[VIDEO] Crane Collapses While Lifting Concrete Wall

With cranes being on many construction sites, it’s easy for workers to get complacent.  Hundreds or thousands of construction materials can be lifted by cranes throughout the project, but all it takes is one time for a disaster to occur.

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The 7 Best Construction Timelapse Videos in 2017

In regards to timelapse videos, it was a big year for sports arenas and the city of Atlanta, Georgia.  These types of videos have become more popular in recent years due to the wide availability of documentation services available.  Not only that, but civilians who own drones have also taking a liking to their area’s construction sites. 

Take a look below at our 7 favorite construction timelapse videos from 2017:

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The 11 Best Demolition Videos of 2017

This year saw more videos with environmental considerations taken into account, especially over waterways.  Instead of imploding entire bridges, the part that spanned over top of the waterway were manually removed. I've also grown an appreciation for in-depth footage of demolitions that occurred under some interesting conditions.  Some of the videos below show some extreme creativity to overcome obstacles.

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[VIDEO] Wheeled Crane Tips Over onto Florida Road

Cranes are a necessary and useful piece of equipment on most construction sites, but extreme caution must be taken when working with them, as any failure could be catastrophic or, at the very least, very costly.

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[VIDEO] Man Driving Stolen Construction Machine Leads Police on a Slow Speed Chase

A lot of construction equipment is stolen from construction sites every year.  Some are looking to sell it or a quick buck, but others are just looking to take it on a joy ride and cause mayhem in the streets. Earlier this year, a teen stole a bulldozer, ran over a police car, and lead officers on a 3 hour long chase in Illinois. Last year, a man in Florida stole a backhoe and also led police on a 3 hour long slow speed chase, dragging the hammer attachment and sending sparks flying over the road the entire time.

Just last week, another police chase ensued when a 29-year-old man stole a SkyTrak telehander, similar a Lull, in Central Texas.  Travelling around 20 miles per hour, the man refused the stop when police officers attempted to pull him over. 

After backup was called, officers were able to subdue him with a non-lethal projectile and pull him out of the machine.  According to the Lorena Police Department, he was medically cleared, transported to the nearby county jail, and charged with two third degree felonies: theft of more than $30,000/under $150,000 and evading arrest while in a vehicle. 

For contractors, the lesson is to secure your equipment, so you can save the police and yourself a lot of time.

The video below was shared by the Lorena Police Department on Facebook.

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[VIDEO] Baubot, the Robot That Wants to Be Every Trade on the Jobsite

While still new in the construction industries, robots are typically designed to perform a specific task in a highly precise and efficient way, like the rebar tying robot, Tybot or the brick-laying robot Hadrian X. More recently, though, robots are being imagined as platforms for 3rd party companies to develop hardware and accessories to attach to the base robot, like the Boston Dynamics robotic dog, Spot. I recently came across a new robot, called Baubot, which hopes to one day perform tasks using every tool on a typical jobsite.

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[VIDEO] This Cantilevered Building Was Built With Only Stainless Steel, No Concrete

There have been many attempts to use different materials for the structural support systems of buildings over the years, but stainless steel is not one that I have come across before. The BROAD Group, based in China, recently highlights a multi-story, cantilevered building made entirely of stainless steel.

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Crane Collapses on Jobsite in Syracuse, NY, No Injuries Reported

On Tuesday morning, February 23, the Syracuse Fire Department responded to a call about a collapsed crane on a construction site near the university. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.

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[VIDEO] Need to Get Some Heavy Equipment Up a Mountain? Try a Cable Car System

Remote jobsites with difficult terrain pose some substantial logistical challenges when it comes to getting equipment and materials on site. I’ve seen several different methods used in the past, such as heavy equipment carrying blimps, cargo planes, helicopters, and the Fat Truck, but I recently came across a new method: a cable car.

