Trimble Put Earthwork Modeling in SketchUp and Wired It Into the Excavator
SketchUp Pro Civil Contractor lets earthwork contractors model 3D terrain without Civil 3D and push it straight into Siteworks and Earthworks grade control.
Cumming Bought a 1999 New York Owner’s Rep and Pointed It All at Data Centers
Cumming folded TLM Group into an Advanced Technologies division it built five months ago, pushing Tri-State headcount past 260 in an owner’s-rep roll-up.
Builders Say Construction Credit Tightened for an 18th Straight Quarter. Their Lenders Say It Eased.
NAHB’s Q2 AD&C survey read -12.0 while the Fed’s lender survey read +3.7 — the first divergence since 2013. Points, not rates, explain the gap.
Hyundai E&C Will Build Up to Eight Natrium Reactors, With Price and Completion Guarantees
TerraPower named Hyundai E&C as EPC for up to eight Natrium reactors under completion, price and performance guarantees — the missing piece for project finance.
Fire Drove Half of $782 Million in Data Center Losses, and Commissioning Is the Riskiest Phase
An Allianz review of 221 data center claims worth $782M found fire drove most loss value, and named testing and commissioning a peak-risk construction phase.
Homebuilding Wages Rose 1% in June. After Inflation, They Fell 2.4%.
Residential building wages hit $39.74/hour in June, up just 1% year over year. Adjusted for inflation they fell 2.4%, down from a 9.4% nominal peak in 2024.
Southwire Is Putting $256 Million Into One Mississippi Plant as Copper Demand Outruns Capacity
Southwire is adding 380,000 sq ft in Starkville, Mississippi. The new wire capacity arrives in 2028, after the backlog now squeezing electrical subs is built.
The FAA Just Sent Out the Last $870 Million of a $14.5 Billion Airport Program
The FAA awarded $870M across 339 airport projects — the fifth and final installment of the $14.5B Airport Infrastructure Grants program created by the IIJA.
Bank of America Put a $250 Billion Number on Infrastructure and Gave Itself 18 Months
Bank of America launched a $250B Critical Infrastructure Finance Initiative running through July 2027, aimed at digital, energy and core infrastructure.
Granite Is Digging a 1.3 Million-Cubic-Yard Cavern in the Mojave to Store Compressed Air
Granite Construction won a $31M early works package for Hydrostor’s Willow Rock plant, recasting long-duration storage as a heavy civil excavation job.
Jobsite Robotics Went From 29% of Contractors to 79% in a Single Year
A BuiltWorlds survey found 79% of contractors reported using jobsite robotics in 2026, up from 29%. Accuracy, not labor savings, is now the top stated reason.
Stanley Black & Decker Is Spending $1 Billion, and Half of It Never Touches a Factory
Stanley Black & Decker committed $1 billion in U.S. investment through 2028, splitting it roughly evenly between tool R&D and domestic manufacturing capacity.
A Florida Arena Collapsed Mid-Beam-Set. The Last Recorded Inspection Was in May.
A rodeo arena under construction at the Florida Gateway Fairgrounds in Lake City collapsed completely around 4 p.m. on August 12, 2026.
Pennsylvania Adopted a $90 Billion Twelve-Year Program. The First Four Years Start October 1.
The Pennsylvania State Transportation Commission adopted the 2027 Twelve-Year Transportation Program on August 5, 2026, committing more than $90 billion to roads, bridges, airports, railroads and tran
A Union Just Sued a GC for a Labor Broker’s Payroll. It’s the First Case Under New Jersey’s Up-the-Chain Law.
Laborers Local 3 and the Laborers’ Eastern Region Organizing Fund filed suit August 11 and announced it August 12, docket HUD-L-003298-26, against GC A.J.D. Construction and concrete sub Concrete Risi
Design Firms Logged +23.4 on Proposals While Construction Spending Fell 3.2%
PSMJ’s Net Plus/Minus Index for A/E proposal activity hit +23.4 in Q2 2026, up from +20.4 a year earlier, based on 290 AEC executives surveyed July 6-23.
Treasury Extended the 45Q Safe Harbor Indefinitely, and Carbon Capture EPC Just Got Bankable
Treasury and the IRS issued Notice 2026-50 on August 14, modifying and amplifying Notice 2026-1 on the Section 45Q carbon oxide sequestration credit.
FMI Cut 2026 to $2.214 Trillion. Manufacturing Is Down 17.4%, Data Centers Up 21.4%.
FMI’s Q3 2026 outlook forecasts total U.S. construction spending of $2.214 trillion in 2026, down just over 1% from a flat 2025.