“Infrastructure in the city has acted as a type of monoculture,” says Michael Maltzan, design principal at Michael Maltzan Architecture. “It’s really just done one thing: It was intended to get cars from one place to the other as quickly as possible.” In a new proposal, the architects show how freeways could be redesigned to help solve multiple problems at once. Read more
Imagine being able to walk to the centre of a room, hold up your smartphone, then turn around. Tango will present a three-dimensional map of the room. Pair that technology with the augmented reality app called Through the Wall and the user would be able to hold up his or her device and be able to see where pipes, electrical wires and ducts are positioned. Read more
A recent Dodge Data & Analytics study on how various large construction project stakeholders — with $50 million or more in annual value — use and perceive building information modeling (BIM) revealed that 50% of trade contractors, construction managers and general contractors use BIM on more than half of all projects, according to the Engineering News-Record. Read more
A group of Edmonton high school students is celebrating a new-found passion for construction, sparked by a two-week summer course. Read more
This great video was developed by the British Columbia Construction Association. Watch video
CCA President Michael Atkinson on the effect of these kinds of provisions: “It would drive perfectly reputable, great contractors away from doing business with public owners. There are other ways to deal with this and I think that’s what the industry would like to see — rather than public bodies that run into what they consider problems and concerns with bad apples, that they don’t immediately jump to this kind of approach. It’s like using a hammer instead of a screwdriver. I think that’s where sitting down and consulting with their industry partners might go a long way.” Read more
Starting in August 2016, DCC will begin accepting online electronic bids (e-bids) for tenders that require bid security, using the service provider MERX, an independent private sector tendering service. E-bids for tenders that do not require bid security are already accepted. Read more
CANS president, Duncan Williams, received a letter from Deputy Minister, Duff Montgomerie, expressing his appreciation for CANS’s input during the governance and operational review of the Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Council.
The review conducted by Royer Thompson has helped the department identify ways to focus the Council in providing the best strategic advice to the Minister. The future Council and its direction could not have been developed without your participation and thoughtful feedback. The website, http://novascotia.ca/lae/pubs/docs/OHSAC-Report.pdf, provides the full report and recommendations. The Minister has accepted this in full and is taking steps through a Transition Committee to best establish a new Council.
With the introduction of 3D printers on construction job sites, many are worried that robots will begin taking over the jobs of hardworking tradesmen. It’s more likely, however, that workers will be working WITH robots long before we’re completely replaced. Read more
With potential uses in a range of engineering projects, a team of Dalhousie researchers is aiming to use tire-derived aggregate to strengthen soft soil. Read more