Construction Industry News: April 13, 2018

Top White House infrastructure aide is departing

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House’s top infrastructure adviser is leaving the administration as President Donald Trump’s plans to inject funding to repair the nation’s roads and bridges will most likely have to wait until after the midterm elections.

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Industry Braces for Tariff Consequences

Faced with a possible trade war erupting from a barrage of threats and counterthreats exchanged between the U.S. and China over tariff impositions, construction economists and equipment manufacturer representatives say the industry is growing increasingly edgy about the gathering unknowns and potential financial impacts on operations. 

Report

March Report: Construction  Jobless Rate Falls, but Industry Loses 15,000 Jobs

Specialty trade contractors lost 16,200 positions, heavy-civil sector down by 3,600, BLS reports.

Report: Bureau of Labor Statistics

The 10 Largest Pumped-Storage Hydropower Plants in the World

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity, a mature technology first developed in the 1890s, is playing an increasingly important role in the current era as wind and solar power advance. "The largest market driver of pumped storage is aggressive renewable-energy goals that are pushing regional power grids to the edge of instability," says Don Erpenbeck, global market sector leader for water power and dams at Stantec.

ENR Feature

More Mississippi bridges added to list; counties get 24 hours to begin closures

The number of city and county bridges the Mississippi Department of Transportation are ordered to close increased from 83 to 102 as of Wednesday, according to the Mississippi Department of Transportation and Mississippi Office of State Aid Road Construction documents.

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Four robots took six months to 3D print the complex MX3D metal bridge

First announced in june 2015, the full span of MX3D’s ambitious, fully functional, 3D printed metal bridge has been finalized. Designed by Joris Laarman Lab, the preview of the stainless steel construction already hints at its vast size, as well as complex, strong and graceful geometries. The bridge is scheduled to be installed in 2019, where it will span across Oudezijds Achterburgwal, one of the oldest and most famous canals of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

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