Hard to believe, but we’re running out of sand
Sizzling demand in a post-pandemic recovery will encourage the usual bad behaviors that accompany exploding markets: environmental degradation, forced labor and criminal profiteering.
What happens when Singapore runs out of sand for construction?
Singapore’s appetite for sand has become controversial. Some neighbors that used to sell it have objected, citing concerns about environmental degradation.
A building rush linked to the 2020 Tokyo Games has been affecting rebuilding efforts in some areas devastated by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, despite the government's push to brand the event the reconstruction Olympics. Shortages of construction materials such as steel beams ...
Japan's Showa Leasing to enter crane rental business in Philippines
Showa Leasing Co. will launch a crane rental service in the Philippines with local and Japanese partners, anticipating demand from President Rodrigo Duterte's "Build, Build, Build" infrastructure development program. The company plans to form a joint venture with local contractor EEI Corp. and Japanese crane ...
A Japanese startup is betting that its "touchable" 3D technology will have a vast array of applications, potentially allowing smartphone shoppers to evaluate the fabric of clothes they want to buy online and gamers to feel virtual objects. Founded in 2014 as a technology transfer ...
'Culture of fear': Report alleges low pay and overwork for laborers at Tokyo Olympics sites
A report released by a global union federation Wednesday demanded better conditions for laborers working on the construction of Tokyo Games facilities after several "alarming" cases of suspected labor violations were uncovered. The report from Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI), titled "The Dark Side ...
Worker influx ignites resort island rent bubble on Miyakojima
An influx of construction workers to meet the demands of the tourism boom on the Okinawan resort island of Miyakojima is creating severe apartment shortages, sending rents higher. Take the rent for studio apartments, which combine the living room, bedroom and kitchen into a single ...
Bucking superstition, Japanese woman tunnels way to top of civil-engineering world
For civil engineer Reiko Abe, 55, being competent at her job was never enough. Her sex and the superstitions surrounding it caused her to be turned away from job interviews and construction sites in Japan. After clawing her way to the top of the male-dominated ...
Five dead, 40 injured by blaze at construction site in west Tokyo suburb of Tama
Five people died and around 40 were injured Thursday after a fire broke out at a three-story building under construction in Tama in western Tokyo and smoke engulfed the workers. Four of the deceased were described Friday as men between the ages of 44 and ...
Investigators should get to the bottom of the budding bid-rigging scandal to see whether the construction firms have in fact put their shady practices behind them.
Japan's labor-scarce building sites automating, turning to robots, drones
Construction sites in Japan are enjoying a wave of automation amid an increasing shortage of laborers, with the introduction of robots to do heavy lifting and drones that instantly collect aerial data. As the industry ages along with the country's graying society, construction companies are ...
Earthquake standards are on shaky ground
No one died in the recent earthquake that struck Tottori Prefecture, but the temblor was strong enough to cause extensive damage. Several thousand people are still in evacuation centers, which means it is not safe for them to live in their homes. Most of ...
