News — construction

Detours Around Tunnel Construction Confusing Drivers POCONO TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Detours around a construction project in the Poconos are causing confusion for drivers. Crews started work on the "Stites Tunnel" bridge replacement on Route 191 in Pocono Township, but the new traffic patterns are catching some drivers off guard. Confusion and, at times, blatant disregard for posted road closed signs are just some of what Newswatch 16 found while checking out the new detours around the Stites Tunnel Bridge construction project in Pocono Township. "I'm retired and have time, so I am just going to learn the detour," said Joe Memoly...

China Halts Bridge Construction After 6,000 Rare Fish Die SHANGHAI China has halted construction of a bridge in the province of Hubei after it was said to have caused the death of around 6,000 critically endangered Chinese sturgeon, the China Daily said, citing the agriculture ministry. An investigation team found the construction project in the city of Jingzhou had illegally encroached on a protected national nature reserve, the paper said. The fish were bred at an aquafarm in Jingzhou. Their deaths were attributed to the "shocks, noises and changes of water sources" brought about by the bridge project. The Chinese...

Would you move to Ireland to work in construction? The number of people working in the construction sector in Ireland has jumped by 14 per cent, or 17,900 jobs, in the past 12 months, but Ireland will need an influx of workers from abroad to meet housing targets, according to the ESRI. This may put even more pressure on an already strained housing market, however, and worries about another property crash is putting some construction workers off moving here from abroad, according to one major building company. The Irish Times would like to hear from construction workers based overseas, or...

Bay Area startups see big opportunity in construction technology The industry has seen a torrent of investment in 2018 as startups seek to inject much-needed innovation into the sector. During the first half of 2018, investors pumped a record $1.05 billion in contech startups, which is 30 percent more than the 2017 total, according to a recent report from real estate firm JLL. Managing construction sites is hard work. The industry is plagued with high costs, labor shortages and slow progress. Construction is one of the least digitized industries in the world, according to a 2016 report from McKinsey Global...

The future of construction: Hand-built by robots? Technological convergence and disruption is driving innovation, and raising new challenges, for industries across the economy. We speak to Suzanne Gill and Helen Garthwaite, partners at Wedlake Bell and co-founders of Tomorrow’s City, Today’s Challenge about the ever developing technological landscape.  According to the World Economic Forum, however, construction and engineering have to date been hesitant to ‘fully embrace the latest technological opportunities’. This has, in many cases, led to productivity stagnation, with McKinsey estimating that if global construction sector productivity achieved its potential it would boost the sector by $1.6trn – adding 2% to...