Construction Workers Are Working Past Their Best-before Dates

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Construction work is hard on the body and being able to retire with a full pension before the age of 65 should be considered as the Canada Pension Plan evolves, says a human resources professor. Read more

Have Your Say on Canada’s Infrastructure Plan

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The Government of Canada is investing $120 billion over the next 10 years to build strong, inclusive and sustainable communities and they want to hear from you. Phase 1 is already underway, and now the Government of Canada is inviting you to share your views on Phase 2 of Canada’s infrastructure plan.

Visit infraconsults.ca to provide your feedback in five ways: eWorkbooks, discussion forums, photo and video submissions, written submissions, and community-led events.

The Government of Canada is particularly interested in your thoughts on four important themes:

  • Community Infrastructure, which is about your needs and the infrastructure priorities in your community.
  • Green Infrastructure, which is focused on Canada’s ongoing transition to a clean-growth economy.
  • Public Transit Infrastructure, which is geared towards improving and expanding public transit systems in communities across Canada.
  • Social Infrastructure, which is about building stronger communities through social infrastructure projects like affordable housing and cultural and recreational infrastructure

How Tablet Computers Changed the Construction Industry

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Robert Kipp’s must-have tool when he steps onto a construction site isn’t a walkie-talkie or a hard-hat, though you’ll never spot him without them. It’s an eight-inch Apple iPad Mini on which he stores blueprints, field documentation, and other relevant information. Read more

Calgary Start-up Wants to Be ‘Airbnb’ for Heavy Equipment Owners

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The founders of Calgary-based startup AnyQuip liken their newly formed company to “AirBnB or Uber for heavy equipment owners.” Read more

Highly-skilled Foreign Workers Have Role to Play

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Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU) has put forward recommendations to a federal parliamentary committee reviewing the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) that support the use of foreign nationals in highly-skilled construction occupations.Read more

Minecraft Game Wants to Turn Teens into Future Construction Managers

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Lego has long been lauded by architecture geeks as a childhood gateway drug into the world of designing and building. Now, the UK wants to use a similar idea to hook teens on the fun of construction management. The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has developed a four-part construction curriculum played within Minecraft—the wildly popular (and vaguely Lego-like) computer game in which players build things out of blocks. Read more.

Virtual Reality Steps into The Construction World

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Architects, designers and engineers are learning what “gamers” have known for some time: Virtual Reality (VR) has a place in the modern world. Read more

Future Roads May Contain 100% More Pig Poop

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A team of researchers at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University is testing a substance made from pig manure to use as an asphalt binder to replace petroleum-based products, according to a report by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Read more

How Coconuts Could Help Build Earthquake-resistant Buildings

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Researchers from the University of Freiburg’s Plant Biomechanics Group are looking at the tropical fruit to find better ways of constructing buildings that can withstand earthquakes. Read more

Point, Click and Evaluate Site Soil Contaminants

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An Australian company is bringing a handheld soil scanner to North America which can detect total petroleum hydrocarbon contamination at levels as low as 68 ppm in 20 seconds. Read more