Category: Expert Columns
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5 Ways Construction Technology is Transforming Asphalt Contracting Operations
The most successful paving contractors aren’t just skilled at laying asphalt – they’ve mastered the art of operational efficiency. While many companies rely on established manual workflows, forward-thinking firms are leveraging construction software to create competitive advantages that translate directly to their bottom line. The technology exists today to create connected workflows that span every…
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Protecting Concrete from Freeze-Thaw Cycles
Winter is coming to the Northern Hemisphere. That means reinforced concrete bridges, parking garages, and buildings could be in for a wild ride on the “roller coaster” of freeze-thaw cycling. To minimize damage from these inevitable temperature swings, Cortec recommends taking the simple maintenance step of applying a water repellent at least once every ten…
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Managing Risk and Insurance Challenges in Green Construction Projects
With growing interest around the globe – and government programs to support the shift – both designers and construction firms are taking on an increasing number of green projects, both in Ontario and across Canada. Yet this new building trend comes with additional risks – risks that designers and builders alike may not always understand.…
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Sounding Concrete: Detect Damage Before Repair
There are many ways to evaluate concrete in-place, from visual inspection to physical test methods in cases of concrete repair to full replacement. These techniques are often employed in the commercial concrete construction industry as directed, in most cases, by Licensed Design Professionals (LDPs). These same test methods of inspection and evaluation are just as…
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Your Jobsite Lineup: Picking the MVP for Crusher Performance
We are in the full swing of fall sports seasons. After a long week on jobsites, we’re sitting on the couch and turning on the TV to watch our favorite team. Much like a football team driving toward the end zone before the clock runs out, a jobsite crew works together to complete specific tasks…
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Agentic AI Brings Intelligence and Automation to Preconstruction Planning
When people think about innovation in construction, they picture robots laying bricks, drones scanning jobsites, or AI flagging design errors mid-project. But the real revolution is happening long before the first shovel hits the ground. It’s happening in preconstruction, the most strategic, underestimated and under-digitized phase of a project’s lifecycle. Today, a new class of…
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Why Concrete Joints Fail First & What to do About It
In liquid-bearing concrete structures, joints are where protective linings fail first. A monolithic film is asked to span a moving gap and stay bonded to both sides through thermal swings, settlement, hydrostatic loads, and start-stop operations. Over thousands of cycles, stress concentrates at the arris; micro-pinhole strings and edge-shear accumulate until the first callbacks show…
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Closing the Payment Gap: How Factoring Keeps Dump Truck Businesses Moving
You put in the hours, you haul the loads, and the job gets done. The work moves fast, but the check doesn’t. Sometimes it takes 30 days, sometimes 90, and in the meantime, you’re facing fuel bills, payroll and repairs that can’t wait. One truck may be sitting on bad tires, another in need of…
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Government Shutdowns Deepen Construction Labor Crisis
When we think of the federal government being shut down, what we commonly picture are National Parks closed, flights grounded, even delays in Social Security benefits due to staffing shortages. Rarely do we hear of how these shutdowns put a choke-hold on the legal immigration pipeline that supplies our economy with the labor vital to…
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Mastering Project Success: Integrating CPM Scheduling and Task Management in Construction
Every construction and engineering project, regardless of its scale, hinges on a single critical element: the schedule. It’s more than a timeline; it’s the multidimensional blueprint that guides every phase, from initial concept to final closeout. The success of the entire project rests on this foundational document. Given the escalating complexity of today’s projects, an…