Author: Constructech Editors

Artificial intelligence—AI—is becoming a well-known technology even if few people understand its science. Applications that use AI and machine learning, for example, are starting to be introduced to various industries including construction. Finding the right niche is the problem. One segment of the application universe, estimating, is a good starting point to see how AI can provide benefits to contractors. In this function, PataBid has developed an AI powered, cloud-based construction estimating software, Quantify, that is specifically designed to provide small- to medium-sized mechanical and electrical contractors with an effective cost estimating tool. PataBid Quantify stands out from other estimating…

Railroads have a long and controversial history in the U.S. In some states, railroads were welcomed from the earliest days while in others they were thought unnecessary. Ohio, for example, depended on the vast canal system—the fabled Erie Canal and others—for moving people and products. The first railroad completed in Ohio connected Toledo, Ohio, with Adrian, Michigan, a total of 33 miles. The trip between the two communities took three hours. Many people deemed railroads as risky, and some investors feared that they could lose their investment in railroad companies. Still, by 1850, the Ohio legislature had chartered 76 railroad…

Grades. The bane of many students—and teachers—are benchmarks for where you are and where you need to improve to get where you want to be. And students aren’t the only ones getting grades these days. The Alaska Section of the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) has also been busy grading the state’s infrastructure. Civil engineers used their expertise and school report card-style letter grades to condense complicated data into an easy-to-understand analysis of Alaska’s infrastructure network. ASCE State and Regional Infrastructure Report Cards are modeled after the national Infrastructure Report Card, which gave America’s infrastructure an overall grade of…

St. Louis may be famous for the Arch among tourists but within the medical field, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is famous for its advanced research and prowess in teaching future doctors and scientists. The school took a step further into the future when the new Mass Spectrometry Center opened. Designed by KWK Architects and constructed on the fourth floor of the Medical School’s 4444 Forest Park Ave. building, adjacent to the MGI (McDonnell Genome Institute) and Informatics Institute, the new Mass Spectrometry Center features 8,000-sq.ft. for new instruments, sample preparation, computational analysis, and training of medical…

Bridges are among the infrastructure elements most in need of maintenance and repair throughout the country. States and cities are moving to obtain funding for repairs and replacement bridges as quickly as money is available from last year’s Infrastructure Bill. Work already underway is being expedited where possible and innovative methods are meeting the challenge of maintaining public access while work is being done. As an example, in New Jersey, a modular steel bridge is being used to maintain traffic flow during a section of the NJDOT (New Jersey Dept. of Transportation’s) I-295 Direct Connect project in Camden County. The Direct…

Construction equipment works hard and, eventually, wears out. Replacing expensive gear can be stressful for all concerned. In uncertain times, buying new might be even more stressful so the good used and surplus equipment market beckons. For example, used equipment and truck prices reached unprecedented levels in 2021. With its January 2022 Market Trends Report, Ritchie Bros. looked closely at earthmoving and aerial equipment sales last year, with in-depth charts outlining volumes, median pricing, and more by asset category. All told, they sold 3,888 excavators in the United States last year with a median price approximately $57,500, up 15% year…

As more and more devices are attached to the IoT (Internet of Things), the internet itself is weaken by saturation and anything weak is a target. With edge computing, AI (artificial intelligence) at the device level, and highspeed connections, data is flowing through wires and the air in unbelievable amounts. And much of that is unencrypted, critical data. Digital Definitions: What is a Cyberattack? What Is a Cyberattack? As usual, the government—in this case the National Institute of Standards and Technology—has a say in defining a cyberattack. An attack, via cyberspace, targeting an enterprise’s use of cyberspace for the purpose…

In basketball, the term bench is most often used to refer to the reserve players on the team who do not start the game. In baseball, A bench player is a player who is not normally a starting player, while a bench warmer is slang for a player who rarely gets used in a game. And in politics, a backbencher is there but who cares? If the saying “Our people are our most important asset” is true at your company, why are so many of them underutilized, so many “sitting on the bench?” Bridgit, a specialist in construction workforce technology, provides Bench…

Early versions of CAD (computer-aided design) were heavily focused on drawings for manufacturing. When combined with finite element analysis and CAM (computer-aided machining) software, the output of the drawings could be confirmed for structural viability and sent to a CNC (computer numerical controlled) machine for automated processing. Eventually, the CAM acronym grew into computer-aided manufacturing to cover more than machining parts to full assembly and even robotic handling from raw stock to finished product. The development of CAD can be traced to work by Patrick Hanratty and Ivan Sutherland in the 1950-70 timeframe. At that time, most computers were still…

Sunny skies and warm temperatures are coming. Puffy clouds will dot the sky and children will lay on the grass, looking for animal shapes in the clouds. Meanwhile, enterprise IT (information technology) specialists will be actively combing clouds for applications and benefits—just not puffy clouds. Enterprise IT spending on public cloud computing, within addressable market segments, will overtake spending on traditional IT in 2025, according to Gartner. Gartner’s ‘cloud shift’ research includes only those enterprise IT categories that can transition to cloud, within the application software, infrastructure software, business process services, and system infrastructure markets. By 2025, 51% of IT…