Almost 7 years ago, construction began on the west side of Manhattan’s $20 billion mixed-use development. On March 15, 2019, Hudson Yards, as the development is known, has officially opened.
Read more[VIDEO] Obsolete WV Steel Plant Imploded into Cloud of Smoke, Covering Nearby Resident’s Houses
Demolitions by implosion can be fun to watch when they go right – or wrong – but nearby residents can be greatly affected by the high powered blasts and huge clouds of debris that follow. A few years ago, a botched demolition in England left dozens of nearby residents unable to return to their homes for several days. Last week, an obsolete Steel Basic Oxygen Plant in Weirton, West Virginia is leaving residents in a similar situation.
Read more3M Releases Construction Safety Virtual Reality Programs for Hands-on Learning
Traditional safety training for construction workers includes OSHA 10-hour or 30-hour courses, toolbox talks, and safety inspections. Those training techniques are all important and necessary, but construction workers are an extremely hands-on group of individuals and putting them in real life situations can be much more beneficial to them instead of classroom training.
Read more[VIDEO] Amazing Footage On Top of a Tower Crane Building Europe’s Tallest Building
Over the years, Liebherr, the German Crane Manufacturer, has given us some absolutely amazing videos. For example, they put on a show for their best customers one year and lifted one crane with another crane, which was lifted by a third crane, which was then lifted by a fourth crane. Another video highlighted the 58 cranes that were on site at the same time at the world’s largest airport build in Istanbul. Well, the company is back at it again, this time on top of Europe’s new tallest building.
Read more[VIDEOS] Raiders Release In-Depth Video Series of Construction Process of New Las Vegas Stadium
When we think about historic buildings of ancient times that are still standing, we can stand in awe of the level of detail that was incorporated into designs without modern tools and technology. For a few decades, it seemed like we would never see that type of character in buildings again, but sports stadiums are becoming new modern wonders, pushing the limits of not only what’s capable from a construction standpoint, but also the budgets.
Read moreOSHA Releases 7 Videos To Help Prevent Falls in Construction
via OSHA, through YouTube
Falls have long been the leading cause of fatalities in the construction industry, accounting for nearly 40% on an annual basis. Unsurprisingly, OSHA also issues the most citations for falls, and 2 different fall protection standards were on their top 10 most frequently cited violations list of 2018. To help build awareness and in an effort to reduce the number of deaths caused by falls, OSHA has released 6 videos and several other resources for employers.
In addition to the videos, posted below, OSHA has also announced that the 6th annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction will be held from May 6 to May 10th in 2019. That event encourages employers across the country to take some time out of their days to discuss the seriousness of fall protection.
A 24-page Fall Prevention Training Guide has also been released as part of their outreach program. It contains a roadmap for how and when to use fall prevention toolbox talks, as well as a variety of other useful information for training your employees.
Fact sheets for both ladders and scaffolding are available, as well. In the ladders category, extension ladders, job-made wooden ladders, and stepladders all have their own individual fact sheets. In the scaffolding category, narrow frame scaffolds, ladder jack scaffolds, and tube and coupler scaffolds all have their own individual fact sheets.
Now on to the videos. I’m a huge fan of videos, because I think providing visuals is hugely important for knowledge retention and many of us in the construction industry are visual learners.
Floor Openings
Skylights
Fixed Scaffolds
Bridge Decking
Reroofing
Leading Edge Work
5 Ways to Prevent Workplace Falls
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[VIDEO] Blowing the Roof Off of the Old Milwaukee Bucks’ Arena
As you may already know, the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks officially opened their new home, the Fiserv Forum, for the 2018-2019 NBA season last October. That new stadium is being heralded as the “World’s First Bird Friendly Arena,” due to many of the design features. Well, since the new one is open, we can only expect that the old, non-bird friendly (I’m assuming) arena has overstayed its welcome and has to go.
Read more[VIDEO] Checking In on the Medieval Castle Being Built With 13th Century Construction Techniques
Guedelon Castle, via YouTube
Two and a half years ago, I came across one of the most interesting construction projects I’ve ever seen, called The Guedelon Castle. In a world with cordless power tools, smartphones, and tables strewn across the jobsite, the Guedlon Castle is being constructed solely from 13th Century building techniques in Burgundy, France.
Read more[VIDEO] 7 Story Austin, Texas Parking Garage Implosion is a Great Way to Start 2019
Let’s get 2019 started with the first building demolition by implosion of the year.
Read moreCheck out this Incredible Footage of The Men Who Build New York’s Skyline in the 1920s
The Smithsonian channel is airing a series of shows titled America in Color, in which they enhance lost or forgotten video footage of the 1900s, beginning with the 1920s. Part of the first episode in the series shows the men that worked on skyscrapers in New York City and it’s been edited to show color, as opposed to black and white, for the first time.
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Last summer, Hilti announced that they had developed their first exoskeleton designed for construction tradespeople in a partnership with Ottobuck, a prosthetics, orthotics, and exoskeleton provider. Earlier this month, Hilti officially released the exoskeleton, announced more details, and published its retail price on their website.