Prostate Cancer Awareness Bluebeam

When There’s No Warning: What Two Survivors Want Men in Construction to Know About Prostate Cancer

  • Health, Safety, and Compliance
Randy Hanson and Benji Gibson didn’t expect to be talking about prostate cancer, let alone living through it. But after two different journeys to the same diagnosis, both men want others to act before it's too late

Randy Hanson wasn’t having symptoms. He felt fine. But during a routine checkup, his doctor included a PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) test with the bloodwork. The number came back in relatively normal range. But because his brother passed away from prostate cancer, doctors recommended further tests.

That led to a biopsy—and then the call: prostate cancer.

“It wasn’t even a prostate cancer screening appointment,” Hanson said. “I wasn’t expecting anything.”

The key was that he didn’t wait to get checked.

A Second Opinion—and a Push for Action

Benji Gibson’s diagnosis started somewhat similarly: a routine PSA flagged something abnormal. He was referred to a urologist, who confirmed a suspicious nodule and quickly ordered a biopsy.

The biopsy showed prostate cancer. Surgery followed. But even with an efficient diagnosis, Gibson’s recovery brought its own challenges—fatigue, pain and a long emotional comedown after the adrenaline wore off.

“After the surgery, it wasn’t like everything went back to normal,” he said. “It took time—physically and mentally.”

One Test, Two Paths

Both men were diagnosed early. Neither experienced symptoms. That’s the silent nature of prostate cancer.

According to ZERO Prostate Cancer, the nation’s No. 1 provider of prostate cancer programs and support, 1-in-8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. The organization also reports that 313,780 new cases of prostate cancer are expected to be diagnosed in 2025.

The five-year survival rate for cancer caught before it spreads is nearly 100%. But once it metastasizes,  the 5-year survival rate for advanced or metastatic prostate cancer drops to 37%.

A bigger problem: Many of these yearly cases happen in large part because most men skip routine screening. What’s more, the problem is even more pervasive in construction, an industry dominated by men.

According to a 2025 State of Men’s Health in Construction survey commissioned by Bluebeam in partnership with ZERO Prostate Cancer, 65% of male construction workers have never been screened for prostate cancer, with 81% reporting delaying screenings even though they know they are available.

A routine PSA test can catch it early. It’s not perfect, but it’s often the only early signal a man will get. And for many in construction, that test never comes.

Why Construction Workers Get Left Behind

Prostate cancer doesn’t play fair—but it does play favorites. Construction workers are among those least likely to have regular screenings. Reasons range from lack of time and insurance access to a deeper culture of brushing off medical concerns.

“I’ve worked in construction,” Gibson said. “We push through everything. You’re sore, you’re tired, you just keep going.”

That mindset can save deadlines. It won’t save lives.

The Unspoken Risk

And while Gibson’s care team acted quickly, no one directly told him that his risk for prostate cancer was significantly higher.

“I didn’t know until after,” he said. “It’s not something we talk about.”

Medical mistrust, stigma around rectal exams and concerns about sexual health all play a role. But none of those things should stop someone from asking their doctor about a test that could save their life.

If You’re a Man Over 45, Here’s the Play

Neither Hanson nor Gibson is looking to become an awareness mascot. They’re just two guys who went through something hard and came out with something to say.

Here’s what they want you to know:

  • If you’re 50 or older, ask your doctor about a PSA test.
  • If you’re Black or have a family history, start that conversation at 45—or sooner.
  • Firefighters and Veterans are two groups that have been linked to an increased risk of prostate cancer.
  • Don’t assume you’ll feel symptoms.
  • Don’t assume your risk is low just because you’re busy.
  • Don’t assume “being fine” means you’re in the clear.

As Hanson put it: “Don’t be the guy who waits. Don’t be me before that appointment.”

Final Word

Prostate cancer rarely announces itself. But that doesn’t mean you can’t catch it early. The good news is, for Hanson and Gibson, because of quick action, they’re currently cancer-free.

Start with a conversation. Ask about the test. And if you’re in construction—where health often takes a backseat to deadlines—make the time.

Because the job can wait. Your life can’t.

Take the First Step

Want to understand your risk? These tools and resources can help:

Bluebeam’s “Check Yourself” campaign launched this September for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. We’re sharing stories, resources and real talk to help men in construction and beyond stop waiting and start protecting their health.

