Eurozone construction output continued its decline for the fifth month in a row in March, Eurostat reported Friday.

Production in construction fell at a faster pace of 1.7 percent, following a 0.3 percent drop in February. Building construction and civil engineering slid 1.4 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

On a yearly basis, overall construction output plunged 7.9 percent, reversing last month's 1.7 percent increase.

At the same time, EU27 construction output slipped 1.1 percent month-on-month, taking the annual decline to 7.2 percent.

Production decreased in ten member states and improved in four countries. The largest annual decreases were registered in Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Poland. Meanwhile, Spain and Hungary reported the highest increases. 

Despite the figures, there are some countries in the Eurozone for whom business is booming. Germany and several parts of Ireland have recorded higher than average outputs, whereas France, which has slipped back into recession over the past week, has been hit hard.

Looking forward, signs are that an upward curve is on the horizon as several poorly performing countries have turned the corner into growth.

Balfour Beatty, whose shares are down more than 20 per cent this year, issued a profit warning two weeks ago, bracing investors for a £50m profit shortfall in its UK construction business.

Yesterday, the company said total construction revenues fell 11 per cent in the first quarter, driven largely by a 23 per cent slump in UK construction. It blamed a "marketplace which continues to be adversely impacted by the shortage of major public projects and fierce competition in the regional markets".

But Balfour Beatty also warned of a break-even performance from the UK construction arm over the year with profits weighted more towards the second half than usual. Other parts of the business – professional services and support services – are in better shape, with overall orders up 5 per cent to £16bn at the end of March.

10. Formerly known as the Kingkey Finance Center Plaza, the Kingkey 100 is a Guangdong’s tallest skyscraper and the third tallest building in China, standing at 441.8 metres.

The mixed-use building contains 100 floors for office space and a hotel. Adjacent to the Kingkey 100 building is the KK Mall, which opened its doors November 26, 2010, and contains luxury brand stores, restaurants and a supermarket.

9. Just one meter separates the Kingkey 100 with the next entry; Willis Tower in Chicago, USA. The building was formerly called Sears Tower but the name was changed in 2009 when Willis Group Holdings purchased the naming rights.

Construction started in 1970 and the building was completed in 1973, when it was the tallest building in the world at the time.

8. The stunning 89 story Zifeng Tower in Nanjing, China, has been towering over the city since its opening in December 2010.

Designed by Adrian Smith, the multi-use building is a jewel in the crown of China’s recent skyscraping efforts.

7. The Petronas twin towers stand as a physical symbol of Malaysia and South East Asia’s economic flowering.

Both 452 metres high, the towers were the tallest in the world from 1998 to 2004. Their position of seventh in the 2013 chart shows how far we have come in a short ten years.

6. Hong Kong’s first and only entry into the top ten comes from the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon.

With an eight year build time it has been a relatively long road to completion in 2010, but now stands proudly facing the main bay of the Asian principality

5. The Shanghai World Trade Center is more than just an office block. The billion dollar, 495 meter tall structure doubles as a museum, retail, and observation space.

Although it took 11 years from laying the foundations to opening, it is now synonymous with the growing Shanghai skyline.

4. The Taipei 101 Tower was the highest man-made peak in the world from 2004 to 2010, and was the first building over 500 metres tall.

Owned by the Taipei Financial Corporation, the tower cost almost two billion USD to construct. Setting itself aside from other skyscrapers in typical Taiwanese style, the tower’s tiered floors

3. One World Trade Center is a vitally important building for New York, and for America. Due to be completed in 2013, the 541 metre structure, also known as ‘Freedom Tower’ is a physical symbol of the emotional and economic healing of America since 2001.

Once complete it will have cost $3.8 billion and will be the tallest building in American history.

2. The only building in the top ten to rival the cultural supremacy of Medieval European Cathedrals is the Abraj Al Bait in Mecca. A colossal 601 metres tall, towering above the historic Muslim pilgrimage site, the clocktower is a hotel and also exclusive residential address. Its desert location makes it look all the more stunning.

