The Data Center Construction Pipeline Is Colliding With the Power Grid
The data center construction boom is running into a hard limit: the grid. Announced projects total 780 GW, more than U.S. peak demand, but few will get power.
Toronto Pearson Expansion Kicks Off With a $3B First Phase
Toronto Pearson’s expansion is underway: the GTAA launched a $3B first phase of its decade-long Pearson LIFT program to handle 65 million passengers a year.
Tutor Perini’s $19.8B Backlog Hits a Record as Megaproject Bets Pay Off
Tutor Perini’s backlog hit a record $19.8 billion in Q1 2026 as nine megaprojects, from the Hudson Tunnel to California rail, lock in years of revenue.
Construction Tech Funding Climbs Again as Six Startups Pull In $126M
Construction tech funding isn’t cooling off: six startups raised $126M in 2026 for AI estimating, jobsite safety and BIM tools, led by ONESTRUCTION’s $58M round.
The SMR Construction Pipeline Is Real. The 2026 Timelines Aren’t.
Utilities and tech giants are backing small modular reactors, but the build pipeline runs years behind the hype, with most first units slipping to the 2030s.
Grain Belt Express Breaks Ground on the Largest Power Line in U.S. History
Construction starts in 2026 on Grain Belt Express, an $11B, 800-mile transmission line carrying 5,000 MW across Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.
ICON Opens Its Construction 3D Printers to Other Builders
ICON’s new Titan program lets other builders buy its robotic 3D-printing construction system for the first time, with deliveries starting in early 2027.
Steel Tariffs Hit 50% and 43% of Contractors Have Already Cut a Project
Steel and aluminum tariffs at 50% have pushed metal prices up double digits, and an AGC survey says 43% of contractors have already cut a project.
Army Corps Lines Up 14 Firms for a Decade of $2B Base Energy Work
The Army Corps awarded a 10-year, $2B contract to 14 firms for energy-resilience work at military bases, from microgrids to backup power and grid hardening.
LEED v5 Goes Live July 1, Making Embodied Carbon Reporting a Hard Prerequisite for Certification
After July 1, 2026, every new LEED registration must use v5, which makes embodied carbon reporting a prerequisite for certification. It’s the most significant rewrite of the standard in over a decade.
Turner Releases SafeT Coach Free to the Industry, Putting a GC-Grade AI Safety Tool on Every Phone
Turner Construction made its SafeT Coach AI safety assistant free to the entire construction industry during Safety Week 2026, ChatGPT-grounded and trained on 25,000 field interactions.
Construction Input Prices Jumped 1.7% in April and 6.2% Year to Date, Eating Three Years of Cost Restraint in Four Months
ABC reports construction input prices rose 1.7% in April and 6.2% year to date. That’s more inflation in four months than the prior three years combined, driven by energy and tariff-exposed metals.
$1.7B Border Wall Contract for Big Bend Is the Largest in Texas History, and Nobody Agrees What It Builds
U.S. Customs and Border Protection awarded Southwest Valley Constructors a $1.7B Big Bend border wall contract on May 11. A week earlier the agency said it wouldn’t build a wall there.
Bechtel and NABTU Sign Nuclear Apprenticeship Pact as SMR Pipeline Builds
Bechtel and NABTU signed an MOU to modernize craft apprenticeships for U.S. nuclear builds, naming Vogtle and the Natrium reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming as the case studies.
California’s CEQA and Transit-Housing Reforms Land in 2026, Reshaping the Permit Path for Infill Builds
AB 130, SB 131, and SB 79 take effect across 2026, exempting more infill housing from CEQA and overriding local height limits near transit. It’s the most consequential California permit reform in two decades.
Stargate Abilene Tops Out as Crusoe Completes Final Building of Phase 1 AI Campus
Crusoe has topped out the eighth and final building of Phase 1 at the OpenAI Stargate campus in Abilene, Texas, capping a 1.2 GW, 4-million-square-foot data center build that’s now the largest under one fence in the U.S.
NABTU and Microsoft Push AI Literacy Into Union Apprenticeships Across 34 States
A second wave of the NABTU-Microsoft partnership puts free AI literacy credentials inside union JATCs in all 50 states and Canada, plus TradesFutures programs in 34 states.
LC3 Cement Crosses the Pilot Line, With 35 Plants Producing and More Under Construction
Limestone calcined clay cement is exiting the demonstration phase. Holcim’s Ecuador plant produces up to 2 million tons a year, and roughly 35 facilities globally now run LC3 or calcined clay.