A quick test could change everything. Don’t wait.

Get Checked
Illustration of evening view of 5 Times Square in Midtown Manhattan during a representation of its office-to-residential conversion, with warm lights glowing from newly framed apartments inside the high-rise’s glass and steel structure, symbolizing adaptive reuse, sustainable building design, and affordable housing in New York City.

One Tower, 1,250 Homes: How 5 Times Square Is Being Rebuilt from the Inside Out

  • Building, Design & Architecture, Sustainability
The Midtown office tower conversion offers a real-world blueprint for high-rise reuse, housing relief and carbon cuts without starting from scratch

In the heart of Midtown, a 38-story glass giant is being reworked from the inside out—not to reopen as offices, but to house people. No demolition. No do-over.

Just 1,250 apartments—including 313 permanently affordable homes—taking shape inside what used to be one of Times Square’s most prominent commercial towers.

5 Times Square is now one of the largest office-to-residential conversions under construction in Midtown Manhattan. It’s an initially filed $95 million transformation led by RXR with design by Gensler.

While renderings and feasibility studies are easy to commission, this one’s happening.

Why 5 Times Square Works When Most Buildings Don’t

Most office buildings aren’t cut out for conversion. Too deep. Too dark. Too messy to make code. But 5 Times Square checks just enough boxes to make it viable—and just difficult enough to prove it isn’t easy.

What gave it a shot:

  • A centralized service core that simplifies residential circulation.
  • ~31,000-square-foot floorplates that can accommodate natural light.
  • A fully glazed curtain wall supporting daylight access and façade reuse.
  • Steel framing and slab spacing compatible with residential layouts.

Still, this isn’t some light remodel but a near-complete rework: plumbing risers drilled, corridors rerouted, HVAC systems (expected to be electrified), elevator shafts reassigned. What’s more, the design is being scoped to comply with Local Law 97’s 2030 emissions caps, though detailed MEP plans aren’t yet public.

Floor by Floor, Above a Transit Superhub

As of early 2024, vacancy hovered around 75%, with the remaining tenants phasing out. That’s enabled a rare sequencing window: floor-by-floor interior buildouts above an active base of retail and transit access.

Construction challenges include:

  • Penetrating existing slabs for plumbing and shaft extensions.
  • Pressurizing stairwells and adjusting egress to meet residential code.
  • Mechanical, electrical and elevator retrofits for higher-density operation.
  • Vertical sequencing logistics above occupied and retail areas.

All of this is unfolding above the Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority station complex, the busiest in New York with 54.3 million entries in 2023. The original tower was built around it. The retrofit must work around it, too.

What Made This Possible? A Rare Stack of Policy and Timing

Structure matters. So does zoning. But to convert at this scale in Midtown, you need a rare alignment of law, finance and timing.

MechanismImpact
FAR Cap LiftedNY’s FY2025 budget eliminated the 12 FAR cap for residential citywide, enabling denser projects like this one in Midtown.
467-m Tax IncentiveBy including 25% permanently affordable units, the project qualifies for up to 35 years of property tax relief.
Ground Lease RenegotiatedRXR paid $8 million to revise its lease with the City of New York, unlocking flexibility to proceed.
Conversion AcceleratorA city program enabling expedited review across zoning, DOB and housing agencies.

The Carbon Math Behind Not Starting Over

Tearing down a steel tower like this would waste decades of embodied carbon. And in a city where Local Law 97 penalties are looming, that math matters.

5 Times Square is pushing that advantage:

  • Keeping structural steel and envelope intact.
  • Moving toward electrified systems for future carbon-free operation.
  • Leveraging transit-oriented design.

This is pragmatic carbon avoidance, layered into a housing play that works—barely—because the building allows it.

One Building Won’t Fix the Housing Crisis. But It Can Shift the Blueprint.

This project isn’t a cure-all but a working model—flawed, complicated and happening.

5 Times Square shows what’s possible when policy, design and development finally align. It shows what’s hard (shaft work, lease rewrites, policy risk) and what’s worth it (permanently affordable housing, avoided carbon, reused urban infrastructure).

It doesn’t solve the crisis. But it proves we’re not stuck.

And that makes it more than a project. It makes it precedent.

See how digital tools simplify complex conversions.

