Latest Construction and engineering News

US adds a robust 254,000 jobs and unemployment dips to 4.1% in sign of still-sturdy labor market

Oct. 04, 2024 12:36 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers added a surprisingly strong 254,000 jobs in September, easing concerns about a weakening labor market and suggesting that the pace of hiring is still solid enough to support a growing economy. Last month’s gain was far more than economists...

Harvesting hops for beer produces a lot of waste. These German groups are seeking to fix that

Sep. 30, 2024 22:13 PM EDT

MUNICH (AP) — Two students in Munich, sipping beers on their dormitory couch in 2022, chatted about a recent lecture describing the use of banana fibers in Colombia to make sustainable building materials. Wouldn't it be great, the Technical University of Munich students joked, to...

Cambodia hopes a new canal will boost trade. But it risks harming the Mekong that feeds millions

Sep. 25, 2024 20:58 PM EDT

PREK TAKEO, Cambodia (AP) — The Mekong River is a lifeline for millions in the six countries it traverses on its way from its headwaters to the sea, sustaining the world’s largest inland fishery and abundant rice paddies on Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Cambodia's plan to build a...

Passenger on a previous Titan sub dive says his mission was aborted due to apparent malfunction

Sep. 20, 2024 15:41 PM EDT

A paid passenger on an expedition to the Titanic with the company that owned the Titan submersible testified before a U.S. Coast Guard investigatory panel Friday that the mission he took part in was aborted due to an apparent mechanical failure. The Titan submersible imploded last...

Authorities arrest a relative of the King of Jordan and 3 others for $1M insider-trading plot

Sep. 15, 2024 13:56 PM EDT

MIAMI (AP) — Authorities charged four men, including a relative of the King of Jordan, for conspiring to make insider stock trades on a business acquired by one of South Florida’s major publicly held companies, MasTec. Federico Nannini, 26; his father, Mauro Nannini, 63; and two...

The Grand Canyon main water line has broken dozens of times. Why is it getting a major fix only now?

Sep. 09, 2024 14:59 PM EDT

On a scorching day in June 2013, the Grand Canyon discouraged hikers from making a long trek to the bottom because there would be no potable water. A set of historic cabins and bunks also would be closed overnight because of a water pipeline break. The incident was one of more than...

Biden signs 'common sense' order prioritizing federal grants for projects with higher worker wages

Sep. 06, 2024 18:07 PM EDT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order for federal grants that will prioritize projects with labor agreements, wage standards, and benefits such as access to child care and apprenticeship programs. Biden said the ideas in his order “are...

The AP Interview: East Timor's president says the pope's visit isn't time to dwell on past sins

Sep. 04, 2024 09:47 AM EDT

DILI, East Timor (AP) — The president of East Timor sees Pope Francis' upcoming visit as a prime opportunity to promote Asia's youngest country on the world stage, not a time to confront the legacy of abuse by influential members of the clergy in the deeply Catholic nation. During...

Fake engineer: A top South African railway official is sentenced to prison for forged qualifications

Sep. 03, 2024 10:59 AM EDT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A former top official at South Africa's state-owned passenger railway company received a 15-year concurrent prison sentence on Tuesday for faking his engineering qualifications and other cases of fraud. Daniel Mtimkulu, 49, resigned as the head of...

Sports boats set out on a voyage to electrify the waters in the same way Tesla electrified the roads

Sep. 02, 2024 09:28 AM EDT

AFLOAT THE SAN JOAQUIN RIVER (AP) — Grant Jeide looked like another dude riding the rollicking waves left in the wake of a 23-foot (7-meter) boat ripping through the water at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour on a river in Northern California's Delta earlier this summer. But Jeide...