Construction Briefing’s top 20 stories of 2024

It is made up of the articles published on the Construction Briefing website during 2024 that received the most page views.

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The top 20 stories of the year in ascending order were:

20) Will the Jeddah Tower ever become the world’s tallest building? 

In May, we asked if construction of what would become the world’s tallest building, the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, would ever restart, after years of being mothballed. Reports emerged in October this year that work has now resumed. If completed, the 1km-tall tower would tower above even Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which has held the title of world’s tallest building since 2009.

19) How Bechtel plans to build Bill Gates’ next generation nuclear plant in Wyoming 

Lucy Barnard spoke exclusively to Ahmet Tokpinar, principal vice president and general manager for nuclear at US engineering giant Bechtel, to find out if small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) could ever become commercially viable.

18) What’s next for global construction equipment sales in 2024? 

Off-Highway Research’s Chris Sleight consulted his crystal ball to offer an overview of how construction equipment sales looked for 2024 in different regions around the globe.

17) US construction industry’s 3 biggest worries for 2024 

In a January article, International Construction’s US-based deputy editor Mitchell Keller summed up the issues keeping construction professionals there awake at night as they went into the new year.

16) Germany’s troubled Stuttgart 21 rail project delayed until 2026 as costs rise again 

News emerged that the Stuttgart 21 project, construction of which started all the way back in 2010, would be even further delayed.

15) Will greener supply chains shape the future of the built environment? 

Robbie Blackhurst, founder of Black Capital Group (BCG) and the Procure Partnerships Framework, explained why the built environment will fall under particular scrutiny when it comes to cutting its carbon emissions.

14) Project report: Building a connection from Detroit to Windsor 

Access, Lift & Handlers’ editor Lindsey Anderson reported on the progress of the Gordie Howe International Bridge and how specialist firms helped to provide access to the climbing concrete formwork for the bridge piers.

13) Report calls for single construction regulator in England and Wales after deadly Grenfell fire 

A huge 1,700-page, phase 2 report published by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommended a single construction regulator in England and Wales.

12) Bechtel’s Catherine Hunt Ryan on the battle to recruit more female tradespeople 

Bechtel’s head of manufacturing and technology at infrastructure giant Bechtel, told Lucy Barnard how the company is spearheading plans to recruit hundreds of female electricians, carpenters and plumbers across the US.

11) Phased development for world’s largest airport in Saudi Arabia 

A director overseeing the construction of what is expected to be the world’s biggest airport, King Salman International Airport in Riyadh, set out a series of phases for its construction.

10) Could part of the multi-billion-dollar HS2 rail project be revived? 

Mitchell Keller asked what would be next for the UK’s over-budget, behind-schedule, and downscaled HS2 high-speed railway after a new government came to power in July.

9) Photos: World’s longest asymmetric cable-stayed bridge 

Photos of the Danjiang Bridge over the Tamsui River on the outskirts of Taipei, Taiwan, ahead of its completion next year.

8) Webuild proposes new design for reconstruction of Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge

In May, Italian construction group Webuild and its US subsidiary Lane presented a new design for the $1 billion replacement of the collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, USA. However, Kiewit Infrastructure Co later won a contract to undertake design and construction of phase one of the project. 

7) 25 important construction trade shows around the world in 2024 

At the very beginning of the year, Construction Briefing compiled a list of 25 major construction industry shows taking place around the world in 2024. Watch out for a 2025 list set to be published in the week commencing 6 January.

6) 10 new cities under construction around the world 

With the world predicted to add 2.5 billion more urban residents by 2050, dozens of new cities are being built around the world. Lucy Barnard took a look at some of the most eye-catching.

5) What Trump’s victory could mean for US construction 

After Donald Trump sealed victory in November’s US presidential election, we examined what it could mean for the country’s construction industry.

4) Plans to build Saudi Arabia’s 170km linear city the Line ‘scaled back’ 

Originally envisaged as being home to nine million people and costing $1.5 trillion to build, news emerged that The Line is now expected to reach just 2.4km and house around 300,000 people by 2030.

3) Building the massive foundations for a $3.9bn North Sea artificial island 

Contractors have started building the foundations for what will become the world’s first ‘energy island’ – a multi-billion-Euro artificial island in the North Sea. Construction Briefing examined what the project involves.

2) World’s top 10 construction OEMs by sales revealed 

The latest Yellow Table, International Construction’s annual ranking of the world’s top 50 construction equipment manufacturers by sales figures, revealed how the world’s biggest OEMs stack up.

1) Who owns 20 of the world’s biggest construction companies?

An analysis of who backs the biggest companies in International Construction’s latest Icon 200, which ranked the biggest construction companies around the world by annual revenue, was our most-read article published in 2024.