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Bluebeam executive team posing with Firmus founder Shir Abecasis, all wearing Bluebeam-branded hard hats, smiling in front of a restaurant patio entrance during a construction industry partnership event.

When Drawings Hide Problems: Why the Industry Needs to Get Ahead of Risk

  • Technology & Innovation
And why the Bluebeam-Firmus pairing might just be the right tool at the right time

In construction, the most expensive mistakes rarely announce themselves.

They hide in plain sight, typically buried in a drawing set everyone swears has been “thoroughly reviewed.”

Then the job starts, and suddenly …

  • The RFI no one should’ve had to write.
  • The scope gap you only find when the trade crews are already standing there.
  • The tiny detail error that quietly burns weeks and bleeds six figures from your budget.

These aren’t flukes but a symptom of an industry still asking human eyes to catch every conflict in hundreds of pages of dense, complex drawings—and do it under crushing deadlines.

Rework is a silent budget-killer: direct rework averages around 5% of total project spend in the U.S., and when you count the ripple effects, some studies put the hit closer to 9–20%. Add the roughly $1,080 it takes to process each RFI, and you start to see why so many projects feel like they’re running uphill.

Why This Keeps Happening

The construction industry has poured resources into BIM, 3D coordination, digital twins—tools that have transformed how some teams work. But the universal language of construction? It’s still the PDF drawing set.

Architects draw them. Engineers redline them. Contractors bid from them. Owners sign off on them. Every stakeholder touches them—and that’s exactly where risk hides.

Drawings are the DNA of a project. And like DNA, they can quietly carry flaws that change everything down the line. As Firmus founder Shir Abecasis put it: “Design or construction documents are the language of construction. Everyone communicates through drawings.”

AI That Reads Drawings Like It’s Been on Site

Firmus doesn’t scan emails or contracts first. It starts with the drawings themselves—flagging gaps and inconsistencies quickly and reliably, without the fatigue or oversights that can creep in under tight deadlines.

Firmus’ interface flags potential issues directly on the drawings—highlighting missing tags, referenced sheets and inconsistencies—so teams can address risks before they become costly rework.

No AI smoke-and-mirrors. If it finds a conflict, you see the exact sheets and callouts, side-by-side, where the problem lives. The human stays in charge, but now with a machine that catches the “how did we miss that?” moments.

Why Bluebeam + Firmus Works

Bluebeam has always been the jobsite’s go-to for marking up and collaborating on drawings. Firmus brings an AI engine trained to understand those drawings at a granular level.

Together, the two technologies aim for:

  • PDFs that stay right where you already work.
  • AI-detected risks showing up in your normal review flow.
  • Fewer “stop everything” moments when an issue pops late.

No extra exporting. No toggling between tools. Just smarter drawings, right in the workflow you trust.

As Bluebeam CEO Usman Shuja said, “Firmus solved one of the biggest problems in the ecosystem: understanding drawings. It’s PDF-native and fits perfectly with Bluebeam’s DNA.”

The Human Side of Firmus

For Abecasis, the company’s story isn’t just about technology but the people and moments that changed how she saw the industry.

As Abecasis recalled, “The aha moment was when we saw drawings instruct people in the field to build things incorrectly. That’s when we realized: this is data—if only AI could read it, these mistakes could be caught early.”

Abecasis is quick to deflect credit away from herself and toward her team. “I’m most proud of the Firmus team—humble, can-do, unafraid of tackling hard problems. We focused on the hardest challenge, understanding PDFs as true data, because that’s where the value is.”

That mindset, she says, is what excites her most about joining Bluebeam and Nemetschek. “These are large organizations with a startup ethos: hyper-focused on customers and willing to tackle the toughest challenges. That alignment is what makes this partnership so powerful.”

Moving Past the AI Hype

AI in construction has been long on promises, short on usable results. We’ve seen “game-changers” that can’t survive real project realities—schedule-prediction bots that ignore sequencing, for instance, or OCR tools that strip the context out of PDFs.

The next wave of AI won’t be about flashy demos but about embedding intelligence exactly where the work is happening.

As Abecasis explained: “Most AI models are trained on internet text. Firmus trained ours on construction drawings—a unique, complex language—so the insights are purpose-built for this industry.”

What’s Next

We’re excited to show off the potential power of Firmus and Bluebeam to our customers with a live look at Bluebeam Unbound September 30 – October 2.