1.  Since 2010 the world has been in awe of the magnificent monumentalism supplied by the astounding Burj Khalifa, a building almost double the height of the tallest building of the world in 2004 at 828 metres high. The ‘tallest of the tall’ as its website describes it, is the undisputed master of skyscraping technology, but of if the past 10 years is anything to go by, it won’t hold the top spot for long.

Constructed for a relatively modest $1.5 billion, the Burj was unfortunate to land during the world financial crisis of 2008, but battled through to a timely conclusion in 2010.

Despite overseas investors being slow to rent the 825 apartments to begin with, by October 2012 it was reported that 80 percent of the property in the Burj Khalifa is now occupied.

Now fully operational, The 12.5 metre wide and 10 kilometres long Niagara Tunnel has been a tour-de-force of engineering practicality, innovation, and adaptability; who better to oversee such a project than the masters of excavation, STRABAG?

Almost eight years in the making, Niagara has been and gone, leaving Gerhard Urschitz rightly optimistic about the future potential of his company’s impact in the world of tunnelling and construction.

Deeper down

“The Niagara Falls project was a significant and outstanding project, even for a company of our size,” said Gerhard Urschitz, Managing Director of Tunnelling International for STRABAG. “There were many challenges along the way, even more than we expected, but the ways in which we overcame those challenges is a testament to our staff and the extent of our ability.”

No one would disagree with Urschitz that Niagara’s challenges were immense, but with great power comes great responsibility. The largest hydroelectric hard rock Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) in the world did not come without complications:

“After we started mining with a TBM for the ground conditions we expected, we discovered over consolidated shale formations in the most of the tunnel stretch,” said Urschitz. “There were large horizontal stresses which created problems for us.”

To cope with the over-breaks, STRABAG modified the TBM and bolstered the alignment into a new geological stratum in agreement with the client.

“By overcoming these challenges in a positive co-operation with the client we managed to steer through all the difficulties of the project; we came out with the view that everybody involved in the project benefited significantly from the outcome,” said Urschitz. “It was an unrivalled experience for our staff.”

Completed ahead of time and under budget (a rarity in the construction industry), the STRABAG team can have nothing but pride at its monumental achievement at Niagara. The company has received praise and recognition from all sides, with Ontario’s Minister of Energy, Bob Chiarelli commenting that “the completion of this project will provide Ontario with a source of clean energy for the next 100 years.”

However, in keeping with its progressive style, the Austrian based construction powerhouse is not dwelling on its success, but is rather looking forward to a plethora of eye-popping tunnelling projects in the near future.

Public precedent                                                                                                                                             

The tunnelling industry is currently experiencing an era of drastic change, with demand for public infrastructure projects booming. Naturally, STRABAG is at the heart of the action.

“We see two specific fields of activity,” said Urschitz. “One is transportation infrastructure, where there is a lot going on in the construction of new subway and metro systems in cities which are growing, particularly in North America. The other sector is utilities and waste water; because of population growth in urban areas there is a need for the enlargement of fuel systems, treatment plants and so forth.”

STRABAG has a wealth of potential projects in the field of public transport, as well as being currently involved in the South East Collector Trunk Sewer east of Toronto. In the near future, Urschitz hopes the company will feature heavily in the United Kingdom’s commitment to increased rail service in the country:

“We are trying to get involved in the Northern Line Extension Project in the near future, but there are many exciting proposals coming up in the UK,” said Urschitz, who is also eyeing a key role for STRABAG in the high-speed rail link between Birmingham and London.

Staying at the top

For a company at the top of its game, a strong business plan and efficient strategy play a key part in keeping its image and reputation for the future.

Training, experience and technical excellence all play a key part in the company’s long-term future, asserts Urschitz, who believes that projects are the only way to progress:

“Niagara has been fantastic for us, but we can’t dwell too long on that success; we are already involved in some excellent new projects and we are looking further ahead to more industry firsts in the future,” he said.

“Skills improve on the job and being involved in world class projects is the only way to learn,” said Urschitz. “Our main competitive advantage is having experienced engineers and management that can deal with large and complicated projects; I believe this will continue long into the future.”

