All posts tagged: Construction

E-quipment highlight: BLUETTI Pioneer 5000 E-Generator

E-quipment highlight: BLUETTI Pioneer 5000 E-Generator

Published by Miika Tikkanen

BLUETTI says its new Pioneer 5000 E-Generator is built for the “Next Generation of Real Work,” as the brand expands into professional job site power delivery with a battery-backed and noise-free alternative to conventional ICE-powered generators. Portable power experts BLUETTI unveiled their new Pioneer 5000 professional-grade E-Generator at IFA 2026 yesterday, marking the brand’s transition from portable battery power to genuine job-site generator alternative with enough power to run electric drills, grinders and cut-off saws, air compressors, and water pumps with a 5.12 kWh LiFePO₄ battery pack that’s expandable up to 35 kWh for clean, capable, and quiet off-grid operation all day long. “Compared with fuel generators, the Pioneer 5000 E-Generator produces zero tailpipe emissions, operates at ≤ 50 dB, and eliminates routine refueling and engine maintenance, enabling operation indoors, at night, and in noise-sensitive environments,” reads the official launch copy. “It delivers a cleaner, quieter power experience with less operational hassle, and redefines what professional power can look like.” That’s a lot of power for a typical job site – more than enough power to …

Bally’s slows parts of Chicago casino construction amid video gambling dispute

Bally’s slows parts of Chicago casino construction amid video gambling dispute

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Bally’s is slowing parts of construction on its $1.7 billion permanent Chicago casino as it pushes back against the possible expansion of video gambling terminals (VGTs) in the city. The company told the Chicago Community Builders Collective that it is “resetting the pace” of some work. For now, the corporation says that adjustment will not delay the casino’s planned early 2027 opening. “Bally’s issued a notification to the Chicago Community Builders Collective (CCBC) that it is resetting the pace of construction of elements of Bally’s Chicago permanent casino,” the company said. Bally’s poor decision making and reckless brinksmanship should not impact a city-controlled CDOT project. Bally’s sure needs bridges and roadways reopened if their alleged future casino operation wants to see any visitors… pic.twitter.com/N2sye4L7A5 — Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) August 9, 2026 The company says the “potential for an uncontrolled proliferation” of video gambling terminals would run against commitments Chicago made when the casino agreement was reached. “The potential for an uncontrolled proliferation of video gambling terminals (VGTs) is in breach of the City’s commitment not …

Construction begins on £750m UK supercomputer

Construction begins on £750m UK supercomputer

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Construction has officially started on the site that will house the UK’s most powerful UK supercomputer, marking a significant step forward in the country’s research and innovation ambitions. Backed by up to £750m in UK Government funding, the next national supercomputer will be owned by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and hosted at the University of Edinburgh. The new UK supercomputer will provide researchers with dramatically increased computing power, enabling faster and more detailed simulations across fields such as aerospace engineering, climate science, and cancer drug discovery. The system is expected to be around 50 times more powerful than the UK’s current national supercomputer, ARCHER2, transforming the scale and speed of scientific research. Construction of the purpose-built facility is now underway, with experts describing the project as a milestone for UK science. Once operational, the machine is expected to strengthen the country’s global position in high-performance computing while supporting economic growth through research, industrial innovation and technological development. Garth Wells, Deputy Executive Chair, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council at UKRI, explained: “The commencement of …

Waymo Issues Another Recall, This Time Over Highway Construction Zones

Waymo Issues Another Recall, This Time Over Highway Construction Zones

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Nearly 4,000 Waymo vehicles, the company’s entire fleet of fifth-generation robotaxis, are affected by a new recall issued this month by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration related to driving near or within freeway construction zones. According to the NHTSA report, incidents in Phoenix, Arizona and San Francisco have raised concerns that autonomous taxis are driving into construction zones to avoid traffic hazards. Those incidents took place in April and May, respectively. The report says that Waymo cars could enter closed construction zones “at speed” because they are incorrectly prioritizing other highway hazards and failing to recognize the construction zones. In an email to CNET, a spokesperson for Waymo said, “We identified an area of improvement regarding performance around freeway construction zones. We voluntarily restricted freeway operations last month while making improvements, proactively notified state and federal regulators, and decided to file a voluntary software recall with NHTSA.” The company said that while it’s restricting operations on freeways, “We continue to safely serve riders on surface streets in all the cities where we operate.”   The construction …

