Today’s jobs market report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics may provide a much needed spark of confidence for the U.S. economy, especially its workers and

Civil engineers and other researchers working under a ,000 National Science Foundation grant are studying the Great Inca Road of South America for clues to help modern society build roads, bridges and other infrastructure that last longer and have a less harmful impact on the environment.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ .6-billion drive to bring New Orleans’ hurricane defenses to 100-year levels of protection by June 2011 could fundamentally change the way U.S. civil-works projects are funded and delivered, project leaders say.

One of the world’s most ambitious urban development initiatives is taking place in Doha, the capital of the Gulf kingdom of Qatar.

A new isolated bearing system designed to preserve the alignment of critical bridge structures while saving millions in construction costs may make its debut on a high-speed-rail project in Turkey.

Tidal power in the U.S. moved toward commercial viability this summer when Portland, Maine-based Ocean Renewable Power Co. successfully produced electric power from a tidal turbine it installed in Cobscoo Bay in Eastport, Maine.

The state-owned rail companies of Botswana and Mozambique are preparing to build an estimated -billion transport project that would include one of Africa’s longest railways and a deepwater port on the Indian Ocean, south of Maputo.

Many pavilion designers at Expo 2010 Shanghai, the World’s Fair currently under way in China, interpret its “Better City, Better Life” theme as a call for sustainable buildings.

With little time remaining before the Oct. 4 start of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, the sporting event’s already-escalated .6-billion construction project is straining to reach the finish line.

One day after a contractors’ trade group requested more time to comply with new federal crane-safety regulations, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration nevertheless plans to begin enforcing the standard on Nov. 8, as scheduled.

Hoping to attract cargo traffic from an expanded Panama Canal in 2014, the Port of Miami is taking steps to refurbish a dormant 4.4-mile rail corridor linking the port with the Hialeah Intermodal Railyard, operated by the Florida East Coast Railroad.

According to North America’s four major stock market indices, equity prices have been moving sideways for almost a year. There was a spurt in April 2010, when 52-week highs were recorded, but there have been mainly double-digit percentage declines since then, taking index levels back to where they were in October-November 2009. The exception on the plus side has been the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE), which has benefited from a firming up of some commodity prices and, most recently, a takeover bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan by BHP Billiton of Australia.

Although most states had marginal gains in their economic activity index in July activity was weaker or steady in enough states to keep the national economic activity index unchanged. The stall is expected to be brief since it is the aftershock from the expiration of homebuyer tax credit and the ebbing of many of the federal pump priming spending programs, says Reed Construction Data chief economist Jim Haughey.

This chart shows the ranking of states by recent economic performance, including data on the last three months (annualized – July) and changes in economic activity for the latest three months (annualized) versus the previous year.

The economic slowdown caused the second consecutive decline in the construction materials price index with a 1.1% fall in July. The largest declines were for steel, copper, lumber and gypsum products. Most construction items experienced price declines in July. Weaker pricing, however, did not reach some lumber, energy and metal products by the survey week (2nd week in July). The only significant price increase from June was a 1.2% rise in construction equipment rental rates. This is more likely random than a new trend and may be due to the impact of the Gulf oil cleanup since oilfield equipment is…

U.S. economic growth in 2010’s second quarter has been revised down to 1.6% by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). In the BEA’s first estimate for Q2 – also known as the advance estimate – the figure was a higher 2.4%. The +1.6% is less than half of the first quarter’s +3.7%.

The U.S.  has recently received an additional spate of bad news concerning its housing market. Since the expiry of the tax credit on April 30th, homebuyers have become an endangered species and both developers and real estate professionals are finding it a hard scrabble to make sales. American businessmen and consumers have talked themselves into a real funk. But one should never discount Americans’ resilience. This will eventually come to the fore, even if it has to be later rather than sooner.

Housing market drivers remained generally positive through June, except for inventory for sale, but all signs point to a significant summer slowdown, probably with some decline, after the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit. This was expected and does not signal a new trend in the housing market. The summer pause will be brief — just long enough to get past the recent pull forward of homebuyers caused by the tax credit, says Reed Construction Data chief economist Jim Haughey.

Commercial construction starts and spending are still slipping but most of the decline is now over so there are spot upward spikes occurring. But none are yet sustainable at the national level. Market drivers are now balanced between positive and negative. Credit conditions are improving marginally. Credit rates are very low and FRB statements assure that they will stay low well until late 2011, says Reed Construction Data chief economist Jim Haughey.

The heavy construction market remains stalled. Although jobsite spending increased 2.0% in June the gain was only back to last June’s level. The only two positive market drivers are construction equipment shipments and airline passenger traffic. The recent strong gain in equipment is heavily exports. Some of the gain also reflects rental fleet rebuilding after several lean years. Equipment usage on job sites is not yet causing a rise in equipment purchases, says Reed Construction Data chief economist Jim Haughey.