dead, 15 Injured

Investigators are on the scene of a catastrophic explosion at a Texas construction project that killed 1 and has injured another 15 workers. The explosion occurred on Tuesday afternoon at Coryell Memorial Healthcare System in Gatesville, Texas, which is being expanded.

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Breathtaking Video of Last Construction Platform Being Removed from Space Needle’s $100M Reno

Back in September of 2017, the $100 million renovation of the Seattle Space Needle began with the installation of a 28,000 pound scaffold system ring designed to circle the famous saucer shaped top of the Needle.

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The Top States to Work in Construction: #38 Massachusetts

Coming in at number 38, Massachusetts is now the 5th Northeastern state on the list out of the bottom 13.  Like the others, the state gets hurt pretty hard after adjusting for cost of living.  Massachusetts has the 5th highest cost of living in the country, at just over 30% more than the average state.

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Procore Launches Fully Redesigned iPhone and iPad App

By all accounts, Apple has become the operating system of choice for the construction industry.  According to JBKnowledge’s latest Construction Technology Report, 70% of respondents stated that they used iOS devices in 2017, and iOS was also the most used system in 2015 and 2016. Procore, another tech company that’s a favorite for the industry, has just released a fully redesigned iOS app for both the iPhone and iPad.

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The 100 Tallest Buildings That Have Been Voluntarily Demolished

In February, JP Morgan Chased announced their plans to demolish their current 52-story headquarters located in Manhattan.  Turns out, when that demolition is complete, it will also break the record for the tallest building ever voluntarily demolished.

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Review: Milwaukee M18 Radius Compact Site Light with Flood Mode

Proper lighting is one of the most overlooked things on a construction site.  Sure, most sites have some overhead lighting, but with a minimum of only 5 loot candles required by OSHA in general construction areas, there’s a lot left to be desired.  Milwaukee Tool is, by far, the leader in the construction lighting category based on shear volume and quality of their lighting solutions.

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PlanGrid Announces 5 Major Upgrades at Their First Annual Construction Summit

Early in 2018, PlanGrid announced that they would be organizing their very first annual Construction Summit, which would unite PlanGrid users and stakeholders in the company’s home city, San Francisco. At the Summit, which took place on June 10 and 11, 2018, PlanGrid CEO Tracy Young and CTO Ralph Gootee chose to announce several major product innovations and developments.

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The Top States to Work in Construction: #39 North Carolina

North Carolina best states to work in construction

For the past 6 months, Construction Junkie has been analyzing hourly wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 25 different construction related professions. The goal was to highlight how workers were compensated in each of the U.S.’ 50 states.

We also counterbalanced the raw hourly wage data with the cost of living index of the states to determine how the pay construction workers in each state was counterbalanced by the cost of groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health, and other miscellaneous costs. All cost of living adjustment data came from Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC).

We’ve previously published a list of The 10 Highest Paid Construction Jobs That Only Require High School Diploma, but we thought it would be interesting to examine each state individually to find out where construction workers can live most comfortably.

To follow along with our state-by-state breakdown of best states to work in construction, click here.

Rankings System

For the purpose of this list, each state’s ranking was determined by calculating the average ranking of hourly wages after being adjusted for cost of living for each of the 25 professions we examined.  There are, of course, many ways to determine how good a state is to work in, but, at the end of the day, all workers have to be able to provide for them and their families, so wages should play a large role. If you see a state ranked #51 in a certain category, that is because Washington DC was included in the original data set, but was not included in this series.

#39 North Carolina

Paving the way into the 30s on our countdown is North Carolina, who only fared slightly better than its sister state South Carolina, which ranked #42. South Carolina's average pre-adjusted wage was actually higher than North Carolina, but cost of living is slightly lower in the North, giving it a final advantage. After adjusting for cost of living, North Carolina raised it's average ranking 6.5 spots.

