Construction Industry News: Aug 13, 2019

The construction industry is still growing, but at the slowest rate in six years

The country added 202,000 construction jobs in July compared to the year earlier, according to federal data. The 2.8 percent year-over-year increase means construction jobs are increasing at nearly twice the rate of overall employment. However, it is nowhere near the 5 percent annual growth the industry experienced last year.

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Brick & Mortar Draws On Deep Expertise With New $97.2M Fund For Construction Tech Startups

Bechtel is taking his personal experience to the next level as his firm Brick & Mortar closes on its first institutional capital. Construction tech startups, as defined by the company, are “emerging companies developing software and hardware for the industries of architecture, engineering, construction and facilities management.”

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Lack of Guaranteed Funding Causing Road Building Market to Soften

The summer of 2019 has been a busy one as I was traveling extensively to jobsites, association meetings and to visit asphalt equipment manufacturers. What I heard out there was mostly positive, but uncertainty still lingers heavily on the minds of everyone involved in the road building industry. 

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The future of AI in the construction industry

According to McKinsey, the construction industry is under-digitized, with companies failing to realise the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) as a driver of growth and efficiency.Implementing AI means significant investment for construction companies, but the rewards can far outweigh the initial outlay. 

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Crews Installing First-Ever Light Rail Track On a Floating Bridge

For the first time ever, according to Sound Transit officials, light rail track is being installed on a floating bridge—the Interstate 90 Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge connecting Seattle to Bellevue as part of a $3.7-billion East Link Extension. Getting side-by-side 1-mile-long fixed rail onto a bridge moving in multiple planes not only required years of testing, but also a fresh approach to construction.

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