[VIDEO] Massive Landslide Swallows Construction Site in India

As harmless as it looks, dirt can be one of the biggest hazards on any construction site.  It’s heavy and is bound to collapse without warning unless proper safety measures are taken into account.  Landslides are essentially no different than trench collapses, without proper shoring or sloping, you could be putting worker’s lives in danger.

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World’s First Modular Plastic Bridge Debuts in UK

One of the most challenging issues with modular construction, of any kind, is the sheer size and weight of many of the components that need to be transported and lifted in place once onsite. That presents a specifically tough situation for jobsites that are not easy to get to.  Arup, a design, engineering, and consulting team in the United Kingdom, has developed and successfully implemented what they say is the “world’s first modular glass-fiber, reinforced polymer bridge.” You may remember Arup from their testing of a “living wall” scaffolding cover that we wrote about last year.

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America’s First Full Scale Heated Concrete Slabs Being Tested at Iowa Airport

Snow causes all kinds of travel nightmares and not just on the roads.  Snow and ice can cause major airline delays and flight cancellations.  Because of these issues (and the large amounts of money to be gained by solving them) several different groups of researchers have been hard at work figuring out ways to reduce and remove snow and ice from pavement without the need for chemicals and snow plows. The first technology to get a full scale test slab installed at an American airport, however, came from Iowa State University professor Halil Ceylan.

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OSHA Issues First Contractor Citation Press Release Since Trump Inauguration

Prior to January 20th, 2017, it was almost a daily occurrence for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue a press release about a large fine they have recently levied against businesses.  Since January 20th, news coming directly from OSHA has been extremely sparse.  There were some updates, like the delay of their new silica dust exposure rule and information about their “Safe and Sound Campaign,”  but nothing about recent fines and citations.

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[VIDEO] World’s First Vertical Lift Wheel Loader

The world’s first 3D printed excavator was not the only piece of construction equipment to hold that title at this year’s CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas.  LiuGong, an international construction equipment manufacturer founded in China, also unveiled the world’s first vertical lift wheel loader at the event.

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[VIDEO] Construction Workers Chase Down Alleged Thief in High Speed Chase

Nobody likes having something stolen from them, obviously, but some people are also more willing to go to extreme lengths to get their items back. Construction sites are hot targets for thieves, because there’s typically thousands of dollars worth of tools and material on site at any time. On one construction site in Dallas, an alleged thief thought he was going to snag a tool from the site and drive away safely, but several construction workers had a different thought in mind.

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OSHA Delays New Silica Dust Exposure Rules

Originally set to be enforced on June 23, 2017, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration new rule regarding silica dust exposure limits has been delayed an additional 90 days, to September 23, 2017.  Many construction industry groups were upset by the new rule, as they deemed it “technologically and economically infeasible, but also unnecessary.”

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GIVEAWAY: Milwaukee Tool’s New TICK Tool & Equipment Tracker

In 2015, Milwaukee released their robust smart tool management platform, ONE-KEY.  The smartphone and web application allows users to not only keep data of their tools spread across different users and jobsites, but it also offers tool customization and tool tracking, for tools that are enabled with ONE-KEY. Earlier this year, the platform got a major upgrade with the release of added tool security, which allow users to hide tools, lock the trigger or footpad, or completely render the tool useless remotely if lost or stolen.

Read on to find out how you can win a free (4) pack of Milwaukee TICK ($99 Value)

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Procore Announces New Construction OS at Yearly Groundbreak Conference

Construction apps are popping up all over the place and it’s getting increasingly difficult to determine which ones are right for you personally or right for your business. The truth is, there probably isn’t one application that will meet all of your needs.  Procore, one of the leaders in construction project management software, recognized this issue and decided to do something about it.

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Bosch Ordered to Stop Sales of REAXX Flesh Detecting Table Saw

The Bosch REAXX Jobsite Table Saw has been on a bit of a roller coaster ride since it was announced in 2015.  SawStop, the first company to market with a table saw that detects flesh and stops the blade, filed a lawsuit against Bosch for patent infringement in mid-2015.  That lawsuit delayed the release of REAXX to 2016, a year after the company planned to release it. The ruling in that case has put another speed bump in the rollout plans for Bosch.

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