The Index is the UK’s leading and most in-depth voluntary benchmark of Corporate Responsibility. The award of a Gold ranking signifies that Morgan Sindall is able to demonstrate openness and transparency through effective public reporting of its material environmental and social issues, programmes and performance.

Brian Handcock, Morgan Sindall Head of Sustainability and Environment, said: “Achieving the Gold ranking is a testament to the continued hard work that our projects and offices put into delivering sustainability across our business. Sustainability is now truly becoming embedded in all that we do. The feedback we will now receive from Business in the Community will assist us in continuing to improve, delivering benefit for us, our supply chain partners, our customers and society”.

Stephen Howard, Chief Executive of Business in the Community, said: “The CR Index tells us that, despite the complexities of this agenda and the tough economic challenges they’re facing, our leading companies are continuing to invest in responsible business and truly integrate it within their operations.”

“I congratulate Morgan Sindall for achieving Gold because it signifies a key step on the journey, a willingness to rise to the challenge and that they are part of a movement of responsible business in which all companies have their unique part to play. We look forward to working with, supporting and challenging Morgan Sindall to build upon this achievement as we together drive the transformational change needed to deliver a sustainable economy.”

The completion ceremony for the factory in Itatiaia, Rio de Janeiro state, was attended by Mr. Sergio Cabral, Rio de Janeiro state governor; Mr. Luis Carlos Ferreira Bastos, mayor of Itatiaia; and Mr. Choe Byeong-ku, president & COO of Hyundai Heavy Industries’s Construction Equipment Division.

With an investment of USD 175 million, the 562,000 m2 factory has an annual production capacity of 3,000 units including excavators, wheel loaders, and backhoe loaders, and plans to increase the capacity to 4,000 units by 2014.

HHI has already won orders worth USD 60 million for 500 construction equipment from eight projects in Brazil including the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in Pará state and a railway project in Brazil’s northeast.

The Ulsan, South Korea-based company expects the new Brazilian plant will serve as the South and Central America base helping Hyundai Heavy secure market share, and provide better service to clients in the region.

“We believe our construction factory can make contributions to, and grow together with the Brazilian economy which continues to grow as a center of the global economy.” said Mr. Choe Byeong-ku.

Published annually since 2001, the competition recognizes employers that lead the country in offering programs and developing initiatives that address the evolving needs of employees who are already established in their careers.

"We value the experience older professionals bring to EllisDon and we want to become the best and last employer of their careers," said Janine Szczepanowski, EllisDon's V.P. of Leadership & Entrepreneurial Development. "Our values of trust, entrepreneurial enthusiasm, openness, accountability, integrity and mutual respect are attractive to employees at any age but they are supported by a culture of growth, challenge and stability that many older employees are looking for."

EllisDon offers programs that appeal to people over 40 such as pension plans, extensive benefits, profit sharing and company ownership - but what truly sets them apart is their culture. 

"When you have 20 plus years of experience under your belt, what better time to join a company that is not only growing geographically, but also broadening beyond their core competencies?" said Geoff Smith, President and CEO of EllisDon. "Construction is typically a slow moving industry with little room for growth, but EllisDon provides seasoned employees with the opportunity to broaden their scope while working on unique, complex and high-profile projects."

Prospect, the union for health and safety inspectors, has today (Wednesday) condemned a Government decision that will make it harder for workers to claim legitimate compensation for injuries at work.

Prospect Health and Safety Officer Sarah Page said: “The Government’s proposals to remove civil liability from breaches of health and safety law will make it harder, if not impossible, for people with legitimate claims to be compensated.

“It signals Victorian neglect for injured workers and plays to rogue employers, who will willingly leave our already overstretched health services to pick up the pieces. This is a miserable decision by a Government that is spinning the myth of a compensation culture which even its own advisors have said doesn’t exist.”

The union was speaking after the Government overturned the House of Lords and reinstated an amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill that changes civil liability laws in relation to health and safety duties. The effect is that workers would be unable to rely on an employer's breach of health and safety law to win a personal injury claim. Instead they would have to prove negligence.

During the contract signing ceremony in February, speeches about the ecological and social importance of the project to Ho Chi Minh City were given by both The Thu Thiem Authority and Archetype Group, and were witnessed by the Consul General of France, Mr. Fabrice Mauries.

