Looking ahead to 2020 Dodge Data & Analytics released in 2020 Dodge Construction Outlook, which is a mainstay in the industry for business planning and forecasting.

According to the report, which was released at the end of October, new construction starts are expected to slip to $776 billion in the new year, which is a 4 percent decline from the estimated level of activity for 2019.

The chief economist with Dodge Data & Analytics said that the recovery in construction starts that started in 2010 after the Great Recession’s aftermath is ending. After a 3 percent increase in construction starts in 2018, those starts fell 1 percent in 2019.

A Breakdown of the Construction Outlook

• The report indicates that the dollar value of single-family housing starts is expected to fall by 3 percent in the new year and the number of units will lose 5 percent.
• Multi-family construction was an early leader in the post Great Recession recovery, seeing 8 years of growth since 2009. Multi-family vacancy rates have moved sideways throughout the last year, suggesting slower economic growth will affect the construction market next year. They expect multifamily construction to drop 15 percent in units and 13 percent dollar-wise.
• Commercial building starts will drop 6 percent as far as dollar value goes.
• Institutional construction starts will remain even with the level it saw in 2019.
• Public works construction starts will move up 4 percent seeing growth across all the project types.
• Construction projects for electric utilities and gas plants will drop 27 percent after seeing 83 percent growth in 2019.

However, despite the drops in new construction projects, the demand for those who work in the construction industry is continuing to climb. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects an 11 percent growth in the employment of construction workers from 2018 to 2028.

President Donald Trump and Congressional Democratic leaders agreed to aim for an infrastructure package worth $2 trillion recently, but many don’t think Congressional Republicans will agree because there are questions as to where the funding for the package would come from. However, the package is still in the works.

This infrastructure project would be designed to upgrade and improve the country’s aging infrastructure, which includes bridges, roads, internet, telephone, electric, sewage, and water systems. These all play a vital role in the development and prosperity of the communities.

The agreement was made because the infrastructure investment will create jobs and make the country more economically competitive with other countries. This means that there will be more opportunities and a greater demand for those who are trained and who can work in different construction roles.

The Need For More Construction Workers

There will be a greater need for heavy equipment operators, such as those who drive big trucks, dozers, graders, and even operate cranes. In addition, there will be a need for professional truck drivers who can transport the heavy equipment where it needs to go.

ATS offers training that can help with the different roles that will need to be filled with infrastructure projects. These jobs include:

• Heavy equipment operators
• Rigging and signalperson
• Directional drilling
• Mobile crane operators
• Tower crane operators
• CDL training
• Utility Locating
• Other specialized training

ATS accepts financial assistance, including veterans’ benefits. If you would like to learn more about ATS and how we can help you prepare for a career-building infrastructure, call (800) 383-7364 today.

The ongoing trade tension between China and the United States could have a major impact on the construction industry here in the U.S. if there isn’t a deal reached within the next few months, GlobalData has reported.

Many goods from China, such as aluminum, Canadian lumber, and steel, are needed for home construction and commercial buildings. Since last September, these items have been subjected to a 10 percent tariff.

A construction analyst at Global Data, Dariana Tani, said that higher tariff rates will increase the costs for imported building materials. In turn, the higher costs could cause decreases in job creation and growth in the building industry.

This will affect the spending on infrastructure and will cause disruption of the supply chains and operations of companies. This will also reduce investment in the construction industry and will put construction loans at greater risk.

Curtailing New U.S. Construction Projects

U.S. products subjected to Chinese tariffs could affect the new construction projects based in the U.S. An example of how this came into play took place in October 2018 when a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal being built in Louisiana was postponed by Australia’s LNG Limited following a Chinese-placed 10 percent tariff on all exports from U.S. LNG.

GlobalData’s Tani said that about one-half of the U.S. import value is from intermediate goods, including machine parts, capital equipment, raw materials, and industrial inputs, which is the category into which most Chinese imports that are subjected to the tariffs fall into.

This tariff rate on these products, is like taxing U.S. contractors by increasing the costs of their building materials. At the time of the report, steel producers can’t increase steel production to equal the demand to match the production of foreign steel suppliers. If contractors make the switch to a local U.S. producer, they will face serious delays in receiving the needed building supplies.

This situation might leave contractors in a situation where existing suppliers cannot source what they need so they will need to find a new supplier and pay higher material costs. Contractors and subcontractors will be forced to charge higher prices as well as price risks in their bids. To prevent increasing customer costs, contractors might start cutting corners, which could compromise durability and safety in projects.

