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New York Post
02-07-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Meet the $100K robodog Spot that patrols a Long Island construction site
See Spot run — a job site. A Long Island construction project has recruited a $100,000 mechanical mutt to walk the premises, ensuring maximum efficiency and safety for workers building the new wing of South Shore Hospital in Bay Shore. 'I would say it's a morale booster,' Suffolk Construction's Adam Fyrer, who handles the state-of-the-art Boston Dynamics-made robotic dog — aptly named Spot — told The Post. 3 Suffolk Construction is using a state-of-the-art mechanical dog to walk around the premises of South Shore Hospital keeping workers safe while installing a new wing for the building. Dennis A. Clark 'I think a lot of people haven't seen this kind of technology in person. It's something that excites them to come to work.' Rather than doing tricks, Spot's primary focus on the future site of a six-story building that will feature almost 100 new patient rooms is both worker and structural safety, according to Fyrer, who uses the bot on other projects as well. Spot primarily conducts walkthroughs on the property that would conventionally be delegated to someone like a project manager, to create a 'Google Street'-esque map that owners can refer to upon the job's completion. 'The benefit of that is you get it more accurate and continuously throughout the job cycle,' Fyrer said, adding that Spot's trips take off about an hour of labor a day at the Northwell Health facility. Dog days The yellow-and-black construction companion, which can run on a lithium-ion battery for approximately 90 minutes at a time, is also capable of self-navigating around obstacles or people on the move. 'It's intelligent as well,' Fyrer said of the 75-pound device that can go up and down stairs with ease. 'It will be able to say, 'hey, there's something there,' then stop, wait for it to pass, and then it will continue on its path — or it will find another way to go around that.' 3 The $100,000 mechanical mutt has been seen as 'a morale booster,' says Suffolk Construction's Adam Fyrer. Dennis A. Clark Camera technology inside Spot can also be harnessed to identify any workers who aren't adhering to safety codes on a job by detecting blatant violations, such as not wearing hard hats. 'Then we can trigger a conversation with that person.' Clients like Northwell are also more than satisfied to see things propelled into the next generation, too. 'It's nice to see a company thinking outside the box and bringing new technology in,' Vinod Nair, the hospital's vice president of operations, said. 'As well as embracing higher, sophisticated technologies in the industry.' 3 Spot, the name of the Boston Dynamics-made robotic dog is primarily used to conduct walkthroughs as Fryer also mentions the benefits of having the robot takes off about an hour of labor per day. Dennis A. Clark Spot is also built to endure, according to Fyrer, who called the robot 'extremely rugged.' 'Boston Dynamics did a phenomenal job building this system…it can take a hit,' he said. 'Lighter people have sat on it.' Keep up with today's most important news Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Man's best friend The robodog is also brought to area schools for demonstrations on what it can mean for their generation of technology and the workforce. Fyrer maintains that advances like Spot won't be stealing jobs, but making employees' lives much easier. 'Look at some of the guys who were in the industry for 50, 60 years,' he said. ''They're like, yeah, if I had something that was able to help me do my job, that was a robot, or assistive in nature, that would have saved my job and longevity.'' However, at least in Bay Shore, more workers seem more obsessed than afraid, as several ran up to check out and interact with Spot during a Tuesday site walkthrough. 'That's why we usually have to run him at night when hardly anyone is here,' Fyrer joked.
Scotsman
19-06-2025
- Automotive
- Scotsman
Level of support for A96 dualling revealed as ministers renew commitment to £5bn scheme
Bypasses of Elgin and Keith among popular priorities Sign up for the latest news and analysis about Scottish transport Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Ministers have renewed their commitment to fully dual the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness as a consultation showed nearly two-thirds support and bypasses of Elgin and Keith seen as the priorities. However, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop has still to decide whether to go ahead with the full scheme or parts of it, which was largely put on hold as part of an SNP-Scottish Greens power-sharing deal in 2021, which ended last year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 86 miles of the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverurie remain single carriageway | Google Street View The Scottish Conservatives pointed to 76 per cent dissatisfaction with a subsequent review of the scheme that included partial dualling as showing people wanted the full route upgraded. Transport Scotland published the results of a three month consultation into a range of improvements costing up to £1 billion on Thursday which attracted 1,441 responses. An 86-mile section between Inverness and south of Inverurie remains single carriageway. In November, Ms Hyslop abandoned the target of dualling it by 2030 at an estimated cost of up to £5bn. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Scottish Government agency said 63 per cent expressed support for full dualling, although that wasn't specifically asked in the consultation questionnaire. Specific measures which received the greatest support were dual carriageway bypasses of Elgin and Keith, road safety improvements and upgrades to the Aberdeen-Inverness railway line, which runs largely parallel to the road. Ms Hyslop said: 'The position of the Scottish Government has not changed – the current favoured position is to fully dual the A96 and we are already starting the dualling process from Inverness to Nairn, including a Nairn bypass, having acquired the land for the scheme earlier this year. 'I have now received the report on the feedback gathered during the consultation and will be considering the findings alongside the review's extensive appraisal and assessment work before a decision is made on improvements to the A96 corridor. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Any decision on the way ahead for the A96 corridor will need to take into consideration the UK Government's recent Spending Review and its impact on Scottish budgets, and the forthcoming update to the Scottish Government's Infrastructure Investment Plan, expected later this year.' Scottish Conservatives North East MSP Douglas Lumsden said: 'These results categorically show what everyone wants and that's for the A96 to finally be dualled. 'It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know this needs to happen, which is why this consultation was a ploy by the SNP to kick any decision into another parliamentary term. 'This sends an emphatic message to the SNP government to stop playing games with the lives of motorists and fulfil their promise of upgrading the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It's scandalous that 14 years after they vowed to do this, the SNP still won't commit to upgrading the Aberdeenshire section or building a bypass for Inverurie.' But Transform Scotland director Colin Howden said: "The Scottish Government's transport capital investment is already horribly skewed towards vastly expensive road projects that simply don't stand up to scrutiny.