Reserve Your Spot at Unbound

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Superintendent Bob Medina reviews blueprints at a construction site, wearing a hard hat and safety vest. He marks up plans while coordinating project details, reflecting his dual role as a jobsite leader and online mentor for tradespeople.

From Jobsite to Social Feed: How This Superintendent Builds Careers on and Offline

  • People & Project Spotlights
Bob Medina blends early mornings on the jobsite with evenings sharing construction skills online, turning a blueprint course into a mission to inspire and educate tradespeople

It’s 5 a.m., and the jobsite is quiet. Superintendent Bob Medina arrives early, getting everything organized before the crew shows up.

By the time work begins, he’s already met with foremen, checked in with trades and made sure the day is set for success.

When the workday ends, Medina’s role shifts. On Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, he shares construction know-how and encouragement with an audience of more than 40,000 followers.

That online presence started to promote his blueprint course, but it quickly evolved into something more: a mission to educate and inspire people in the trades.

“It makes me feel great knowing that I’m helping other people,” Medina said.

A Lifelong, Indirect Path to the Trades

Medina’s connection to construction runs deep—even if he didn’t plan on making it his career. As a kid, he followed his father around jobsites, pushing a mini wheelbarrow and pitching in however he could. Summers in high school meant working alongside his uncles on their projects.

“I loved to be handy. I loved to help out and use the tools,” Medina recalled.

But when it came time for college, he enrolled in civil engineering at San Francisco State University, envisioning a career as an engineer. Summers still found him back in Los Angeles, working construction, but after graduation, the path forward was unclear.

Superintendent Bob Medina reviews construction plans on site, making sure every detail is ready before crews arrive—a balance of technical precision and people-first leadership.

A civil engineering internship gave him hands-on experience, but it was an unexpected offer from an architect he knew—to run an Enterprise Rent-A-Car project—that pulled him back into construction full time.

“Life has a crazy way of happening,” Medina said. “I just ended up going back to construction at the end of the day, and I absolutely loved it.”

Running the Jobsite

Today, Medina thrives in his role as a superintendent. The days start early with organizing the site, reviewing plans and setting up for the crews. Once the trades arrive, he meets with foremen, outlines daily priorities and checks in with plumbers, electricians, drywallers and more to keep everyone aligned.

He’s learned that good coordination depends on good communication.

“I make sure I’m treating people with respect—that’s the golden rule. I really live by that,” he said.

Beyond the day-to-day, Medina is always looking weeks ahead, tracking material orders, confirming equipment delivery and keeping projects on schedule. The role demands both technical expertise and people skills.

“In many ways, the superintendent is the glue that holds a project together,” Medina said. His approach: stay calm, avoid becoming overwhelmed and take it “one step at a time, one brick at a time day by day.”

The reward: “Seeing every step of the project and knowing that I played a part in every step is just amazing.”

From Blueprint Lessons to an Online Following

Medina’s leadership doesn’t stop at the jobsite. Early in his career, he struggled to read plan documents, spending late nights studying them at home. Over time, he began using spare moments on site to help his team build the same skill. Those lessons eventually became an online course for learning to read plan documents.

To promote the course, Medina began posting videos on TikTok and Instagram. In a little more than a month on Instagram, his account had grown to more than 30,000 followers. Comments and direct messages poured in from people thanking him for helping them work faster, save time and improve their skills.

From the jobsite to social media, Bob Medina is inspiring the next generation of tradespeople by showing that construction is both a craft and a career worth building.

“Giving people their time back is awesome,” he said. “They’re learning something and they’re getting time to spend with their families; they’re getting that back in their lives.”

Looking Ahead

Medina’s goal is to encourage more people to see construction as a viable, rewarding career.

“I really want construction to be seen as a career path,” he said. “You can learn some cool things; you can do some cool things.”

He’s quick to point out he’s still learning himself—and plans to keep it that way. Whether on the jobsite or online, Medina is committed to sharing what he knows while expanding his own skills.

As long as he’s building—projects, knowledge and community—Medina’s influence will continue to grow.

See how Bluebeam can power your next project.

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Rebuilding Hollers volunteers in hoodies and hard hats gather after Hurricane Helene to support rebuilding efforts in western North Carolina.

