Being “in charge” can tempt you to optimize for control: faster decisions, tighter oversight, fewer surprises. But people don’t give their best when they feel managed like a risk. When you treat the team’s safety, clarity, and growth as your responsibility, trust rises and with it, initiative.

Taking care looks concrete. Share context before assigning tasks, so people understand the “why.” Protect focus time by saying no to unnecessary meetings and scope creep. When conflict shows up, address it early and fairly. When someone struggles, coach in private, set clear expectations, and offer resources rather than blame.

You also absorb pressure. Handle the tough conversations upward, take responsibility for outcomes, and give credit outward. Ask regularly what’s blocking progress, remove one obstacle each day, and close the loop so people see follow-through. Over time, the team stops waiting for permission and starts acting like owners.

Spend 15 minutes daily removing one obstacle for a teammate and acknowledging their work.

Superior Construction’s story is a lesson in continuity without complacency. Founded in 1923 as the J Largura Company and rebranded in 1938, the fourth-generation family business has stayed focused on heavy civil work while sharpening a specialty in design-build, choosing delivery methods that reward coordination, speed, and accountability.

Its mission centers on innovative solutions to America’s growing infrastructure needs, but the operating system values are safety, integrity, commitment, family, innovation, and empowerment. Safety comes first through an HSE program that expects every employee to speak up and make wise decisions, treating monuments as secondary to people returning home.

The same family mindset extends beyond the jobsite. Regional teams invest locally through volunteering and hiring, aiming to be community builders, not just contractors. Internally, the Superior Women in Construction program and an average tenure of more than 10 years signal a culture built to retain talent, which is one reason the company now exceeds 1,300 employees and $500 million in annual revenue.

Legacy becomes an advantage when safety and empowerment make innovation repeatable.

Texas transportation leaders want an older urban freeway to behave like a modern boulevard, and 2026 is the year the pace visibly changes. TxDOT’s $4.5 billion rebuild of Interstate 35 through Austin is moving from early bridge and prep jobs into the heavy packages that determine when lanes can actually be lowered and crossings rebuilt.

The quiet driver is stormwater. Two Herrenknecht tunnel boring machines are scheduled to arrive in 2026 to carve about 6.5 miles of 22-foot-diameter drainage tunnels, paired with new access shafts and a pump station intended to keep the corridor from flooding during major storms. With SAK/Shea JV on the tunnel work and Webber Waterworks on the pump station, the underground scope runs through 2029, making it the backbone for everything that follows.

Late 2026 also kicks off bridge reconstruction at Lady Bird Lake, with new managed lanes, a redesigned Riverside interchange, and a separate pedestrian bridge at Woodland Avenue, delivered under a contract led by Balfour Beatty. For contractors, the insight is simple: traffic switches, utility relocations, and long lead equipment must be locked to the tunneling sequence, or the project pays twice through remobilization and claims.

Tie traffic control and utilities to the tunneling critical path.

New York City is now taking applications for small secondary homes on many lots, including backyard cottages and conversions of attics or garages. The city expects the change to add about 25,000 homes over 15 years, but early estimates put typical construction costs in the hundreds of thousands, keeping demand concentrated among higher-income owners.

In Congress, a bipartisan bill would expand financing by creating a federally backed insurance program for certain second-lien loans used to build these units. If lenders can underwrite them more consistently and sell them into the secondary market, more homeowners could treat the project as a predictable upgrade rather than a cash-only remodel.

For residential builders, that means a new product line hiding in plain sight. The winners will package standardized designs, tight scopes, and clear timelines, then coordinate permitting, utility upgrades, and inspections as a single workflow. Expect growth in small footprint foundations, prefab components, and repeatable finish schedules, with customer education focused on rental income, multigenerational use, and resale value.

Treat backyard projects like production: standard plans, predictable financing.

Good morning, crew. Before anyone works on tools, machines, or temporary power, we control hazardous energy. Shut it down, isolate it, apply your lock and tag, and verify it will not restart. Do not trust a switch or someone’s word. If you cannot lock it out, we stop and get the correct device or plan. No bypasses, no shortcuts, and no one removes another person’s lock.

An unexpected start-up occurs when stored energy remains, or when someone restores power while work is underway. Electricity, hydraulics, pneumatics, gravity, springs, and pressure can all injure in seconds. The safest process is consistent every time: identify energy sources, isolate them, lock and tag, release stored energy, then test and verify that the energy is zero before touching the work. Clear communication and one responsible lead prevent confusion at shift changes.

Today, we will treat energy control as the first step of the job, not an extra step. If the equipment cannot be isolated, we do not proceed. If conditions change, we re-verify before continuing. Protect each other by communicating, keeping locks personal, and never assuming something is safe because it looks off. A clean, verified lockout is faster than an injury and an investigation.

Lock it, tag it, verify it, and go home with every worker unhurt.