On any given day there are thousands of construction projects going on around the globe. But there are some construction projects of mammoth proportions. Here are some of those highly revered construction projects of the World’s largest scale:

Dubailand – This Dubai project is huge. One of the world’s largest. So big three Disney World theme parks could fit inside. This $64 billion venture consists of 278 kilometers and it includes sports venues, eco-tourism, theme parks, science attractions, healthcare facilities, science-related attractions, and even hotels. Inside Dubailand will be the largest hotel in the world, containing a 10-million-square-foot mall and 6,500 rooms. This project is set for a 2025 completion date.

International Space Station – The International Space Station circles the earth every 92 minutes. It was built by a consortium consisting of 5 space agencies and 15 nations, it has construction costs exceeding $60 billion. The eventual costs are anticipated to exceed $1 trillion. And plans are for it to have the ability to house up to a million occupants.

London Crossrail Project – The first underground train system in the world is continuing to grow with 26 more miles of the tunnel being added to connect 40 stations. This project is expected to cost about $23 billion. It is being completed in phases, with the first section becoming operational in 2018 and the last section being in service by 2020.

Bejing Airport – This airport in China saw its first phase completed for the 2008 Olympiad. Further expansion is expected to be done by 2025. Zaha Hadid designed Terminal 1, which incorporates several design concepts of sustainability while presented in a futuristic approach.

South-to-North Water Transfer Project in China – About 50% of China’s population resides in North China. That area only has about 20% of the water resources available in that country. To address the issue, China funded a major construction project consisting of three huge canals, each measuring more than 600 miles in length and carrying water from the three largest rivers in China to the North. It will take 48 years for the project to be completed.

Jubail II in Saudi Arabia – This industrial project spans 22 years with the second phase, an $11 billion expansion, getting underway in 2014. It will include miles of railways, at least 100 industrial plants, roads and highways, and an oil refinery with 350,000 barrels produced daily. The entire project is set to be done by 2024.

Several major construction projects have been announced recently. The largest project getting underway is the Time Square development which is budgeted for $2.5 billion. The TSX Broadway project is set to start construction by Winter 2019. This project will include the demolition of an existing hotel and the construction of a new 550,000-square-foot, 46-story building around the historic Palace Theater. This construction project will include 75,000 square feet of retail space, which will include 100 feet of storefront directly facing Times Square. Also, there will be a 669-room luxury hotel. In addition, $50 million will be used to lift the 105-year-old Palace Theater, thoroughly renovate it, and then incorporate it into the new building’s third floor. There will be a stage that extends over Times Square, a huge 18,000-square-foot LED screen, and a beverage and food terrace. The experiential retail segment of the project is expected to at least 15 million people every year with its entertainment, creativity, innovation, and engagement. The project developers have planned construction to wrap up in 2021, and it has been set up, so it will not interfere with the vehicular and pedestrian traffic of the area.

Other Major Construction Projects

Seattle has approved a $700 million redevelopment project for KeyArena. The city hopes the new arena will host a National Basketball Association franchise eventually and a National Hockey League team. The project is designed to create a “world-class, multi-purpose sports and entertainment facility.” The construction agreement says that features that are designated as landmarks, such as the current roof, will be retained and the south façade will be removed. Five buildings will be demolished. The project includes the construction of two plazas, a loading area, a surface parking lot, a below-grade parking area, a skate park, and a new arena. It is expected to seat 19,000 people.

A $500 million mixed-use project is set to give Hyde Park a boost. This project will include $60 million of infrastructure and the completion of the 133-room Inn at Bellefield. The project will include 59 residences of various architectural styles, hiking, and biking trails through a nature preserve, an agricultural complex, a year-round farmers market, wine shops, a market square with restaurants, two hotels, specialty food stores, a village green, conference center, and a performing arts center and amphitheater. The project will use eco-conscious construction materials and solar energy and geothermal heating will be used. The hotel construction component is expected to create 500 jobs by itself.

Construction Jobs To Be Available

With the increasing number of construction projects will come an increase in the need for construction workers. Many of these positions will require specialized training, which will enable these workers to perform their jobs accurately and safely. To learn more about ATS Specialized Training, call (800) 678-8149 today.

Whatever career you are looking at within the heavy machinery or trucking industry, whether crane operator, haul truck driver, or something else, the journey begins with high-quality training and national credentials. Here is where you hone your skills, in the classroom and on-site, to be able to operate in a safe, effective manner, enabling any student to build a successful career with in-demand skills.