Rebuilding Hollers: How Local Supply Chains and Skilled Hands Are Driving Recovery in NC

  • People & Project Spotlights, Project Management & Efficiency
A North Carolina nonprofit is blending supply chain innovation, contractor collaboration and community labor to rebuild after Hurricane Helene

At a gas station in western North Carolina, days after Hurricane Helene tore through the mountains, Stephanie Johnson watched a mother count out quarters to buy food for her kids.

“That’s when I understood that this is really bad,” Johnson said.

Helene had already left Johnson and her family stranded on their property for three days, sawing their way out through downed trees. But the sight of parents scraping for food showed her the storm’s devastation was deeper than wrecked roads and washed-out homes. It was survival.

For Johnson—a former commercial contractor turned real estate agent—that moment launched a mission that has since grown into Rebuilding Hollers, a nonprofit coordinating hundreds of recovery projects. Drawing on her construction background, Johnson built a system that blends supply chain innovation, contractor collaboration and community labor—an approach with lessons for construction professionals far beyond North Carolina’s hollers.

From Chainsaws to Sheetrock: Meeting Material Needs

Johnson leaned on her contracting background to see past the immediate food crisis to the larger task: rebuilding. From fall 2024 to spring 2025, Rebuilding Hollers had distributed at least:

  • 400 chainsaws.
  • 300 generators.
  • 50 water filtration systems.
  • Multiple 18-wheeler loads of lumber, sheetrock, siding and other building materials.

Support came from local businesses and national brands alike. Loggers donated lumber, a distributor contributed siding, Ryobi provided tools and a business pooled money to supply sheetrock. An empty storefront became storage space, and Starlink internet helped Johnson coordinate needs quickly on social media.

“It was just amazing how God was sending everything the community needed,” Johnson said.

A Construction-Informed Funding Model

Johnson’s team quickly recognized a familiar challenge for disaster recovery: getting the right materials to the right site at the right time. To solve it, they partnered with Summit Building Supply, a local supplier, to create a gift certificate system tied to each project’s material list.

Here’s how it works:

  • Rebuilding Hollers raises funds and directs them into a prepaid escrow at Summit.
  • Once a project is approved, the owner receives gift certificates linked to their specific list of materials.
  • Families use them at Summit to collect exactly what they need—reducing waste, avoiding mismatched supplies and keeping dollars circulating locally.

For some projects, Rebuilding Hollers also has paid contractors and subcontractors and covered costs at other stores.

A mountain hollow in western North Carolina shows the scars left by Hurricane Helene—washed-out banks, downed trees and debris. Rebuilding Hollers, founded by Stephanie Johnson, has supported more than 450 recovery projects like this one, supplying chainsaws, lumber, and skilled labor to help families rebuild.

As of spring 2025, the nonprofit has provided more than $284,000 in direct financial support. “It’s totally mind-blowing to me when you really get into what is going on,” Johnson said.

Workforce Partnerships and Skilled Labor

Rebuilding Hollers’ model emphasizes collaboration across the construction ecosystem:

  • Local contractors and tradespeople are working alongside families.
  • High school carpentry students, through a partnership with the nonprofit, are gaining hands-on training while contributing labor.
  • Nonprofits, businesses and individuals have joined in to provide both skilled and volunteer support.

By May 2025, the nonprofit was backing 457 projects—including 51 total losses. Two families had already moved back into fully rebuilt homes with help from the organization.

Rebuilding Communities and Stabilizing Economies

Johnson stresses that rebuilding homes isn’t just about shelter but about keeping the regional economy intact.

“If we don’t rebuild, our entire economy will crash,” Johnson said. “Families will leave, property values will plummet and the community will never recover.”

Tourism is central to the mountain economy, and in May 2025, Rebuilding Hollers hosted a fundraising event that brought tourists into the hollers, both to witness the devastation and support local businesses.

Lessons for the Construction Industry

Rebuilding Hollers’ experience offers several takeaways for professionals across construction, engineering and supply chain sectors:

  • Material management systems like project-specific gift certificates can reduce waste and misallocation.
  • Local supplier partnerships keep dollars in the community and streamline logistics.
  • Blended labor models—combining contractors, student trainees and volunteers—expand capacity in a strained workforce.
  • Community-focused rebuilding strengthens not just housing stock but the broader economy.

