Building materials

The Trade Ministry has vowed to take necessary measures to prevent price increases and ease supply problems in the cement market.

The ministry said in a statement that it is monitoring developments in the construction sector, which has a considerable weight for the Turkish economy, adding that it is looking into the foreign trade angle.

How have Rome's ancient aqueducts and architectural marvels such as the Pantheon, which features the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome, endured the test of time? Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and other institutions believe they have uncovered the mystery of the durability of the 2,000-year-old structures - self-healing concrete.

"We are launching Highway 'Europa' around the New Year, but without the last layer of asphalt." This was stated by the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Ivan Shishkov.

Istanbul has not been able to see the Maiden's Tower, one of the landmarks that complete its silhouette, for a while.

Last November, a pier was built around it, and it was covered with a curtain that reads "The Maiden's Tower opens its eyes again," with the logo of the Culture and Tourism Ministry on it.

The Cacabey Astronomy Madrasah which is on UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List in the central Anatolian province of Kırşehir is currently undergoing restoration.

The Cacabey Madrasah was built between 1271 and 1272 during the Seljuk era by Nureddin Cibril bin Caca Bey, the emir of Kırşehir, as an astronomical school to observe space, the first of its kind in the world.

A sandy-coloured tower glints in the sunlight and dominates the skyline of the Swedish town of Skelleftea as Scandinavia harnesses its wood resources to lead a global trend towards erecting eco-friendly high-rises.

Decorated glazed bricks almost 3,000 years old are on display at Iran's National Museum after a four-decade search disrupted by war and an international legal battle.

An inquiry has been launched following a leak at the fuel oil pool of an asphalt construction site in Turkey's northwestern province of Edirne.

The leaked pitch, which stemmed from an explosion and the cause of which is not known yet, at an asphalt construction site on April 5 covered the nearby agricultural areas.

Manufacturers are sounding the alarm over the increase to costs of new building construction, due to the recent price hikes in building materials.

People with knowledge of the situation talk about an average increase of 10% which in some cases can even exceed 15%, expressing their anxiety about the future and the way things are going.

Works have stopped at nearly 60,000 construction sites across Turkey as contractors staged a two-week protest against soaring cement prices.