“One of the highlights of the whole area is to exploit the Southern Delta to re-establish and supplement natural ecosystems, forming an eco-park in the new urban center,” said Mr. Trang Bao Son, Deputy Head of The Investment and Construction Authority of Thu Thiem.                                                                                                                                              

The 1:2000 plan of the entire Thu Thiem New Urban Area was approved in 2005 and the partial 1:2000 plan for the Southern Delta was approved last year.  To complement the natural parklands, there will also be a resort, a water park and a botanical research institute.

“The important output of the master plan will be to identify and articulate the vision for the site, and to ensure that the physical layout, buildings and facilities all work together to reinforce that vision”, said Mr. Herve Boone, Managing Director of Archetype Vietnam. “Our other key objective is to be respectful of the site, and to protect, enhance and restore the natural systems whilst at the same time making it interesting and educational for visitors.”

Construction on basic infrastructure will begin within six months, and further development will follow, based on being able to secure investors for the area.  Because Thu Thiem is an undeveloped area in the centre of one of South East Asia’s largest cities, there has been much interest in, and speculation about, what will happen with the land.  With the award of this contract, the value of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area will be enhanced through the unique landscaping and environment of the eco-park.

The days of ‘social-media’ being a dirty phrase in the construction industry are over after the recent success of Businessfriend has rocketed the status of connectivity in construction from fledgling to fully functional.

Businessfriend, the brainchild of digital media impresario Glen White, is set to revolutionise the way that Construction professionals interact both with each other and with clients online.

Common social media complaints from Construction executives - keen to engage users with their brand identity – range from a lack of connectivity with clients to the absence of internal management software, and almost everything in between. 

Businessfriend has landed in a timely fashion, just as some companies are on the brink of giving up with the social media experiment, and it is already offering real solutions to construction’s connection concerns.

Getting social, staying productive

“Construction has been slow on the uptake of social media strategies, but in the last three years there has been a definite trend of wanting to engage,” said Michael Fleischer of Burgin Construction. “However there is definitely still some confusion about how to adopt a strategy, particularly when it comes to SME’s.”

Now that construction firms have decided to connect to social media in their droves, the next step is to decide which platform is the most beneficial on which to have a consistent presence. It’s been clear for some time that Facebook and Twitter don’t cater for the construction industry in the way that professionals crave, and LinkedIn has missed more than a few tricks when it comes to business communication. 

 “We weren’t satisfied with the way some social networks offered connectivity for businesses,” said Rhonda Marable, Communications Director at Businessfriend. 

Striking while the iron is hot, the Businessfriend team has worked tirelessly to develop a network brimming with the tools that the industry wants (needs?): a backend system to track user analytics, an easily customisable corporate mini-site, and unique internal communications tools. 

”Businessfriend’s features are created with productivity in mind,” Marable continued.  “Small organisations benefit from the equaliser we provide in free and low-cost branding and marketing.  Larger corporations with more employees can also use our engine to ‘shrink’ the world down to a more manageable size.”

Constructing an Identity                                                    

Jim Morrison, the legendary singer of the Doors, once said that a ‘Friend is someone who gives you the total freedom to be yourself.’  Too often, social networks bombard businesses and brands with tactics and techniques to suit the network itself, and not the individual. The key difference with Businessfriend is that it allows brands to flourish – on their own terms.

“Industry sectors can have vastly different needs,” said Glen White, whose years working closely with executives in a range of business territories helped him formulate the originative Businessfriend brand.

 “Because of this we have tailored premium services to accommodate for the needs of different areas of business, with construction being one,” White continued.

Due to its perception of being inaccessible, the construction industry requires a social platform where businesses can lay out their ethos, operations and hierarchy to potential clients and employees.  Businessfriend is the first social network to truly offer this capability.

All Together Now

Social media guru Martin Brown has argued that the biggest barrier to social media take up in the construction industry lies not with the staff of an organisation, but at board and director levels.

That barrier is starting to be broken down by Businessfriend’s inclusive approach to businesses at all levels.