As Johnson put it: “We’re saying we’re going to stand by you as you rebuild. If you’re brave enough to rebuild, we’re brave enough to get you whatever you need.”

Rebuild stronger with the right construction tools.

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Michigan's BIG House

Cathedrals and Hidden Gems: Inside the Architecture of College Football’s Most Iconic—and Underrated—Stadiums

  • Building, Design & Architecture
From 100,000-seat giants to mountainside gems, explore the design, engineering and traditions that make college football stadiums unforgettable

A college football stadium feels different from any other structure.

Maybe it’s the impossible scale—tens of thousands swaying in unison. Maybe it’s the loyalty handed down from generation to generation, embedded in brick and steel. Or maybe it’s the magic trick of a building that can feel both colossal and personal at the same time.

The Icons of Scale and Sound

Michigan Stadium (“The Big House”) — University of Michigan

  • Capacity: 107,601
  • Opened: 1927
  • Architectural note: Designed for future expansion; field lowered 3.5 feet in 1991 to add seating without changing its profile.
  • Why it’s legendary: Largest in the U.S. and Western Hemisphere.

Beaver Stadium — Penn State University

  • Capacity: 106,572
  • Opened: 1960 (current site; original 1909)
  • Architectural note: 1978 expansion used hydraulic jacks to raise sections and insert 16,000 seats.

Ohio Stadium (“The Horseshoe”) — Ohio State University

  • Capacity: 102,780
  • Opened: 1922
  • Architectural note: 2001 renovation lowered the field, added seating and enclosed the south end.

Neyland Stadium — University of Tennessee

  • Capacity: 101,915
  • Opened: 1921
  • Architectural note: Vol Navy boat access, one of several stadiums with this tradition.

Bryant–Denny Stadium — University of Alabama

  • Capacity: 100,077
  • Opened: 1929

Tiger Stadium (“Death Valley”) — Louisiana State University

  • Capacity: 102,321
  • Opened: 1924
  • Why it’s legendary: Roars recorded on seismographs in the 1988 “Earthquake Game” and 2022 Alabama win.

Kyle Field — Texas A&M University

  • Capacity: 102,733
  • Opened: 1927; rebuilt 2014–15.

Autzen Stadium — University of Oregon

  • Capacity: 54,000
  • Opened: 1967
  • Why it’s legendary: 127.2 dB noise record vs. USC in 2007

The Underrated and Unexpected

Kidd Brewer Stadium — Appalachian State University

  • Capacity: 30,000
  • Why it’s memorable: 2007 upset of Michigan.

Husky Stadium — University of Washington

  • Capacity: 70,138
  • Noise: Over 130 dB.

Yale Bowl — Yale University

  • Capacity: 61,446.

Doyt L. Perry Stadium — Bowling Green State University

  • Capacity: 24,000.

LaVell Edwards Stadium — Brigham Young University

  • Capacity: 62,063.

Sun Devil Stadium — Arizona State University

  • Capacity: 53,599.

Where Design Meets Devotion

College football stadiums are more than the sum of their concrete, steel and turf. They are time capsules that hold decades of victories, heartbreaks and traditions passed from one generation to the next. Every renovation is a conversation between past and future, balancing modern needs with the preservation of rituals that make a place unique.

Whether it’s the thunder of 107,000 fans in a massive bowl, the echoing roar inside a 50,000-seat cauldron or the quiet majesty of a sunken field in the mountains, each venue connects people to a shared sense of place.

These structures do more than host games; they anchor communities, embody school spirit and remind us why we gather in the first place.

This fall, whether you’re walking through a century-old archway, climbing into a new premium box or docking alongside a stadium’s shoreline, remember:

The stadium isn’t just where the game is played. It’s part of the game itself.

Want to build smarter, not just bigger? See what’s possible.

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Construction pros collaborating over digital plans at a conference breakout session

Why Unbound 2025 Is Built for Builders, Not Buzzwords

  • Technology & Innovation
For the people who actually build things, not just talk about It

You’ve seen the headlines: Steve Wozniak is keynoting Unbound 2025.

So is Duncan Wardle, the former head of innovation at Disney.

But this conference isn’t built around big names. It’s built around you.

Unbound is where construction’s operators come together—field leads, inspectors, PMs, digital coordinators, engineers. The ones dealing with review delays, disconnected processes and tools that create as many problems as they solve. The ones who don’t need buzzwords but better workflows.

