Construction & Infrastructure

Birmingham, Ala. – September 29, 2026 -- The Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association (DIPRA) has promoted Gregg Horn to Senior Vice President of Research and Josh Blount to Vice President of Technical Resources, elevating two veteran staffers to lead the trade group's core technical operations.

Horn takes charge of research after 40 years with the association

Horn joined DIPRA in 1986 as a Regional Engineer, became Director of Regional Engineers in 1990, and served as Vice President of Technical Resources since 2013. In his new role, he will lead DIPRA's technical research efforts, Standards activities and comparative studies of substitute materials, while facilitating the Technical Committee, Environmental Subcommittee and other groups addressing research on Ductile iron pipe. He is a Life Member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and has served on committees within AWWA, ASCE, ASTM and ISO.

Seattle and San Francisco – September 29, 2026 -- ITpipes, a pipe inspection software provider used by more than 300 utilities, municipalities, and CCTV contractors across North America, has secured a strategic growth investment from Luminate Capital Partners to accelerate development of its AI-driven defect-detection technology.

Aging sewer networks face a $69 billion annual funding gap

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. wastewater infrastructure a D+ rating in its 2025 Report Card, pointing to more than 1.87 million miles of collection system pipe and a roughly $69 billion annual capital investment shortfall. Utilities are being asked to inspect more pipe and justify every dollar of spending with the same crews and budgets they had a decade ago, raising demand for condition data that regulators and finance officers can trust.

Wichita, Kan. – September 29, 2026 -- Landscape architecture firm Hoerr Schaudt has completed a $25 million civic playscape at Exploration Place in Wichita, Kansas, featuring what is believed to be the first aviation-themed playground of its scale in the world and one of the largest educational water play environments in the United States.

Adventure Playscape spans 10 themed environments built into a renaturalized riverfront landscape

As master planner and design lead, Hoerr Schaudt organized the site as a continuous riverfront campus of paths, gardens and native plantings rather than a collection of standalone attractions. The project incorporates more than 40,000 plants emphasizing native Kansas species and grasses, 500 tons of Kansas limestone, and 250 new trees alongside preserved existing trees. City water consumption at Exploration Place is expected to decline through revised irrigation design and stormwater management.

Los Angeles – September 29, 2026 -- Explore The Trades, a Minnesota-based nonprofit founded in 2005, has placed classroom poster kits reaching more than 1.3 million students since 2021 across over 3,400 U.S. school districts, roughly a quarter of the country, as part of a national push to rebuild the plumbing, HVAC, and electrical talent pipeline.

Public Television Feature Set to Film October 2 in Boca Raton

The organization will be profiled in an upcoming segment of "All Access hosted by Andy Garcia," a short-form documentary series distributed to Public Television stations nationwide. Filming is scheduled for October 2, 2026, at the program's Boca Raton, Florida studio, with the segment examining how the nonprofit works at the classroom level to reintroduce trades careers before students choose a path.

Corona, Calif. – September 28, 2026 -- Boudreau Pipeline Corporation will host its 10th Annual Charity Car & Bike Show on Saturday, October 3, 2026, directing 100% of proceeds to two local nonprofits: the California Homebuilding Foundation's Building Industry Technology Academy (BITA) Program and Leaps & Bounds Pediatric Therapy in Norco.

Event proceeds fund construction workforce training for high school students

The BITA program delivers hands-on construction education to California high schoolers, offering OSHA 10 training, scholarships, and work-ready grants for tools and boots as students enter jobsites. Jill Herman, Executive Director of the California Homebuilding Foundation, said the underground utility contractor's decade-long event has created consistent opportunities for students pursuing homebuilding and skilled-trades careers.

Houston – – September 28, 2026 -- Vortex Companies has acquired Municipal & Contractors Sealing Products, LLC (MCSP), a Cincinnati-based trenchless infrastructure rehabilitation contractor, expanding its geotechnical and Midwest operating footprint.

MCSP brings 25 years of specialized rehabilitation expertise to Vortex's platform

Founded in 2000 by Bob O'Connor, MCSP has spent more than two decades rehabilitating municipal storm water and sanitary sewer systems across multiple U.S. states. The company specializes in geopolymer and cementitious spray lining, protective coatings, chemical grout injection, and rehabilitation of pipelines, manholes, culverts and tunnels.

New York – September 28, 2026 -- American investors identified NATO's Eastern Flank as one of the decade's major infrastructure investment opportunities, on condition that projects carry clearly allocated risk and rely on local partners capable of long-term construction and maintenance. The assessment emerged from a roundtable held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, hosted by Romanian infrastructure firm Concelex and Atlantic Council Romania, and addressed by Romania's President Nicușor Dan.

Ukraine's rapid infrastructure repairs reshape crisis-readiness standards

Participants examined how the war in Ukraine has redefined infrastructure requirements near NATO's eastern border. Restoring a railway bridge, transformer substation or hospital hinges on heavy equipment, compatible structural components and certified response teams already positioned on-site, since these capabilities cannot be mobilized within days once a crisis begins.

Los Angeles – September 28, 2026 -- Fewer than 15% of Los Angeles properties covered by the city's mandatory non-ductile concrete retrofit program had submitted retrofit plans more than a decade after the ordinance took effect, according to research published in Earthquake Spectra in July 2026.

Colombia's $13.28 Billion Earthquake Loss Underscores Retrofit Stakes

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia in August 2026, damaging more than 225,000 structures and causing an estimated $13.28 billion in direct physical damage, according to a United Nations Development Programme assessment. The scale of destruction has renewed scrutiny of Los Angeles buildings that share similar structural vulnerabilities.

Amsterdam – September 28, 2026 -- Arcadis (EURONEXT: ARCAD) has deepened its collaboration with Autodesk to embed artificial intelligence and connected data workflows across design, engineering and project delivery for clients in the built and natural environment sectors.

Automation Cuts Quality Review Time From Five Days to Half a Day

Existing AI and automation initiatives already running across Arcadis operations in North America and Europe have reduced quality reviews from five days to approximately half a day, the company said, demonstrating capacity gains and faster project turnaround.

Los Angeles – September 25, 2026 -- Six families displaced by the January 2025 Eaton Fire moved into rebuilt homes in Altadena's La Viña neighborhood this September, just six months after Brookfield Residential broke ground on the project on March 12, 2026.

The pace stands in sharp contrast to the broader rebuilding effort in the fire zone. According to CBS News, only about 1% of Altadena homes have been rebuilt in the 18 months since the Eaton and Palisades fires destroyed more than 16,000 structures. The L.A. County Recovers dashboard reported 100 Altadena homes fully rebuilt and 2,981 building permits issued as of July 7, 2026.