“With Businessfriend’s internal management features (along with the patented DigiDex, a personalised tab-keeper for business relationships) it is possible to field enquiries, schedule meetings, follow up on project leads, as well as assigning departments and sharing documentation,” said Marable.  And that’s just on the business side; Businessfriend also allows for highly detailed personal accounts for employees to share information, organise tasks or discuss ideas.

Perhaps its strongest feature is Businessfriend’s ability to match employees to employers based on its unique job posting software, particularly relevant in an industry such as Construction. 

Unlike traditional job boards, employers on Businessfriend are able to sort potential candidates by desired skills, education or experience, as well as placing them into different categories internally.  The hiring process has never been so intuitive or friendly.

Couple this with Businessfriend’s exclusive link with Academia and it’s easy to see that soon enough the platform will be the go-to place for hiring the best graduates.

Matthew Williams, a recent graduate from the University of Reading’s Construction Management course said:  “Students now are clued up on social media and how to use it to get jobs. It’s one of the areas where construction is lagging behind at the moment.”

The time for construction to wallow in confusion when it comes to social media strategy is fast disappearing.  Luckily, the industry has a new friend to guide it from obscurity to being an online omnipresent - Businessfriend has landed.

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games have been hailed as a tremendous success, with the UK’s investment in sport over the past decade heralding unprecedented medal glory.

Games organisers LOCOG have been praised for their staging of the Games and are on target to meet their ambition of creating the most sustainable, cost effective event in recent history.

Given the less-than-spotless track record of previous Games, this is no mean feat. Cautionary tales abound of Olympic host cities building spectacular stadia and infrastructure which have fallen into ruin after the Games roadshow rolls out of town.

Greece built or upgraded 36 venues at an estimated cost of more than €12 billion when it hosted the Athens Olympics in 2004. Almost all are now derelict after repeated failures to lease them out.

The maintenance burden on debt-ridden Greece is hardly insignificant either – just looking after the empty sites to stop them crumbling to dust altogether has reportedly cost almost £500million already.

Similarly, Beijing has struggled to find tenants for or generate revenue from most of the 32 Olympic venues, 12 of which it built for the 2008 Games. The iconic Water Cube swimming venue lost an estimated 11 million yuan – that’s $1.7 million - last year.

In South Africa, the 10 stadia it built and upgraded at an estimated 18 billion rand, or $2.2 billion, are significantly underused following the month-long World Cup finals tournament in 2010.

London, on the other hand, will dismantle 257,000 out of 745,100 seats in its 34 Olympic venues, equal to the total number removed in the three previous Games combined.

Of these 34 venues, only eight are permanent new-build structures and will be scaled down, while seven venues, including the 12,000-seat basketball arena which Barr constructed, are temporary.

Hopefully, the harsh lessons of the past are beginning to sink in. According to the bid proposals submitted to the International Olympic Committee, Rio intends to build only nine permanent sites and six temporary venues for the 2016 Games.

Qatar, which controversially won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup finals, plans to renovate three and build nine new stadia. However, its bid outlines proposals to remove as many as 170,000 seats and one entire stadium once the tournament is over, which world soccer governing body FIFA has cited as one of the main reasons the small, resource-rich country was given the honour of holding the event.

This has to be the way forward for future large sporting events such as the Olympics, the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.

Some of the temporary London 2012 infrastructure is already being dismantled and repurposed. One of the most iconic buildings of the Games – the Basketball Arena – has just been made available for sale for £2.5 million.

The Arena was the largest single temporary structure ever created in Olympic history and was the third largest of all the venues at the London Games.

For just £2.5 million, prospective owners will gain a 114m long, 96m wide and 35m high Arena which occupies a footprint of 11,000 sqm – large enough to cater for a range of large-scale sports events, conferences, concerts or even filming for the cinema or television.

Work to dismantle the Arena has already commenced and the dismantling of the iconic rippled outer envelope will commence in March. Prospective bidders will be invited to submit formal bids by April 30. 

Cash-strapped local authorities and private developers could really reap the benefits of having an iconic structure used as part of the most successful Games of modern times which could swiftly and cheaply become a centre for sporting development or promoting the arts.