If you’d like to see the breakdown of a specific profession, click the link the spreadsheet below:

Best Construction Jobs in North Carolina

This list is determined by selecting the jobs that were ranked the highest:

1. Solar Panel Installer

2. Construction Manager

3. Elevator Installer

T 4. Insulation Worker

T 4. Floor Layer

Worst Construction Jobs in North Carolina

This list is determined by selecting the jobs ranked the lowest:

1. Iron & Steel Worker

2. Sheet Metal Worker

T 3. Carpenter

T 3. Pipelayer

5. Electrician

Featured
welder
Average Hourly Wage of Welders, By State

Welders are essential on many construction jobs throughout the US, especially in bridge construction and high rise buildings. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) groups Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers into one category, but their jobs essentially boil down to joining and cutting metal. 

fire sprinkler
Average Hourly Wage of Security and Fire Systems Installers, By State

I had a request to cover fire suppression system installers on our weekly look at hourly wage data, but unfortunately the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't specifically break that profession out separately.  They do, however, have a category called Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers, which I believe will cover the category.

elevators
Average Hourly Wage of Elevator Installers, By State

Elevator installers and repairers do exactly that, install and repair elevators. As specific as the job is, it's actually the highest paid construction trade that doesn't require anything more than a high school diploma. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states that the job outlook for the profession is expected to increase by 12% through the year 2026, which is higher than average.

iron-rods-reinforcing-bars-rods-steel-bars
Average Hourly Wage of Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers, By State

Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers, commonly referred to as "rod busters,"  are responsible for positioning and tying reinforcing steel rebar, cables, and mesh for use in concrete. Rebar workers are usually also responsible for bending and cutting the reinforcement material.

trench
Average Hourly Wage of Pipelayers, By State

Pipelayers, common teammates of heavy equipment operators, are responsible for laying pipe for storm, sanitary, or water systems. Pipelayers can work with a variety of different materials, including reinforced concrete panels (RCP), ductile iron, HDPE, and PVC. This is considered more of an exterior site work task, as opposed to plumbers, who run the piping on the interior side of buildings.  

concrete truck
Average Hourly Wage of Concrete Finishers, By State

Concrete finishers smooth and finish concrete surfaces like curbs, floors, and roads. Most are also responsible for cutting control and expansion joints as the concrete hardens.  OSHA's new silica dust regulations have added an additional wrinkle to the concrete finishers job, as they are now required to greatly limit their exposure to silica containing dust. 

Construction Cranes
Average Hourly Wage of Crane Operators, By State

Cranes can be some of the most dangerous pieces of equipment on any construction jobsite.  Not only do workers need to worry about working underneath loads being suspended by cranes, operators need to exercise extreme caution when working with heavy loads and extreme weather conditions.  Cranes are also pivotal in efficiently building multi-story buildings, especially high rise and supertall buildings.  The profession itself, at least for tower crane operators, can be fairly lonely though, as there's no buddy system up in the cab.  The long commute up to the top also restricts the amount of time operators can take breaks. 

floor
Average Hourly Wage of Floor Layers, By State

Floor layers are broken out into several different categories and this data pull specifically highlights "floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles."  This category most likely encapsulates vinyl tile or linoleum installations, whether they be strips, blocks, or sheets.  

insulation
Average Hourly Wage of Insulation Workers, By State

Insulation workers, specifically those that install floor, ceiling, and wall insulation typically learn their trade on the job.  Whether installing more traditional fiberglass insulation or spray foam insulation, these types of workers almost exclusively work indoors. Although there are also mechanical insulation workers, their numbers are broken out separately, as they make an average of $10,000 per year more than floor, wall, and ceiling insulators.

Solar Panels
Average Hourly Wage of Solar Panel Installers, By State

The solar photo-voltaic panel installation profession is one of the newest jobs on the construction site.  It's also considered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to be one of the fastest growing professions across any industry.  From 2016 to 2026, the BLS expects employment to rise 105 percent, when the average is only around 5 percent.

[VIDEO] Simultaneous Demolition of Two 462 Feet Tall Cooling Towers

One thing’s for sure, the only thing better than one structure being demolished is two structures being demolished at the same time.  Late last week, a decommissioned Florida Power Plant saw to the implosion of two 462 feet tall cooling towers in spectacular fashion.

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How Can We Keep Construction Sites Safe From Fall Hazards?

[guest post] June is National Safety Month, and this week, the focus is on falls. As anyone who works in construction knows, this industry has some of the highest workplace accident and injury rates in the United States. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) ranks falls as one of their Fatal Four most deadly type of construction accidents.

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