A major scaffolding collapse injured six construction workers Friday afternoon and the moment it happened was caught by a tourist and recorded on a cell phone camera.
Read moreJabra Releases “Toughest Headset Ever” Designed Specifically for Construction Tradesmen
Photo courtesy of Jabra
Wind, dirt, drops, and technology typically don’t mix very well, which presents a real challenge to tradesmen who work in tough conditions. Many workers try to go as hands free as possible, as gloves get in the way when they try to press tiny buttons on a touch screen that doesn’t respond very well to fabric.
Read moreDubai's New Mega Attraction is a 690 Foot Tall Ferris Wheel
Dubai is no stranger to world records, in fact it appears that Dubai wants to be the destination for all of the world's structural records. The title of world's tallest is never an easy title to own. Competing building projects are always watching and attempting to go higher. Just like the Burj Khalifa the official height of that building was kept as secret as the Coca-Cola recipe until it was nearly complete. And, if you do become the world's tallest then it is only a matter of time before the next project comes along and out does you. For example, see what's happening now in the arena for tallest wood building. As Dubai has done in the past with the Burj Khalifa, they did not look to build a new high rise that was just a few feet taller than the last one, they looked to build the tallest possible building at the time. That put the Burj about 320 meters taller than any other skyscraper, and their newest attraction, The Dubai Eye, will be no different.
Read moreUS Presidential Candidates Ranked by How Much They Support Construction Industry
Photo by DonkeyHotey, CC BY-SA 2.0
With a little over a year before the 2016 vote for America’s next President, I’m sure many of you are already sick of the ads and the constant politicking as we are. Nevertheless, there are very important issues that need to be addressed that can and will affect the construction industry and a recent study has ranked the current presidential candidates past performance with regards to those issues that affect our industry.
Read moreVideo: Construction Worker Gets Catapulted Off of Boom Lift, Learns Valuable Lesson About Wearing a Harness
Lifts may seem relatively safe, because they move fairly slow, but, believe it or not, there are actually very good reasons that OSHA safety procedures exist, especially wearing a harness on a lift.
Read moreWhich Construction Equipment is Most Likely to Be Stolen and Tips to Prevent it From Happening
Photo by Aaron Volkening, CC BY 2.0
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) has released their full 2014 report on construction heavy equipment theft (PDF download) and the news is not great: theft has risen roughly 1.2 percent versus 2013. According to the report, a total of 11,625 pieces of equipment were stolen in 2014, compared to 11,486 in 2013. The annual report is co-authored by the National Equipment Register (NER) and examines and analyzes data from the National Crime Information Center. The NICB estimates the equipment theft costs between $300 million to $1 billion annually.
Read moreAmerica Concrete Institute Releases Guide to the Code for Concrete Repair and Rehabilitation
The American Concrete Institute (ACI) has just released a companion guide to the ACI 562-13 Code Requirements for Evaluation, Repair, and Rehabilitation of Concrete Buildings. Aimed at contractors, inspectors, owners, and manufacturers, the guide’s main goal is to provide insight into the interpretations and explain the proper use of the ACI 562 principles.
Read moreNorth America’s Tallest Wood Building to Be Built in Quebec
The Origine Condominium Complex. Rendering courtesy of Nordic Structures
Buildings have been made with wood for thousands of years, but those buildings rarely make it above a couple stories high. Due to building codes and requirements, non-combustible materials like concrete and steel are required to be used in most commercial buildings. Typical timber buildings, like many North American houses will easily burn in the right conditions, but more and more projects are using cross-laminated timber (CLT) which has excellent non-combustion properties
Read moreAmazing Excavator Attachment Combines Digging and Hammering in One Machine
Photo courtesy of The Bayonet Breaker
During excavations, we typically hope we run into mostly “soft stuff,” that easy to remove dirt that lets us get our work done quickly. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go exactly like that a lot of the time, whether you run into a large rock that needs broken up or a huge chunk of concrete gets in the way. When that happens, you either need to change attachments or have another piece of heavy machinery to get the job done. A Texas business man decided there had to be a better way, so he did something about it.
Read moreConstruction Workers Prank New Guy With Hilarious Fake Seismic Test
There are many classic pranks that construction workers pull on the new guy on the site, such as being sent to find a left handed hammer or a light bulb repair kit, but this one might just be the most tiring.
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