And, if such an outcome spells the end of the phenomenon of the White Elephant Games, then it can truly be judged a triumph for the taxpayer.

The transaction is already approved by the Australian authorities. The parties have agreed not to disclose the cash purchase price. In future, Holcim and HeidelbergCement should be equally represented on the Board of Directors and the Chairmanship should rotate. This transaction is part of the Holcim Leadership Journey and the new joint venture will be proportionately consolidated by Holcim upon conclusion of the contract. 

Cement Australia operates two cement plants and a grinding station in the East and Southeast of Australia and in Tasmania with a total annual capacity of 4.2 million tonnes of cement. Furthermore, a new grinding station in Port Kembla with an annual capacity of 1.1 million tonnes of cement will go on stream in 2013. The company has more than 1,000 employees and recorded a turnover of approximately AUD 1 billion in 2012.  

Cutting-edge architects Assael Architecture have designed the mixed-use scheme which includes private and affordable residential housing with a mix of one, two and three-bed apartments, three-bed duplex apartments and four-bed houses. A second phase will incorporate hotels, commercial office space, a car showroom and additional residential and community facilities. 

United House will be carrying out the construction works on behalf of developer Carlton Properties. The project will transform the derelict office building site, which has stood empty for over 15 years, into a residential scheme comprising 69 new homes, 61 of which will be affordable properties for the local community.

The project will involve the partial demolition of the existing redundant 11-storey office building and elevated car parking areas which sits adjacent to the elevated section of the M4. The facade of the building is used as a large advertising display for the motorway traffic and this will be retained during the construction process. The build programme is scheduled for completion in September 2014.

Jeffrey Adams, Group Chief Executive of United House, said: “It is fantastic for United House to be playing a part in the next stage of regeneration on the historic “Golden Mile” of west London. This new project will breathe new life back into a derelict office building which has lain empty for more than a decade, providing much needed housing for London. We look forward to delivering Carlton Properties’ vision for the scheme.”

The new company will conduct construction projects in the UK working on behalf of a variety of clients, undertaking construction with subcontractors and delivering the completed project for a contract payment. Investor returns will be derived predominantly through a realisation of profits from these projects. The company already has an impressive waiting list of potential projects ready to start construction.

The Directors of the company are seeking to achieve strong financial returns for investors targeting a minimum return of £1.05 for each £1 invested before tax reliefs which would deliver an investor (net of tax) return of 10.7% per annum. This equates to a gross tax equivalent return of 19.4% per annum to a 45% taxpayer.

The EIS offers a number of attractive tax incentives for investors including: 30% upfront income tax relief on the amount subscribed; 100% inheritance tax after two years; Capital Gains Tax deferral for the life of the investment; 100% tax-free growth; the availability of Business Investment Relief for certain UK resident non-UK domiciled investors; and loss relief for any shares disposed of at a loss.

Boyd Carson, Partner at Sapphire Capital Partners LLP, commented: "Undeniably the UK construction industry has suffered throughout this recessionary period and this has impacted on the smaller, niche construction companies operating in this sector. The smaller players are finding it difficult to tender and win the more lucrative projects because they have a weak capital base, they cannot access development funding from banks and they lack experienced management. We therefore believe there is a strong opportunity for the type of construction company we are launching today – one that is well-capitalised and managed and can enter the market and benefit from the opportunities that are now available. We have already carefully identified a number of construction projects to take forward, in particular the building of new residential homes.

“The Directors of this company are highly experienced in the construction sector and between us we have completed approximately 500 to 600 projects. Our focus with Sapphire Building Services Limited will be on a number of smaller projects rather than just one large one given that this approach would increase the risk exposure of the company. We will operate on a ‘cost plus’ or fixed fee basis which will mean we have a competitive advantage over less well-financed companies. We are committed to ensuring the capital value of the investment is maintained and we will only operate fixed-price contacts with our third-party subcontractors in order to prevent any over-run of costs.

“For investors we are focused on generating an attractive risk/return plus they will be able to benefit from the tax incentives that come with the structure of the company, notably EIS Income Tax Relief and EIS CGT deferral. Our intention is to trade for a minimum of three years with investors able to realise their investment if they wish after this period. Investors will receive a 100% tax-free gain on disposal of their shares if they are held for three years.”