And this year, it’s happening in Washington, D.C. Not just because it’s central. Because it matters. Infrastructure legislation, permitting reform, TMF-backed pilots, digital mandates. These aren’t distant ideas. They’re already reshaping how the work gets done.

If you’re not in this room, you’re already behind.

Why D.C. Is the Move

D.C. isn’t a backdrop—it’s a signal. It’s where federal agencies are overhauling infrastructure programs, modernizing permitting processes and investing in digital collaboration at scale.

Take the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF)—actively backing projects like digital environmental review and interagency data-sharing. Take recent guidance on permitting deadlines and shared dashboards. If your work touches public-sector projects, you’re already affected.

Being in D.C. means being part of the conversation, not just reacting to it.

What You’re Actually Getting from Wozniak and Wardle

Steve Wozniak didn’t just help launch Apple. He built the first systems by hand, making technology useful, not abstract. At Unbound, he’s going deep on how simplicity fuels innovation—and what the construction industry gets wrong when it builds around executives, not end users.

Duncan Wardle helped Disney scale creative thinking across teams, functions and regions. He’s showing how to unlock better ideas inside fast-moving teams, especially when you’re working with constraints, not unlimited budget.

They’re not just inspiration but a challenge to rethink how we work—and why.

Tactical Sessions You Shouldn’t Miss

Inspection Redesign in Arvada: Josie Suk breaks down how one city standardized digital inspections using Bluebeam—from reporting templates to cross-department collaboration. Fewer emails, less lag, more clarity.

AI in the Field with Trunk Tools: Sarah Buchner shares how her team is automating RFIs, submittals and contract analysis in live projects. In one pilot, AI flagged 85% of submittal issues before they hit review.

Permit Review Without the Bottleneck: Troy Barbu of AECOM outlines how shared standards, centralized comments and Revu-based collaboration are streamlining government review processes.

Revu Mastery | What You’re Missing: Troy DeGroot shows how to uncover underused tools, automate markups and move faster across teams. Think fewer clicks, less guesswork and real-time coordination.

Workflow Automation Without Writing Code: Bluebeam pros and power users will walk through real use cases like building smart stamps, automating field forms and triggering status updates—no dev team required.

More People Changing the Game (And Why You Should Talk to Them)

  • Elizabeth Larsen, Mitch Youngs, Isaac Harned: Making Revu automation usable without needing a computer science degree.
  • Nathan Howard, Fort Hays State: Teaching jobsite-ready digital workflows in the classroom.
  • Bluebeam product, support and solutions teams: They’ll be there. Ask them anything.

Don’t Just Attend. Engage.

The sessions are strong. The conversations are better.

Ask the question. Pitch the idea. Share the problem. The person next to you might have already solved it—or needs the same answer.

This is a bring-your-notebook, talk-to-a-stranger, fix-it-by-Friday crowd.

Last Thing

Skip the packing list. Just bring your problems—and be ready to solve them.

This Isn’t a Conference. It’s a Reset.

If you’ve ever looked at your current process and thought, “This shouldn’t be this hard,” this is your next move.

Unbound 2025 is where real fixes get shared, field-first voices lead and construction tech finally sounds like the people who actually use it.

Bring questions. We’ll bring solutions.

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Construction crew guiding a massive concrete tunnel segment into a submerged trench using pontoons and cables

400 Whales at a Time: Inside Europe’s Tunnel Megaproject Beneath the Baltic

  • Project Management & Efficiency
It’s one of the longest immersed tunnels ever built. Its 73,000-ton concrete segments float—barely—and it’s being assembled with millimeter precision beneath the Baltic Sea

Relatively unknown outside Europe, the Fehmarnbelt tunnel is quietly becoming one of the most ambitious civil engineering projects on the planet.

Slated to open in 2029, this 18-kilometer (11.2-mile) submerged connection between Germany and Denmark will cut travel time across the Baltic Sea from nearly 60 minutes—including a ferry ride—to just seven minutes by train or 10 minutes by car.

But the real story isn’t about speed. It’s about how engineers in one of Europe’s flattest regions decided not to drill or bridge, but to sink nearly 80 massive tunnel elements—each weighing roughly as much as 365 blue whales—directly into the seafloor.

