ENR’s Top 400 Hit a Record on Data Centers. The Mood Didn’t Follow.
ENR’s 2026 Top 400 Contractors posted record revenue of $671.4B, up 11.8%, propelled by data centers, even as firms cite interest rates and global conflict as drags.
Mississippi Ties $41.5M in College Funding to Workers, Not Enrollment
Mississippi’s community colleges proposed a $41.5M workforce program that pays out on training outcomes, not headcount, aiming to prepare 5,500 more workers a year.
Prevailing-Wage Rules Are Shifting Under Contractors This Summer
Oregon, Illinois, and California all changed prevailing-wage rules that bite this summer, and public-works contractors are managing a patchwork that shifts by state.
Obayashi Buys Multiplex for $650M, and Global Contractors Keep Consolidating
Brookfield agreed to sell Australian builder Multiplex to Japan’s Obayashi for $650M, the latest in a wave of billion-dollar construction M&A reshaping the global contractor market.
Exoskeletons and Wearables Are Quietly Moving From Pilot to Payroll
Back- and shoulder-support exoskeletons and IoT heat-stress wearables are landing on real jobsites as contractors chase the injuries that drive comp claims.
Lumber and Cement Get the Headlines. Aluminum Just Jumped 49%.
Aluminum mill shapes are up 48.8% year over year while gypsum and insulation prices reset again. The materials squeeze runs well past lumber and cement.
DroneDeploy’s New AI Turns a Drone Flight Into a Progress Report in Minutes
DroneDeploy’s Progress AI reads drone and 360 walkthrough data to auto-generate construction progress reports it says are 95% accurate, roughly 100x faster than manual tracking.
Panama Canal Bets $8.5 Billion That It Can Be More Than a Waterway
The Panama Canal Authority’s $8.5B Transformation Decade adds two container terminals, an interoceanic gas pipeline, and a reservoir to drought-proof the locks.
New York’s Top Court Tightens Prevailing-Wage Rules
New York’s Court of Appeals says public-works contractors owe prevailing wages even absent a contract promise, and can’t shorten the clock on third-party claims.
BWI Shuts Its Longest Runway for an $83.8M Rebuild
BWI closed its 10,500-foot main runway through October for an $83.8M rehab by Allan Myers and P. Flanigan, betting a sharp shutdown beats years of patchwork.
A Column Buckle in Midtown Is a Warning for Conversions
An engineer says the office-to-apartment conversion at 235 East 42nd Street likely stressed a frame never meant for the load, a caution for the conversion boom.
McKinsey: AI Can Automate 39% of Construction’s Desk Work
A new McKinsey report says AI could automate 39% of nonphysical construction work, and warns builders to pick their build-versus-buy fights carefully.
Immigration Squeeze Meets a 349,000-Worker Gap
Construction needs about 349,000 more workers in 2026 even as immigration enforcement thins the trades and the H-2B visa cap leaves builders short.
Boston’s $10B Coastal Storm Plan Opens for Comment
Boston and the Army Corps unveiled a draft coastal storm plan of up to $10.5 billion that would close 20 flood pathways and unlock 65% federal cost sharing.
Data Center Builds Are Filling Extended-Stay Hotels
Data center megaprojects are driving extended-stay hotel demand to a four-year high, but a thin permanent workforce raises questions about how long the boom lasts.
Chiefs Tap Burns & McDonnell for $300M Olathe Campus
The Kansas City Chiefs named Burns & McDonnell owner’s representative for a $300M headquarters and practice facility in Olathe, Kansas, opening before the 2031 season.
Canada’s 50% Tariff Wave Lands on Concrete and Cement
New 50% U.S. tariffs on many Canadian imports are pushing concrete and cement prices up and rewriting bids, with disputes likely as estimates blow past their assumptions.
Maryland Drops Kiewit From the Key Bridge Rebuild
Two years in, Maryland is parting ways with Kiewit on the Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuild and will seek a new builder, after cost estimates reportedly reached $8 to $9 billion.