Powered by the data in Dodge Reports, the industry standard for construction intelligence, MarketShare offers a rich, historical database of project starts as well as forecast data based on relevant contextual market insight and viewpoints from Dodge's team of noted economists and research analysts. The web-based product offers configurable dashboards with customization by geography as well as market interest.

"In today's market, the companies that accurately forecast their markets, assess the risk, and align their resources against opportunities are the ones that win.  With MarketShare, we provide our customers with detailed forecasting data to help them identify the most promising markets to grow their business," said Kate Cassino, vice president, product development for McGraw-Hill Construction.

The features in Dodge MarketShare were developed to answer the strategic questions that construction industry executives need to gain competitive edge.  The dashboards extract data from the projects to answer:

MarketShare is the latest product in Dodge's business intelligence suite.  In 2011, the company launched an enhanced Dodge SpecShare®, a powerful strategic tool that enables building product manufacturers to quickly assess their competitive position and target the right architectural firms to increase their spec rate. Last year, Dodge BuildShare™ launched to help customers connect with owners and each other to target and build stronger, more profitable relationships.

"The launch of MarketShare, coupled with our SpecShare and BuildShare analytics products, provides our customers with a full range of actionable tools to help them from market planning through sales execution," said Keith Fox, president of McGraw-Hill Construction.  "The breadth, depth, timeliness and accuracy of our Dodge data power all of these offerings and provides a unique lens from the national picture down to the local level."

Although some still consider 3d printing to be little more than a passing gimmick, technological advances have consistently shaped the building trade since its inception. From mud shacks to the wondrous architectural possibilities of the 21st century, construction has adapted to the limitations of the age.  3d printing may yet prove to be the biggest change of them all.

Gimme shelter

Several methods for printing larger objects exist, however the leader in the field of construction methods is ‘contour crafting,’ the brainchild of Iranian engineer Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis of the University of Southern California. 

Contour crafting creates physical prototypes from designers’ CAD drawings, which were themselves once shunned but are now employed by most architects.  Special software deconstructs the designer’s drawings into very thin layers and then instructs a machine to deposit material in corresponding layers, building up a physical representation of the model.

“At the dawn of the 21st century, much of the world’s population is in dire need of better shelter,” Khoshnevis told delegates at a TED conference in 2012.  “Contour Crafting allows for highly flexible designs to be produced layer by layer by an adaptable machine with nozzles which deposit the concrete as per the designs instructions.”

But will contour crafting give us a set of blocky and ridged buildings devoid of creative craft?  Not so, says Khoshnevis: “If anything, contour crafting methods allow for more curvature and a higher level of interchangability within buildings; the only limit is what can be inputted via the blueprint.”  ‘Printed’ buildings will also benefit from using a denser, and therefore stronger, type of concrete.

And how long will it all take?   “We anticipate that we will be able to complete a 25,000 sq ft house in around 20 hours,” said Khoshnevis.

Contour crafting is not the only method of 3d printing buildings, and London designers Softkill are hoping to have a 3d printed house fully constructed on site by the summer of 2013.

Instead of contour crafting, Softkill are using a nylon, weaved form of fabrication which mimics the process of bone formation.  "You don't need any bolting, screwing, or welding on site," said Gilles Retsin of Softkill. "Imagine a Velcro or button-like connection. The pieces are extremely light, and they just kind of click together so you don't need any other material,” he added.

How does it work?

Unlike the majority of manufacturing industries where products are developed en masse by machines, construction is still a hands on profession.  Scaffolding and bricklaying remain an essential part of the building process.  But imagine for a moment a world where computerised design blueprints were relayed to a nozzled printing apparatus that could produce sturdy concrete structures already fitted with the required plumbing and electrical utilities via the use of a molecular assembler.   Khoshnevis adds that fitted flooring and even painting could be programmed into the job.

Not to mention that this would be at half the cost, take half the time, and remove the need for dangerous labour. Infact, given the right programming, a score of these machines could produce whole neighbourhoods in a fraction of the time that it now takes to construct a cul-de-sac of new build housing.  

