Summer camp is a tradition for many young people across the country. For some lucky students, this summer was filled with blueprints, tools and construction skills instead of sports, crafts and swimming.

Several chapters of Associated Builders and Contractors have partnered with schools and community organizations to provide summer learning to young people interested in gaining a competitive advantage in their future career with quality construction skills. With more than 500,000 jobs available in the construction industry right now, creating opportunities for young people to connect with construction professionals and learn career-ready skills is essential.

Reprinted courtesy of Mike Glavin, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released data showing that spending in the private construction market has reached $954 billion, surpassing the previous peak spending of $906 billion in 2006.

While spending is on the rise, so is the number of unfilled positions. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 243,000 construction job openings in May 2018—a nearly 33 percent increase from the 183,000 jobs open just a year before.

Reprinted courtesy of Yves Frinault, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

About 17 months after D.C. United broke ground on its approximately $500-million soccer-specific stadium in Southwest Washington, D.C., crews completed substantial construction on Audi Field in time for the team to host its first Major League Soccer match in its new digs on July 14.

The Buffalo News has an article that shows that unionization is not the rainbows and unicorns that organizers promise. The story involves the Ironworkers organizing of a company call Wendt Corp. Over a year ago, Wendt’s employees voted in favor representation by the Ironworkers. But, Wendt and the union still have yet to agree on a contract. As we often tell employees thinking about organizing, voting in favor of the union and receiving the benefit of what the organizers promises are different things. An affirmative vote means only that the employer must bargain in good faith with the union. It does not mean the employer is forced to sign a collective bargaining agreement containing all of the goodies the union promises employees.

The construction market has entered its tenth year of growth, and it seems the near-term outlook continues to be positive. What is surprising is that industry firms continue to see bright prospects throughout the next year, despite perceived headwinds caused by rising materials prices and staff shortages.

Retrofitting new technical systems into an existing building can be tricky. CTRL Reality, a Finnish AR/VR application development company, is completing an experimentation project demonstrating how HVAC design and installation are easier and cost-efficient with the help of virtual reality.

Teijo Lehtonen CTRL Reality“We did research on the business use of virtual and augmented reality for five years at the University of Turku before starting up our company a year ago,” said CEO Teijo Lehtonen. “We’re focused on industrial and cultural travel applications.”

Artificial intelligence is a much-hyped technology, but there are only a handful of real-life implementations in construction. Sweco is one of the first in the world to showcase the use of machine learning in structural design.

In conjunction with Construction Safety Week, May 7-11, Construction Executive interviewed Greg Peele, general manager and executive vice president leading Skanska USA’s North Carolina and Virginia building operations.

A 29-year industry veteran, Peele has spent the last 18 years with Skanska. As part of his leadership role, he sets the tone for the company’s safety culture on 18 active jobsites in his region.

Reprinted courtesy of Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

The steel sector is so excited about structural engineer Ron Klemencic’s composite steel superstructure, expected to speed office tower construction, that at least three steel fabricators are studying it, many months before erection is set to begin on Seattle’s 850-ft-tall “proof of concept.”

Two people are dead after a three-alarm fire erupted at a construction site near downtown Denver on March 7. The mid-day fire, which destroyed a partially completed apartment building and burned hot enough to damage at least 40 cars in the area, forced construction workers to leap to safety from second and third floors.

For better or worse, dispute resolution is a necessary part of construction. In theory, the two sides should be able to quickly and efficiently present their claims to a neutral third party (a judge or arbitrator) who then decides a fair and equitable outcome based on the facts, the parties’ contract and the applicable law. In reality, however, document discovery in the age of email and electronic documents has caused the cost of dispute resolution to skyrocket to the point where some believe that it is not cost effective to contest any but the largest issues.