Microsoft expands its Midwest presence with 15 new data centers slated for Mount Pleasant Wisconsin, Genentech more than doubles its U.S. manufacturing investment, a $1.7B public health laboratory breaks ground with the Gilbane-Turner-HOK team, and Barton Malow with Sheridan advances a new Macon arena. The NGA opens its St. Louis headquarters, Applied Digital breaks ground on the 430-MW Delta Forge 1 AI campus, and Boston Dynamics unveils its next-gen Atlas robot, let's dive in!

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Microsoft has received unanimous approval from the Mount Pleasant Village Board to construct 15 additional data center buildings. The expansion is split across two campuses: nine data centers and a 96,000 square foot office building near Durand Avenue, and six data centers with a 74,000 square foot office building off International Drive. The approval came on January 26, 2026.

The project will be built on land Microsoft purchased in 2023 and 2024, including parcels originally tied to the stalled Foxconn development. The two campuses are expected to total about 8.7 million square feet with an estimated taxable value exceeding $13 billion, making it one of Wisconsin's largest technology investments.

The expansion supports growing cloud and AI infrastructure demand. Some residents have raised concerns about power and water use, but village officials highlight the project's long term economic impact and Mount Pleasant's emergence as a major data center hub.

Driving this week’s edition is SiteFuel, the national fuel logistics and technology partner powering North America’s largest datacenter and mega-construction projects.

Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, SiteFuel has become the mission-critical standard for the contractors and developers building the future of infrastructure.

They specialize in the complex energy demands of Large-Scale Datacenter Construction, Mega-Infrastructure sites, and Enterprise Fleet operations, ensuring that the machines building our digital and physical world never stop moving.

What sets SiteFuel apart is its proprietary fuel management platform, delivering real-time visibility, automated reporting, and precise fuel-drop verification.

For teams managing $1B+ projects, this translates to full cost transparency, strict safety compliance, and the elimination of operational downtime.

Genentech, part of the Roche Group, is significantly expanding its biomanufacturing project in Holly Springs, North Carolina, raising its planned investment from $700 million to approximately $2 billion. Construction began in August 2025, with the 700,000-square-foot facility expected to be operational by 2029.

The site will focus on producing next generation treatments for metabolic conditions, including obesity, and will feature advanced automation and digital systems. This marks Genentech's first manufacturing site on the East Coast and is part of Roche's larger $50 billion investment strategy in U.S. based R&D and production.

The project is expected to support over 2,000 total jobs, including about 1,500 construction roles and more than 500 high wage manufacturing positions. Genentech received a $13.1 million state incentive package, including a $9.8 million job creation grant.

Gilbane Building Company and Turner Construction Company have begun construction on New York State's $1.7 billion new Wadsworth Center Laboratory. The facility is being built on the Gov. W. Averell Harriman State Office Campus in Albany. The State says the new facility will consolidate five existing Wadsworth Center lab locations into one modern hub. It's designed to strengthen public health testing, surveillance, and emergency response capacity. The lab is expected to be complete in 2030.

Barton Malow has been selected as Construction Manager at Risk for the new Macon Arena in Macon-Bibb County, Georgia. The modern, multi-purpose venue will replace the aging Macon Coliseum and supports concerts, community events, and regional tourism. Barton Malow will deliver the project in partnership with Sheridan Construction. The county is advancing the arena through preconstruction as design and cost planning continue. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2026, with completion targeted for 2028, pending final design and funding milestones.

McCarthy Building Companies and HITT Contracting have delivered the $1.7 billion Next NGA West headquarters for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in St. Louis, Missouri. The project consists of a secure, mission critical federal campus designed to consolidate NGA operations into a modern headquarters supporting geospatial intelligence and national security functions.

Applied Digital has launched Delta Forge 1, a 430 megawatt AI focused data center campus in the southern United States. The project is designed to support high-density AI, cloud, and HPC workloads. Initial development is centered on two large scale facilities. Long term expansion is planned across a multi hundred acre site. Construction is underway. Initial operations are targeted for mid-2027, with phased growth extending beyond that point.

Barnard Construction has been selected as construction manager for California's more than $6 billion Sites Reservoir project, landing an initial $1 million preconstruction contract from the Sites Project Authority. The off stream reservoir will be built west of Maxwell in the Sacramento Valley and will capture excess Sacramento River flows to use during dry periods. The project includes two major dams and supporting infrastructure, all aimed at strengthening California's water supply reliability. Full construction is expected to kick off in 2027, with operations targeted for 2033.

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Jeddah Tower is a landmark skyscraper under construction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, intended to become the world's tallest building by surpassing the Burj Khalifa. The tower is being developed as part of the Jeddah Economic City project and was designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture with structural engineering support from Thornton Tomasetti.

Construction originally began in 2013 but was halted for several years. Work resumed in January 2025, with the tower reaching new floor milestones through late 2025 and early 2026. The skyscraper is expected to exceed 1,000 meters in height, making it the first building to reach the one kilometer mark when completed.

Once finished, Jeddah Tower will host residential spaces, offices, a luxury hotel, and the world's highest observation deck. It will surpass the Burj Khalifa's 828 meter height and has been associated with Saudi Arabia's urban and economic growth strategy under Vision 2030.

Boston Dynamics unveiled the product version of its new Atlas humanoid robot at CES in Las Vegas on January 5, 2026. The company says Atlas is fully electric, with production beginning soon at its Boston headquarters.

All 2026 deployments are already committed, with fleets scheduled to ship to Hyundai's Robotics Metaplant Application Center (RMAC) and Google DeepMind. Additional customers are planned for early 2027. Atlas is built for industrial work, from material handling to order fulfillment.

The robot offers three control modes, autonomous, teleoperated, or via tablet interface. Atlas can autonomously charge itself and swap its own batteries. It integrates to MES/WMS through Orbit software and supports fleet-level task replication.

Boston Dynamics partnered with Google DeepMind to bring foundation models to Atlas, with Hyundai Mobis supplying actuators.

A. 1/8 inch per foot

B. 3/8 inch per foot

C. ¼ inch per foot

A. High-resistance ground fault

B. Line-to-ground fault with current imbalance

C. Line-to-line fault

A. Rapid chloride permeability test

B. Split-cylinder tensile test

C. Slump flow test

A. Reduced installation cost

B. More precise airflow modulation

C. Lower duct pressure losses

A. Reduce cracking from shrinkage

B. Improve surface finish

C. Eliminate the need for reinforcement

CHECK OUT THE ANSWERS AT THE BOTTOM.

Q1. C. 1/4 inch per foot

Q2. B. Line-to-ground fault with current imbalance

Q3. A. Rapid chloride permeability test

Q4. B. More precise airflow modulation

Q5. A. Reduce cracking from shrinkage