“This is not science fiction, nor is it a distant and unlikely possibility teetering somewhere on a mad scientist’s horizon; this technology is very real, very accessible, and it could alter the construction industry beyond recognition,” Jamie MacDonald-Smith, Vice President of the American 3d Printing Association told Construction Digital.

The technology is currently undergoing testing and improvements, and will be available to trendsetters very soon, however in 15 years they will cost only £100,000, meaning that even small construction firms will be able to afford them.  There are currently some extremely interested parties, including NASA and CAT, aiming to be the first to utilise contour crafting.

What about jobs?

One of the barriers to this building method being widely adopted is the concern that it would lead to further unemployment in an industry already struggling to provide jobs.  The same concerns have been raised in the manufacturing industry, where jobs are set to be lost due to the advancement in robotics.

Khoshnevis has his own ideas about employment in the sector: “I think we will change the way we think about ‘work’ in the relatively near future,” he said.  “Advancements in robotics and nanotechnology mean that the idea of ‘labour’ may very soon be a thing of the past.  We would need a new economic model.”

The talk of post-capitalist economic models and a house being built from the flick of a switch may seem more akin to a sci-fi novel than the traditionally conservative construction industry, but the effect that contour crafting will have on the industry is as yet unseen, but those who take the initiative with new methods will surely benefit; the future of construction is now.

out to gain the upper hand in building super long-span bridges, which are recently attracting worldwide attention, by developing an original technology.

Korea’s primary builder succeeded in developing core equipment designed to construct prefabricated parallel wire strands (PPWS), the first of its kinds in South Korea, to build a super long-span suspension bridge with a two-kilometer-long span between towers.

In early 2013, the company held a public demonstration of the state-of-the-art technology at the Ulsan Bridge construction site. Ulsan Bridge being constructed by Hyundai E&C since 2010 is a 8.348-kilometer- long suspension bridge linking Dong-gu with Nam-gu in Ulsan Metropolitan City and the world’s third longest single-span suspension bridge. In the ceremony attended by officials from Hyundai E&C, Super Long-Span Bridge R&D Center, Korea Infrastructure Safety Corporation, Korea Institute of Construction Technology, Ulsan Metropolitan City, University of Ulsan and Pusan National University, Hyundai E&C made use of the newly developed equipment to install the PPWS cable.

The core equipment for installation of PPWS cables can be applicable to the construction of a super long-span suspension bridge with a central span of two kilometers between two pylons, and a driving winch has a pulling power of up to 37 tons. The company established an operation control room to monitor the whole construction procedures and control all equipment in an integrated way, and a wireless video monitoring equipment to track the construction process along the cable installation route, which led to maximizing the efficiency and safety of the project.

A winner from the three consortia left in the race will be confirmed in June with construction work set to start by the end of the year.

Samsung C&T Corporation has also been approved as an addition to the Merseylink consortium which is one of three bidding teams.

The value of the construction phase of the project, including land, is estimated at £600m. The total project costs/revenues over the next 30 years will be around £2 billion.

Cllr Rob Polhill, Leader of Halton Borough Council, said: “We are now nearing the end of a very detailed and complex process to appoint a private sector partner to work with us for the next three decades on the Mersey Gateway Project. This means that the new bridge we really need here in Halton is one step closer, which is great news.”

Steve Nicholson, Project Director for the Mersey Gateway Project, said: “We are still on track to meet our overall timetable of signing a contract with the appointed bidder during 2013 and it is important that we continue to focus on both the need for quality on the project and the need to deliver value for money for the public purse.

Balfour Beatty, Bouygues Travaux Publics, Egis Projects consortium, comprising equity members Balfour Beatty plc, Bouygues Travaux Publics and Egis Projects,

Merseylink consortium, comprising equity members Macquarie Capital Group Limited, Bilfinger Berger Project Investments Limited, Vialia Sociedad Gestora de Concesiones de Infraestructuras S.L, Samsung and FCC Construcción S.A.,

MGL consortium, comprising equity members BAM Nuttall, Hochtief PPP Solutions GmbH and Iridium Concesiones de Infraestructuras S.A