However, there are a lot of choices when it comes to training, and finding the right course can be a little overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be though if you know what to look for. Quality tuition is a must, delivered by industry experts through engaging classroom content and practical, onsite experience that prepares students for all aspects of the job. It is this in-depth understanding of the job and its requirements, along with the practical experience that only hands-on instruction can provide, which gives students the confidence to take on the responsibilities and succeed in their chosen careers.

But having all of that skill and understanding is only of use if employers understand that you have them. In this competitive industry, having the right skills is essential to land that job, especially when first starting out.  That is why our training courses deliver nationally recognized credentials, from the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO).

Our crane operator examinations are all NCCCO certified, with both written and practical tests, and this combination of NCCER and NCCCO recognition provides a solid base of national recognition for our students. Not only does it guarantee the quality of instruction, but ensures that every student’s achievements and abilities are acknowledged countrywide, by employers, regulators, and others throughout their career. For any student looking to build a career as a crane operator, this should be an essential part of any course you look at.

It may have hosted the Super Bowl in 1982, but the Silverdome has definitely been on its own overtime the last few years. Since the Detroit Lions left in 2001, the Silverdome has been searching for a purpose, although a popular venue for concerts throughout its life, until the current ownership, the Triple Investment Group, finally decided the 130-acre site had the potential for development.

It was at that point that plans for demolition of the old site, whose record attendance of 93,173 came when it was host to WrestleMania III in 1987, were made and the project to redevelop the large site began. As one of the largest construction projects in the region, it has attracted a lot of interest within the industry, but until December, there was not a lot to see.

However, December was marked as the beginning of the demolition of the Silverdome itself, a significant challenge due to its size, but also one that has attracted a lot of interest, with members of the public more curious than ever due to the connection with the venue through their favored sports teams. Indeed, there was even a live video stream set up to let people watch the demolition itself.

However, when it came time to take the upper structure down, things did not go quite as planned. As thousands watched online and at the sire, the countdown came, the explosion occurred, and the Silverdome remained standing. While weakened, the upper part of the building was still intact, and since then investigation has shown wiring errors caused some explosives to remain undetonated, as the cause.

The stadium eventually gave in a couple of days later, when a new demolition with fresh charges successfully brought the old stadium down, and now the major work of the project begins. However, the initial failure attracted a lot of attention, not least from Detroit Lions fans, with many comparing the failure with the performances of their beloved team when they were performing inside that very stadium.

Now the major demolition is complete, large numbers of heavy machinery operators and other contractors are on site removing the debris and preparing the ground for the redevelopment. With such a large project, the machinery of all sizes is being used, and it represents one of the largest construction projects in progress in Detroit at the moment.

MSHA, or Mine Safety and Health Administration, certification is the proof of training or retraining within the mining industry as outlined by the Administration, which is required for various jobs within the mining industry.

The most common mining training is found under the Title 30 CFR – Part 46 regulations, which stipulates that new miners must complete a minimum of 24 hours of training in their first 90 days of employment, including 4 hours which must be completed before any new miner can work at a mine, whether they are surface miners or surface mining contractors.

In addition to that initial training, all surface miners and surface mining contractors working at a mining site are required to complete at least 8 hours of annual refresher training every year. The contents of that refresher training are also quite specific and must include changes at the mine that could adversely affect a miner’s health or safety and other health and safety subjects relevant to mining operations at the time. Other than the Part 46 courses, MSHA also has several other training initiatives, including Hazardous Chemicals, Emergency Spill Response, Electrical Hazards, and miners’ rights.

Training Requirements

MSHA training requirements do not just apply to miners themselves, but all surface mining contractors that work at a mining site. Because the regulations themselves define a miner as anyone who is engaged in “mining operations, which is:

• mine development
• drilling
• blasting
• extraction
• milling
• crushing
• screening or sizing of minerals at a mine
• maintenance and repair of equipment
• associated hauling of materials within the mine from these activities

That means heavy machinery operators and truck drivers who operate at a mining site need the MSHA certification just like the miners themselves.

Because Part 46 training is mandatory, anyone wanting to work at a surface mine has an interest in completing this course, this includes contractors and machinery operators, not only for legal compliance but to also have a good grounding in the dangers of mining sites and the safety protocols that provide workers with protection.