This wasn’t the obvious choice, but it was the one that best balanced risk, cost and environmental impact, according to more than a decade of cross-border feasibility studies and analysis.

Drilling Was a Gamble. So They Didn’t.

In 2011, after extensive study, planners narrowed their options to three: a bored tunnel, a suspension bridge or an immersed design.

“A bored tunnel would have proved to be a very expensive and risky solution since the seabed is not suitable for drilling,” said Denise Juchem, a spokesperson for Femern A/S, the Danish state-owned firm overseeing the project.

A bridge might have saved money upfront, but wind conditions across the Fehmarnbelt are severe, and anything high enough to avoid disrupting shipping would’ve had a massive ecological and visual footprint.

“In terms of finance, environmental considerations and risk, the immersed tunnel was therefore the optimal solution,” Juchem said.

Assembly Line to Ocean Floor

The construction strategy sounds like science fiction, but it’s playing out in real time.

Crews are casting 79 concrete tunnel elements, each measuring 712 feet long and weighing 73,000 tons, at a purpose-built 1,235-acre facility on the Danish island of Lolland. Each element is formed from nine concrete segments poured in sequence.

“Production runs on an assembly line principle,” said Gerhard Cordes, a project director with Femern A/S. “A steel framework is first constructed for each segment, which is approximately 24 meters long. It’s then cast in concrete, allowed to cure and pushed forward one section at a time so that the next segment can be cast.”

Once complete, each tunnel element is sealed with steel bulkheads, floated into a lock system and guided to its final position in the trench, about 40 feet below the seabed.

Despite their weight, the elements float with just enough buoyancy to be maneuvered using specially designed pontoons and steel cables. A GPS-enabled alignment system ensures they’re guided with millimeter accuracy.

“The elements are immersed on steel cables and joined to the elements already installed by positioning the immersion pontoons,” Cordes said. “A locking system (pin and catch) secures the exact position relative to the preceding element and the alignment is ensured by adjustable supports.”

Once aligned, the joint is sealed using only water pressure.

“The water pressure from the opposite end of the element compresses the joint,” Cordes said. “The gravel layer in the tunnel trench is laid out before immersion and serves as an accurate foundation.”

It’s not welding. It’s more like interlocking stone, except each piece weighs more than a fully loaded aircraft carrier.

No Room for Error

A single misalignment could stall progress, delay schedules and complicate the precision required to connect the next segment.

There’s no easy do-over. Once placed, these elements aren’t coming back up.

That’s why the team runs detailed simulations in advance and monitors every placement in real time using underwater cameras and sensors. Each segment is a calculated risk—and a high-stakes test of coordination and trust in the system.

Environmental Tradeoffs—Without the Greenwashing

The Baltic Sea is home to porpoises, nesting seabirds and fragile marine ecosystems. Environmental scrutiny of the project has been intense—and justified.

But Femern A/S leaned heavily on experience from previous fixed links, like Denmark’s Øresund and Great Belt projects, to reduce the project’s footprint.

“The planning of the Fehmarnbelt tunnel draws on the experiences from the fixed links across the Great Belt and the Øresund, which have shown that negative environmental impacts can be avoided through careful planning and implementation of construction work,” Juchem said.

That includes relocating or replanting affected areas, minimizing on-site disruption and restoring natural habitats. In Lolland, Femern A/S has pledged to replace at least twice the area of disturbed land.

Is it perfect? No. But it’s a far cry from the zero-mitigation approach common to megaprojects just a few decades ago.

The Project So Big They Built a Tourist Platform

Public interest has been unexpectedly strong. When Femern A/S opened a viewing platform near the construction site, more than 10,000 people showed up in the first month.

Engineers have become de facto tour guides. And a project once known only to planners is now attracting visitors, photographers and school groups—long before its ribbon-cutting.

What Megaprojects Can Learn from Fehmarnbelt

This endeavor to link Denmark and Germany is about proving that modular construction, real-time simulation, environmental offsetting and international coordination don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Want a playbook?

Modular builds. Digital modeling. Live underwater alignment. Mitigation-first planning. Public transparency. It’s a strategy other megaprojects would be smart to copy.

The Fehmarnbelt tunnel, above all, is showing what’s possible when you combine high-stakes logistics with long-term thinking—and pour 73,000 tons of concrete at a time.

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