Scottish Sun
30-05-2025
- Climate
- Scottish Sun
We're being charged £1MILLION to fix 70ft wall that collapsed on our homes… even though it's NOT our fault
Experts say it was dangerous from day one TALL ORDER We're being charged £1MILLION to fix 70ft wall that collapsed on our homes… even though it's NOT our fault RESIDENTS on a quiet street are facing a shocking £1million repair bill – after a 70ft wall collapsed into their gardens through no fault of their own. The huge retaining wall on Windmill Lane in Nottingham, crumbled without warning in February 2021, sending clouds of dust and tonnes of rubble crashing down behind six terraced homes. Advertisement 9 Lynn and Terry Oakley of Spalding Road live opposite house affected, they helped neighbours when they were evacuated Credit: BPM 9 A massive wall has collapsed between properties on Windmill Lane ans Palding Road in Sneinton Credit: BPM 9 Google Street view of the properties on Spalding Road, Nottingham, showing the wall prior to its collapse Credit: SWNS Now, more than four years on, the damage remains – and homeowners say they're being forced to pay the price for a council-built structure that experts claim was 'not fit for purpose.' 'The wall was originally constructed in 2003, commissioned by Nottingham City Council to replace a crumbling Victorian structure,' Nottinghamshire Live reported. Each household paid around £9,000 for the works at the time, and residents were relieved to see what they believed was a long-term solution. But on the night of February 3, 2021, that sense of security collapsed – literally. Advertisement Finance manager Luke Drayton, 30, was at home when disaster struck. 'We both looked out the window and could see a cloud of dust. You could see torches from other people who were all really scared just trying to see what had happened,' he recalled. The street was evacuated, and residents weren't allowed back in until 8am the next morning. Fortunately, no one was injured – but it could have been much worse. Advertisement 'To this day, if you go to the edge of the garden, that is an unwise and unsafe thing to do,' Mr Drayton told NottinghamshireLive. 'It very easily could have cost someone their life. The council is very fortunate that was not the case.' I'm fuming after nosy neighbours left note on my car asking my 'plans for parking', despite having a four-car driveway Since the collapse, gardens behind numbers 147 to 157 have remained unusable and dangerous. Residents have been quoted between £600,000 and £1million to fix the wall, in a neighbourhood where house prices range between £140,000 and £220,000. Advertisement 'We all lost half of our gardens,' said Mr Drayton. 'The £1million cost is a no-go for everybody. There's been lots of tears and emotional distress.' 9 A 70 foot wall has fallen into the gardens of properties in Nottingham after heavy rainfall Credit: SWNS 9 Residents had no say in the contractor or the project's management, yet they were left footing the bill both then – and now Advertisement He described how one neighbour put her home up for auction for just £25,000, adding: 'She was so done with it, she was ready to take the loss and move on with her life.' Another woman, who has since sold her home at a heavy loss, said she had paid nearly £10,000 for the wall's construction in 2003. She later had to undergo talking therapy to cope with the stress. 'After four years of us all trying to resolve the problem, I decided to sell my property at auction – a financial risk, but one I was prepared to accept,' she said. Advertisement 'The impact on us all has been quite profound.' According to documents, the wall was designed, built and supervised under Section 78 of the Building Act 1984, with Nottingham City Council in charge of the project. It was carried out by a company called Central High Rise Ltd. Residents had no say in the contractor or the project's management, yet they were left footing the bill both then – and now. Advertisement Mr Drayton said: 'This was a council-controlled, council-commissioned project.' But legal time limits have now expired. According to an email from Sedgwick International UK to Mr Drayton, dated August 23, 2023: 'Your claim would, in any event, seem to be Statute barred, due to the expiry of the Limitation period.' Nottingham City Council confirmed to residents it would take no further action, stating in April this year that the matter is considered private and falls to the homeowners. Advertisement 'The Council no longer intervenes in boundary wall, fence, or other structural issues that are private matters between land/property owners,' it said. 9 Five families were evacuated from their homes in the middle of the night after reports of a 'landslide' in Nottingham Credit: SWNS 9 Residents hired two independent engineering firms to assess the site Credit: SWNS Residents hired two independent engineering firms to assess the site. Advertisement Reports from May 2021 and October 2022 concluded the replacement wall was poorly built and unsafe from the start. One report stated: 'The replacement retaining wall was not fit for purpose and was a hazardous and dangerous structure from the day it was completed.' It also said the wall had not been suitably designed by a qualified structural engineer, and blamed both design and construction faults for its failure. Just 48 hours before the collapse, one homeowner reported a visible crack in the soil to the council after a gardener raised the alarm. Advertisement But they say they were told it was a private matter and not the council's concern. After the collapse, they were told they should have reported it. 'But we did,' said one resident. 'I feel like we were failed from the beginning.' According to residents, most insurance companies have refused to cover the repair costs, although around £60,000 was contributed to help clear debris. Advertisement Residents have also turned to Nadia Whittome, MP for Nottingham East, who has raised the matter with the council 'on a number of occasions.' But no breakthrough has been made. 'I have tried, along with my neighbours, so hard for all this time to resolve the problem,' one woman said. 'It's been an emotional rollercoaster. It's not just bricks and rubble – it's our peace of mind.' Advertisement The Sun has approached Nottingham City Council for comment. 9 Just 48 hours before the collapse, one homeowner reported a visible crack in the soil to the council after a gardener raised the alarm Credit: SWNS