The new word in home construction could be “plastics”

The new word in home construction could be “plastics”

Published by Miika Tikkanen

The design they came up with is similar in shape to the traditional wooden trusses that support flooring, with beams that connect in a pattern resembling a ladder with diagonal rungs. To test it, they obtained pellets made of recycled PET polymers and glass fibers from an aerospace materials company and fed them into a room-size 3D printer as “ink.” When they printed four long trusses with this material and configured them into a conventional plywood-topped floor frame, the result had a load-bearing capacity of over 4,000 pounds, far exceeding key building standards set by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The plastic-printed trusses weigh about 13 pounds each, light enough to transport without a flatbed truck. An industrial printer can crank one out in under 13 minutes. Crucially, the researchers are developing the process to work with “dirty” plastic that hasn’t been cleaned or preprocessed. In addition to floor trusses, they are working on printing other elements and combining them into a full frame for a modest-size house. “We’ve estimated that the world …

A Writer’s New Life as a Construction Worker

A Writer’s New Life as a Construction Worker

Published by Daniella Wilson

It’s 5:45 a.m. on a Tuesday, and the Home Depot on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood is already bustling.  I am standing in Aisle 18 — deep in the lumber section of the cavernous space — evaluating formulations of plaster compound.  I’ve been sent here to get a 50-pound bag of “40 minute,” a box of “red dot,” a box of “green dot,” a roll of drywall tape and a roll of “frog” tape. To be clear, I don’t know what any of these things are.   The last time I was up this early for work, I was on the set of Cooper’s Bar (the Emmy-nominated sitcom I co-created for AMC), trying to convince our star, Rhea Seehorn, that one of the jokes I had written for her character would be funnier if she said the words “face anus” instead of her preferred choice, “face hole.” (Rhea, to her endless credit, ultimately agreed.)  In the intervening months, Hollywood had suffered an actors’ strike, a writers’ strike, a spiraling production exodus and a content contraction precipitated by the economics of streaming and …

Rebuilding permits in Altadena have picked up, but construction lags and financial woes loom

Rebuilding permits in Altadena have picked up, but construction lags and financial woes loom

Published by Sam Flores

A few weeks after the first anniversary of the Eaton fire, the number of homeowners who neither put up their home for sale nor moved toward rebuilding has dropped to fewer than half, as more have taken some action toward recovery, according to data released Thursday by UCLA’s Latino Policy & Politics Institute. That total is a significant drop from where it was last summer, seven months after the fire destroyed thousands of homes in Altadena and surrounding neighborhoods, when about 70% of homeowners who suffered severe fire damage had neither put their property up for sale nor made a move toward rebuilding. Though it’s the latest sign of progress in the Eaton fire’s aftermath, researchers say that recovery remains far from settled for most fire survivors, even if they’ve started on a path to rebuilding. The data show that there has been a new wave of people starting and advancing through the permitting process, but a widening lag after that point because of, among other reasons, financing. About 44% of homeowners have fully approved …

High-End Construction Really Does Help Everyone

High-End Construction Really Does Help Everyone

Published by Sam Flores

One well-worn refrain of progressive urban politics is that new, “luxury” housing will not help solve the housing shortage. A 2024 study of U.S. voters found that 30 to 40 percent believed more housing would, instead, increase prices, and another 30 percent believed it would have no effect. But research generally points in the other direction: More housing supply of all kinds leads to lower prices in general terms. A new study lays out exactly how a brand-new building can open up more housing in other, lower-income areas, creating the conditions that enable prices to fall. In the paper, three researchers looked in extraordinary detail at the effects of a new 43-story condo project in Honolulu. The building, called the Central, sits right behind the giant Ala Moana shopping center, halfway between downtown and the beachfront hotels of Waikiki. It comprises both subsidized and market-rate units, priced at around $780,000 for the former, and $1.25 million for the latter. What the researchers found was that the new housing freed up older, cheaper apartments, which, in …