How Plumbline ranks the news

116 trade outlets, read three times each weekday: construction, data center, power, manufacturing, real estate, healthcare, transportation, schools, defense, mining and venues trades in the U.S., plus international construction outlets for the world's boldest projects. Press-release wires and broad outlets only count when a headline names a construction beat or a company we track.

• Coverage. Reports of the same news from different outlets are grouped. The more independent trade outlets covering it, the higher it ranks.
• Beat. Stories about building something (groundbreakings, new plants, expansions, permits, contract awards) rank above business and policy news.
• Freshness. New stories get a lift for their first 24 hours.
• Outlet track record. Core trade outlets count more than broad or occasional ones.
• Lead beats. AI, data center and power stories get a small boost, because that build-out is driving U.S. construction right now.
• America first. International stories make the page only when they're among the world's boldest (about $500M or more, 200 MW or more, or a true megaproject), and a U.S. story wins a tie.

• Sponsored posts, always.
• Small residential projects (under 20 units).
• Business and policy news from sector outlets that isn't about building something.
• Stories that aren't projects yet (a company “eyes” or “explores” a site with no partner, site or megawatt figure) are held until one shows up.
• When outlets report different dollar figures for the same deal, the story is held until the desk checks what each figure covers.

Every edition lists what was skipped and why under The Week.

• Headlines are the outlets' own, and every story links to the original reporting. The reporting belongs to the outlet.
• The line under a headline (“$4B · 1.6 GW · Ohio · Power & grid”) is ours: the largest dollar figure and capacity in the headlines, the states named, and the sector.
• Field Charts totals use the largest dollar figure in each U.S. headline, announcements only; market sizes, financings and forecasts are left out. Industry numbers are Census Bureau and BLS data via FRED.

Software ranks; a person approves each edition. Sponsors and advertisers never change what ranks or what we write. Corrections are made in the open: see our corrections policy.