OSHA Sets Enforcement Date for New Beryllium Exposure Limit in Construction

First announced in January 2017, OSHA’s new beryllium exposure limit for construction workers was originally supposed to be in full effect on March 12, 2018.  The administration just announced last Friday that the new enforcement date for the rule will be May 11, 2018.

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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.

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52-Story Building Demolition in New York Could Be Tallest Demo Ever

We’ve seen a lot of huge demolitions since Construction Junkie began in 2015, including an entire New York City block and a 27 story high rise in China that was never used, but we’ve never seen a demolition as massive as the one JPMorgan Chase announced they are going to start on their existing 52-story headquarters in Manhattan, New York City. 

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2018 Winners of Most Innovative Products at World of Concrete Announced

Over the years, the World of Concrete has become one of the premier construction events across the country.  The name may make you think it’s strictly related to concrete, but the truth is that anyone in the industry can find value in attending the massive event. Each year, the Most Innovative Products featured at the World of Concrete are chosen and Hanley Wood, a construction information and marketing company, recently announced the winners.

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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.  

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Report: 8.9% of America’s Bridges are “Structurally Deficient”

With over 612,000 bridges across the United States a large emphasis must be placed on maintaining and replacing them each year.  We’ve been hearing the narrative surrounding “America’s failing infrastructure” for several years now, but there’s still a lot of progress to be made.

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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. 

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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. 

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