Architecture Billings Sink Again, and Data Centers Can’t Save Everyone
The Architecture Billings Index fell to 44.5, its weakest since January, as economic uncertainty, higher energy costs and rising materials weigh on design demand.
America’s Nuclear Order Book Tops 70 Gigawatts
More than 70 gigawatts of new U.S. nuclear demand is in the pipeline, much of it small and advanced reactors ordered by hyperscalers chasing firm power for AI.
A Window Coating Startup Bets Retrofits Beat Replacements
NxLite closed $16.6M to scale energy-saving coatings that can be applied to glass and retrofitted into existing commercial windows, cutting a major source of building heat loss.
New York Finally Moves to Take Its Sidewalk Sheds Down
New York is pushing to clear the sidewalk sheds that have become permanent fixtures, balancing a facade-safety law born of tragedy against streets buried in scaffolding.
Gen Z Is Choosing the Welding Torch Over the Lecture Hall
As AI unsettles white-collar entry jobs, more of Gen Z is choosing trade school and construction careers, though convincing parents and peers is still a hurdle.
A Miami Startup 3D-Prints Seawalls That Double as Reefs
Kind Designs raised $10M to scale 3D-printed ‘Living Seawalls’ that protect coastal property while functioning as artificial reefs and improving water quality.
SpaceX Alumni Raise $115M to Turn Excavators Into Robots
TerraFirma raised $115M, including a $100M Series A led by Kleiner Perkins, to retrofit heavy construction equipment into remotely operated, semi-autonomous robots.
California’s New Change-Order Law Puts a Clock on Private Jobs
California’s Private Works Change Order Fair Payment Act sets hard deadlines for resolving change-order claims on private projects, with 2% monthly interest on wrongly withheld amounts.
San Francisco’s All-Electric Renovation Rule Is Live, and It Reprices Remodels
San Francisco now requires major renovations to go all-electric for applications filed on or after July 1, 2026, reshaping how contractors scope and bid remodels.
Summer Heat Should Be a Bid Line Item, Says Minnesota’s AGC Safety Director
AGC of Minnesota’s safety director argues contractors should price summer cooling into bids the way they already price winter heating, instead of absorbing it.
Whistleblowers Say Kennedy Center Repairs Skipped the Spec, and the Rust Came Back
Former Kennedy Center project managers allege renovations were rushed for a December ceremony, using a cheaper primer than specified and no-bid contracts.
A Kansas City Just Proved CMAR Works on Wastewater, and Owners Are Watching
McCarthy and Black & Veatch completed Lawrence, Kansas’ $74.3 million plant overhaul, the city’s first CMAR wastewater job, without taking the plant offline.
Input Prices Fell 1.1% in June. Don’t Bid Off That Number.
Construction input prices dropped 1.1% in June on cheaper oil, but the data was collected five weeks before release and oil has since rebounded roughly 15%.
Deere Has to Hand Over Its Repair Software for the Next 10 Years
Deere settled an FTC and five-state lawsuit, agreeing to give independent repair providers the same diagnostic software and tools it gives authorized dealers.
WRDA 2026 Clears Committee With $30.5B for Water Revolving Funds
The Water Resources Development Act of 2026 passed unanimously out of House T&I with $30.5 billion for state revolving funds and 133 new feasibility studies.
Backlog Slipped to 8.8 Months in June, and the Gap Is All Data Centers
ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator fell 0.3 months in June to 8.8, but firms with data center work carry 2.5 more months than those without.
Tutor Perini Lands a $140M Casino Job While Everyone Else Chases Data Centers
Tutor Perini Building Corp. won a $140 million renovation and 130-room tower expansion at the Choctaw Nation’s Pocola casino, with construction starting in Q3.
Gateway Pays $88M Now to Keep Its Tunnel Boring Machines Off 500 Buried Piles
The Gateway Development Commission approved an $88 million change order for Weeks Marine to pull roughly 500 submerged piles before Hudson Tunnel boring starts in 2028.