In the News The Civil Quarterly (TCQ) features original research collected quarterly from civil contractors, engineers and owners. The research provides a snapshot of the current business health of contractors operating in the dynamic civil sector, and each issue also offers insights into some of the many trends that are transforming the sector through research, interviews and feature… Read More »The Civil Quarterly 2022 Issue 4
Infrastructure is a new editorial destination that explores the systems at the core of our lives.
In the News The Civil Quarterly (TCQ) features original research collected quarterly from civil contractors, engineers and owners. The research provides a snapshot of the current business health of contractors operating in the dynamic civil sector, and each issue also offers insights into some of the many trends that are transforming the sector through research, interviews and feature articles. This quarter’s issue features: The latest on civil contractors’ business conditions, including their confidence in the market, expected revenue and profitability, and supply chain… Read More »The Civil Quarterly 2022 Issue 4
Webinar In his webinar forecast for the U.S. construction market in the coming year, Dodge chief economist Richard Branch notes four primary trends. First, the current material shortages and high prices, driven in large part by supply chain blockages, will remain issues. Second, labor shortages will continue to bedevil contractors. Third, productivity gains will drive profitability. And fourth, changing demographics, market shifts, and other externalities will necessitate flexibility.
Editorial Column I have been in AEC for almost 50 years, and since 2006 I have been producing a series of free research studies on global construction technology at Dodge Data & Analytics. From my vantage point, I believe we’re around a third of the way into what will be looked back on as about a 30-year technology-driven transformation of the entire global design, construction, and built-asset management industry, from AI-enhanced design to extensive industrialization of the build process to digital twins… Read More »The Next Phase of the Digital Transformation of the Construction Industry
Infrastructure is a new editorial destination that explores the systems at the core of our lives.
Video Cyber attacks often take center stage in public and private discussions of critical infrastructure security in the U.S. The Dec. 3 incident that left some 45,000 Duke Energy customers without power in North Carolina — as well as the ongoing Russian assaults on Ukrainian infrastructure — provide an important reminder that physical attacks remain a major threat as well. On the PBS news program Amanpour and Company, Juliette Kayyem, former Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and author… Read More »Guns, Drones, and Scissors: Lessons From the North Carolina Power Station Incident
In the News Is the economy bound for a recession? That’s arguably the biggest question in business right now. Experts are divided, with Goldman Sachs and Moody’s sounding cautiously optimistic, and billionaires Elon Musk and Leon Cooperman fearing the worst. The White House, for its part, is focused intently averting a rail strike, fearing it could tip the scales. A forced agreement is making its way through Congress. On Nov. 28, President Joe Biden releasing a statement in support of legislative action. Let… Read More »Railroads and Recessions
In the News Wastewater Agriculture Urban farming may have just taken a big step toward scaleable reality. According to Hortidaily, researchers from Clemson University and South Korea’s Gyeongsang National University have developed a low-impact method for growing produce in cities. The system researchers are developing would use an anaerobic membrane bioreactor to filter harmful contaminants out of wastewater while leaving behind nutrients that fertilize plants. The treated water would be used on crops, such as lettuce, that are growing in an indoor, soil-free… Read More »Infrastructure in the News: Wastewater Agriculture, Rural Broadband, NIMBY Energy
Research Report There’s been a great deal of attention paid lately to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the building industry. The Associated General Contractors of America has its Culture of Care initiative, for instance, and the American Institute of Architects its monumental Guides for Equitable Practice. But for all the position statements and policy-setting, just how robust is DEI in actual industry practice? A new study, commissioned by the U.S. General Services Administration from the Dodge Construction Network, examines architecture firms… Read More »Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Report Card: Needs Improvement
Research Report In this new era of digitalization, the construction industry has an opportunity to improve the productivity and efficiency of their core practices and processes using the power of measurement. A new report, the second in the Measuring What Matters series from Dodge Construction Network and Versatile®, uses a set of Versatile’s industry jobsite data gathered by CraneView® to provide insights and benchmarks into a fundamental task: site organization. All contractors engage in site organization, but many may lack the data… Read More »Benefits of Digitally Optimized Site Organization
In the News There’s good news and there’s bad news. First, the good: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, aka the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is estimated to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. Now, the bad: The construction industry is facing a massive labor shortage, in part due to record-low levels of immigration. According to McKinsey, “In April, the U.S. construction industry had roughly 440,000 job openings, and the U.S. manufacturing industry had more than one million—the highest levels recorded since industry-level jobs… Read More »Public, Private Programs Target the Infrastructure Labor Shortage
In the News Downtowns across the country are struggling to recover from COVID-19, Bloomberg columnist Justin Fox reports. A recent study from the University of California, Berkeley used cell phone data from cities across the country to compare business district activity in the spring of this year with activity prior to the outbreak. The slowdown is worse in San Francisco than any other city, with only activity at only 31% of pre-pandemic levels. Since the onset of the pandemic, San Francisco has been the… Read More »Post-COVID, Not All Downtowns Are Bouncing Back
In the News Renewables surpassed fossil fuels as the cheapest energy source in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency. But the development path for solar and wind technology hasn’t always followed a straight line, judging by an Oct. 9 article in The New York Times. “‘Eye of Sauron’: The Dazzling Solar Tower in the Israeli Desert” tells the story of an $800 million experiment in energy generation in Ashalim, Israel: 50,000 mirrors on the desert floor reflect sunlight onto a boiler atop… Read More »The Road to Renewable Energy Is Paved With Good Intentions
Forecast The Dodge Momentum Index, issued by Dodge Construction Network, improved 5.7% (2000=100) in September to 183.2 from the revised August reading of 173.4. The DMI is a monthly measure of the initial report for nonresidential building projects in planning, shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. In September, the commercial component of the Momentum Index rose 2.9%, while the institutional component also increased, seeing a double-digit gain of 11.7%. After a solid performance in September, the DMI… Read More »The Dodge Momentum Index Improves in September