A meeting between President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to discuss funding options for a $2 trillion infrastructure package broke down Wednesday, leaving officials to pursue other legislative paths for now. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., said he plans to advance "individual pieces of legislation that will make a difference" as well as a surface transportation reauthorization bill.

Autodesk has been testing a machine learning tool in its BIM software that analyzes large amounts of data to project daily safety and quality risks. One contractor reported a 20% decrease in quality and safety issues when using the software.

The North Dakota Department of Transportation has $370 million worth of state highway projects planned for this summer's construction season, which officially began Wednesday. The number, which doesn't reflect multi-year projects from past construction seasons, is close to the price tags from 2017 and 2018.

The breakdown of the infrastructure meeting between President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders represents "bad policy and bad politics" that leaves a top national priority unaddressed and puts the politicians who fail to act in danger of being punished by voters, writes Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America. He notes, however, that both sides still have an opportunity to get a deal done if they are "willing to get serious," but "time is of the essence."

The cost of building a Sasol chemical plant in Louisiana has risen from up to $11.8 billion in February to as high as $12.9 billion now. Sasol also noted, however, that a low-density polyethylene unit at the project was able to maintain specified production for at least three days.

Construction on the $319 million Manahawkin Bay Bridges project in New Jersey is "essentially complete," according to the state Department of Transportation. The project involved rehabilitating the existing Manahawkin Bay Bridge and building a span parallel to it.

Bartlett Cocke has put up the walls of the $95 million Science and Engineering Building at the University of Texas at San Antonio, allowing crews to shift their focus to drywall and preparation of interior finishes, said Jonathan Jarrell, senior project manager at UTSA's office of facilities. The building will contain laboratory, classroom and collaborative space as well as a design studio for students.

A cost index from IHS Markit and the Procurement Executives Group showed that labor and materials prices increased the cost of construction in May for the 31st consecutive month. The index, which rose to 63.8 this month over 58.2 in April, points to continuing prices increases.

Toronto won a national award for a program that captures stormwater runoff and uses it to provide water for plants and trees. For one project, a right turn lane was eliminated and the area turned into a small green space to capture stormwater.

The construction industry should look at the broad array of skills that women can bring to the construction industry, says Elizabeth Skidmore, co-founder of the Policy Group on Tradeswomen Issues and president of the Northeast Center for Tradeswomen's Equity. "Having an integrated supply-and-demand strategy is why we believe we now have triple the national percentage of women in apprenticeship here in Massachusetts," she says.