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Construction Dive’s Friday Punch List is a series dedicated to sharing the top building headlines that contractors may have missed during the week.
Construction Safety Week saw some big headlines, including Turner Construction AI safety application in the workplace available, free of charge, to the general industry. In addition, a joint venture of AECOM Hunt and Turner began construction of one $2.4 billion NFL stadium in Cleveland.
Read on for other news of the week that builders should know.
New York City Safety Report
The New York City Department of Buildings announced that it would be participating in Construction Safety Week join workplace safety demonstrations and discussions to help prevent injuries on the job, according to an announcement Monday.
“This Construction Safety Week, our administration will be across the city, ensuring workplaces are safe and following required training protocols, and advancing our efforts to reduce injuries,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in the statement.
The start of the week coincided with the release of the DOB Construction safety reportdetailing data around the city’s safety record. By 2025, the DOB reported fewer workplace incidents and injuries. Both are in line with a trend that has largely continued since 2015, with the number of workplace incidents largely declining over time.
Courtesy of New York City Department of Buildings
That decline, however, also coincided with a fifth consecutive year of declines in new building permits, the report said.
Ten New York City construction workers died on the job in 2025, three more than in 2024. Preliminary data, however, shows that the first quarter of 2026 saw fewer fatalities than the same period in 2025, the release said.
—Zachary Phillips
New York invests 78 million dollars in 4 infrastructure projects
New York will invest $78 million for four infrastructure improvements on the Thruway in the Capital Region, Central New York and the Finger Lakes region, according to a news release Monday from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office.
Two ongoing projects in the Capital Region covering 77 lane miles of the Thruway represent $34.7 million of this investment, through pavement improvement projects. These earmarked funds include $15.8 million for I-90 in Albany County and $18.9 million for I-87 in Ulster County.
In the Central New York and Finger Lakes regions, two projects covering more than 106 total lane miles of the Thruway will receive the remaining $43.2 million investment. These projects will also improve I-90 in Madison County and Ontario County, according to the release.
—Sebastian Obando
Skanska breaks ground on Texas STEM facility
Sweden-based developer and builder Skanska continues a construction partnership with Texas A&M University.
The contractor has made progress on the $133.4 million AgriLife Meat Science and Technology Buildinga new 85,600-square-foot facility for the university in College Station, Texas, according to an announcement Tuesday.
The facility will include laboratories, classrooms, processing space and customer service capabilities, as well as commercial space for products developed at the center. Construction is expected to be completed in 2028, according to the release.
The project is the latest in a series of partnerships between Skanska and the university dating back to 2009, according to the announcement. In March, the the contractor announced that he won a $165 million, 185,000-square-foot facility that would replace several aging biology buildings on the College Station campus. Construction on this project is expected to begin in the spring of 2027 and be completed in the spring of 2029.
—Zachary Phillips
Shawmut uses adaptive reuse to transform New York church into museum
Shawmut Design & Construction has begun work on transforming a century-old New York City church into a children’s museum.
The builder from Boston has started the technical and structural work to transform The First Church of Christ, Scientific, into the nearby home of the Children’s Museum of Manhattanaccording to an announcement Tuesday. The church, located at the corner of 96th Street and Central Park West, will become a seven-story learning laboratory for children and families.
Once complete, the new space will feature hands-on experiences and exhibits, along with a cafe, museum shop, performance space and a rooftop deck overlooking Central Park, according to the announcement. The renovation marks the museum’s first expansion in more than 40 years and will double the museum’s physical capacity.
“This type of adaptive reuse presents complex challenges that will yield remarkable results,” said David Margolius, executive vice president of Shawmut’s New York metropolitan region. “We are excited to begin this next phase and ultimately build a welcoming, expanded and accessible space that will serve the community for years to come.”
— Matthew Thibault