While those currently working at a mine must complete the MSHA training to comply with part 46 regulations, for any heavy machinery operator it can be beneficial to look into such certification for yourself, especially the 4 hours required before you can step on site. The reason for this is that it opens up another career avenue, with only qualified people being able to take on mining jobs, having that qualification in advance can help if you are looking to move into that sector.

Working in the heavy machinery industry brings so many options for a varied career, whether it’s operating a crane, building office blocks in the cities, or building roads right across the country, but for some, it can mean a life in the forest, but what machines are used in forestry work if that sounds like your kind of job?

Some may be surprised at just how much heavy machinery is used in forestry work, and how many jobs there are for heavy machinery operators who like the idea of such work.  The machines most commonly used in forestry work fall into two main types, those based on a standard tracked heavy equipment base, using various arms to carry out different tasks, and the wheeled types, which mainly fall into variations of skidders.

First, we can look at the tracked machines:

The Feller Buncher

Designed to quickly fall trees, the feller buncher is based on the standard tracked heavy machinery base and uses a tree-grabbing device on its arm that also contains a high-powered circular saw, or in some cases a shear. It can grab and cut a tree in one motion, and then place the tree on a stack ready for transport.

Delimber

Again, based on a standard tracked heavy machinery base, the delimber is designed to remove branches from felled trees. There are various methods of achieving this, some use chain flails, and others are of a pull-through construction.

Harvester

A Harvester is similar to a Feller Buncher but is adapted to operate for cut-to-length operations, able to fell, delimb and buck trees, that is cut the tree to length with one machine.

Now, we can look at the wheeled machines:

Forwarder

In a tractor and trailer arrangement, a forwarder is designed with a lifting arm to pick up the felled longs and transport them away from the site. Because the logs are lifted off the ground onto the trailer, they are somewhat restricted in the length of the log they can deal with and are primarily found at cut-to-length operations, working in tandem with a harvester.

Skidders

For operations that deal with long logs or full trees, the felled trunks are moved using a skidder. As the name implies, these vehicles are able to deal with long logs because they only lift one end, leaving the other to skid along the ground behind.

There are three common types of skidder, the Clam-bunk, which uses open topped hydraulic jaws to pick up the felled trees, the Line skidder, which uses a winch cable that is manually reeled out and attached to a group of felled trees, or the Grapple Skidder, which has a grapple bucket arm used to grab and lift the trees.

Forestry work is attractive to many as it puts you out in the fresh air, and a training course for heavy machinery can give you plenty of options when it comes to your career.

Modern technology and high training standards mean that safety records are better than ever today, but when cranes are involved, safety should never be taken for granted. As loads have become bigger and sites more complex, the need to create a platform for safety standards and accepted practices that took modern innovation into account was noted by OSHA at the start of this decade. Today, we have a thoroughly modern safety system designed by OSHA that recognizes the risks such large cranes and loads represent and provides the operating practices that best minimize those risks.

Central to those safety standards is training, with operators of cranes requiring certification by an accredited crane operator testing organization for the size of crane they are using. In practice, with relatively few such organizations, this means passing a National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) training program. These are held by accredited teaching facilities, offering complete training courses culminating in NCCCO written and practical exams. Additionally, OSHA has also detailed Rigger/Signalperson training and standards that work in conjunction with their operator processes.

OSHA takes the view that well-trained operators, riggers, and signal staff operate in a safer way when on site in normal circumstances, but are also trained to recognize risks and take steps to avoid them, and are able to maintain a higher safety standard even in difficult situations. They have been proven correct too, and while the changes in regulations in 2010 did cause some concern in the industry, the better performance and safety today have shown the value of those changes over time.

Here at ATS, we offer a comprehensive NCCCO training program that covers every aspect of crane operation and OSHA regulation compliance. We also have a rigger/signalperson program available that covers all aspects of OSHA regulation as well as NCCCO Rigger 1 and 2 programs as well.

All courses include both written and practical training, and offer comprehensive, effective education for any crane operator or rigger/signalperson, providing not just an NCCCO or compliance certification, but the knowledge, skill, and understanding to be safe and productive onsite.

Our training delivers competent, reliable, skilled workers who understand the job, but also know how to carry out their tasks as safely as possible, for themselves, for the site, and for their team. We are proud to offer courses that actively improve safety on site, and our crane and rigger courses do just that by following all OSHA compliance requirements, with well-thought-out programs and testing via the NCCCO.

Safety-conscious personnel delivers a safer work environment. OSHA believes that and we see it for ourselves, better training, improved safety awareness, and fewer accidents. ATS delivers the training and mindset that produces those results.