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[VIDEO] A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Recent Record Breaker for World’s Tallest Demolition

In November of last year, the 546 foot tall Mina Plaza in Abu Dhabi officially broke the world record for tallest demolition by explosion, supplanting Hudson Department Store in Detroit, Michigan, which held the record for 22 years.

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[VIDEO] Helicopter Drops Cooling Tower During Lift to Roof

If you need to get some heavy mechanical equipment on the roof of your project, you could use a boring old crane – or you could gas up the bird and make that equipment take literal flight. Alright, so cranes aren’t actually boring, but some times a helicopter makes more logistical sense, either because it reduces total lift time or, in some cases, makes economical sense. Either way, there are some important safety precautions to take in case something goes wrong.

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Top 7 Demolition Videos of 2020

2020 was a stressful year, so let’s decompress a little bit by reviewing some of the most fun demolition videos from the past year. A demolition that broke a 22 year old record highlights the bunch and I also stretch what the definition of “demolition” is a little bit, because I think the video is so cool. Don’t @ me.

Without further ado, here are the top 7 demolition videos from 2020:

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Smithsonian Channel Premieres New Show about Construction, 'How Did they Build That?"

With the large amount of people that work in the construction industry and the high visibility of many of these projects, I’m always amazed that television networks never spent any time developing shows about it. The Smithsonian Channel, however, is about to premiere a new show, dedicated to the design and construction of some of the world’s most fascinating structures and the first episode will air on Sunday night, January 3rd, 2021.

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[VIDEO] Nuclear Power Plant Site Utilizes 2 of the World’s Largest Cranes, and 55 Other Tower Cranes

2 years ago, crane manufacturer, Sarens, unveiled what is considered to be the world’s largest crane, by both size and lifting capacity. Big Carl, as the huge crane was nicknamed, began work a few months later on the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in England. Now, the jobsite boasts an abundance of crane activity, a true site to behold, and it was captured on aerial footage for you to enjoy.

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[VIDEO] New World Record For Tallest Building Demolished By Explosives

Back in 1998, the Hudson Department Store in downtown Detroit, Michigan was demolished by explosives. That building stood 410 feet tall across its 29 floors, making it, at the time, the tallest building to ever be taken down by implosion. The dust cloud covered many city blocks and the 20,000 unsuspecting people that came to watch the event. That record was just recently broken by a building over 100 feet taller than it.

[VIDEO] Second Attempt at Pontiac Silverdome Implosion is Successful

On Sunday, demolition contractors tried to bring down the upper portion of the Pontiac Silverdome, former home to the Detroit Lions, but several of the explosives didn’t ignite and the structure was still upright after the smoke cleared.  After videos of the failed demolition were posted online, the internet had a field day.

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Former Detroit Lions Stadium Implosion Fails to Bring Down Structure

The Pontiac Silverdome was the home to the NFL’s Detroit Lions from 1975-2001 and NBA’s Detroit Pistons from 1978-1988.  After the Lions opened their new Stadium in 2002, the Silverdome was passed around several times before it closed for the last time in 2013.  Earlier this year, the building was condemned and the first round of demolition by implosion was scheduled for Sunday, December 3.

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[Timelapse] Watch 8 Years of Construction of the Louvre Abu Dhabi in 3 Minutes

Construction timelapse videos make extremely complicated and long projects look much easier to build than they actually are.  The recently opened Louvre in Abu Dhabi took 8 years to complete, but you can watch the full process in only 3 minutes.

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[VIDEO] Guy Hilariously Yells at Bus After Bus Ruins His Perfect View of Georgia Dome Demolition

Getting the perfect view of a major building demolition can get you millions of hits, or even better, shared by us right here on Construction Junkie.  Have your video get epic-ly photobombed and you’ll get even more views and definitely shared by us.

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Video of Arcing Power Line Shows You Exactly Why To Stay a Safe Distance Away

Contact with overhead power lines is a major hazard when working on most construction sites and especially when working from elevated platforms or with heavy machinery. 

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