Top 5 construction stories of 2017

It wasn’t an easy task picking the top five stories of the year. Although Constructionsales.com.au’s editorial section only commenced operations earlier in 2017, we’ve hit the ground running and have pumped out plenty of quality content so far, among them industry news, honest reviews and engaging videos.

While some might argue that choosing the top stories should be based on numbers, I, the editor, personally felt some yarns deserved more reads than they have racked up over the year.

So here are my top story picks of 2017, in no particular order:

Heavy equipment attachment manufacturer, Digga, is a local hero in its own right. Since 1981, the company has been proudly flying the Australian flag by wholly producing its attachments from a facility in Yatala, QLD, hence keeping local manufacturing alive and jobs within the community.

But in 2016, a fire broke out in Digga's warehouse and threatened to turn the operation upside down. However, Digga remained resilient and have since emerged stronger than ever, more than one year after the devastating incident.

This was a truly inspiring story of how the company rose from the ashes and soldiered on to continued success.

2.     

This is easily one of our most viewed video and article of the year, and it is not hard to see why.

A device that lets users see through walls to detect items such as studs, pipes and wiring is a renovator’s dream. Produced by Israeli 3D imaging expert, Vayyar Imaging, the WalabotDIY not only tells you what material the detected studs are made of, but it also allows you to trace the curvature of wirings so you know exactly where you should or shouldn’t drill.

We caught up with the makers when they were in Australia earlier this year to check out the device and how Aussie renovators can get their hands on a unit.

3.     

A look at the old and the new to see how well Komatsu’s machine stands against the test of time and the elements.

Constructionsales.com.au writer, Howard Shanks, stumbled upon a decade old Komatsu wheel loader working at an iron ore processing plant that is still going strong and haven’t had any major component replacements over its lifetime, despite having worked at the plant carrying hot iron ore slurry day in day out.

Operators at the plant are so confident in the brand and machine that they purchased the exact same machine ten years apart to replace the aging unit. Whoever says things aren’t built to last need to read this story for themselves!

4.     

As the title suggests, if a trailblazing Aussie tech company has its way, it could truly revolutionise the construction industry on a global level.

Fastbrick Robotics applied the 3D printing concept to its innovative bricklaying robot, named Hadrian X, which will ‘print’ out a house based on plans that have been fed to it. What’s more fascinating is, the robot will also cut the bricks ready for laying, completely automating the building process from start to finish.

If all goes to plan, the Hadrian X is expected to hit the market as early as 2018.

Yet another example of how automation is inevitable and robots are slowly taking over the world, one brick at a time…

Following the release of Volvo’s much talked about compact D series excavators in 2016, we’ve been yearning to grab hold of a working unit to see how it performs and finally found one in Mt Evelyn, Victoria earlier this year.

Purchased by plumbing contractor M Tucker and Sons in February, the 3.5-tonne Volvo ECR35D excavator has been used to dig up pits and drains where the company’s services were required. As the business’s work was mainly carried out in urban areas, the machine’s compact size worked a treat.

We filmed the machine in action and talked to the operator, Kieran Towan for an honest review of the compact digger.