Technology

This story was written with AI assistance from Harmsworth Who is Harmsworth? Technology innovation body Digital Catapult has selected ten AI startups to tackle inefficiencies in construction through a government-backed accelerator aimed at scaling digital solutions into real-world project delivery. The initiative forms part of the BridgeAI programme, a national…

Why do we expect tower crane operators to work at height in cramped, swaying cabs? There is another way. Kristina Smith investigates It is pretty rare to have a close-up encounter with a tower crane operator on a construction site. “Most people won’t even know you because you arrive before…

This story was written with AI assistance from Harmsworth Who is Harmsworth? Heidelberg Materials UK has secured planning permission to build a carbon capture facility at its Padeswood cement works in Flintshire, north Wales, moving forward its ambition to deliver the UK’s first net zero cement plant. The decision by…

Industry chiefs have urged construction companies to make the most of the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence (AI), after the government pledged to make the UK a “world leader” in the technology. Key figures said AI could improve many elements of the building process and potentially allow smoother, safer, cheaper…

Reds10 chairman Paul Ruddick is on a mission to make modular work better for everyone Offsite production could enable the construction industry to crack its productivity problem – but getting it off the ground has proven easier said than done, given the string of business failures in the sector over…

This year’s TechFest conference focused on how AI and automation can help the construction industry reduce its carbon footprint According to the government and environmental organisations such as the UK Green Building Council, the construction sector accounts for about 25 per cent of the country’s carbon emissions. But the hope…

10. Supply chain needs helping hand but future is bright, says Caddick MD Caddick Construction managing director Paul Dodsworth told CN senior reporter Joshua Stein that some good had come out of ISG’s collapse a few weeks earlier, in an interview published in October. “I put a post out on…

Áine McGuinness is a senior associate at legal services firm DWF AI is rapidly gaining traction across various industries, and the construction industry is no exception. One of the most promising applications is the use of AI-driven smart contracts, which can perform tasks that would traditionally require manual intervention. For…

Tristan Hughes is business unit manager at water-services company OSSO There has been little discussion of how to manage the environmental risks posed by the unprecedented expansion of power grids envisaged in the UK. Long-distance, high-voltage transmission grids are set to connect cities to remotely located renewable power sources. However,…

Jozefa Lewis is sustainability and wellbeing manager at ODGroup As we all know, the construction industry has a carbon problem. In the UK, the built environment produces more than 10 million metric tons of carbon per year, making it one of the most significant polluters of the major industries. At…