47 Projects Win $485.4 Million In Federal TIGER Grant Awards

The U.S. Dept. of Transportation on June 22 awarded about $485.4 million to 47 highway, bridge, rail, port and other projects in the latest round of its popular Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. Road and bridge projects received 35% of the funds awarded; 16% went to transit. The fourth round drew 703 applications requesting a total of $10.2 billion—far more than the funds Congress appropriated to DOT in 2012 for the program. Since the program was launched in 2009, DOT has distributedf $3.1 billion for 218 projects.

Tutor Perini Says Top Building Executive Is Set To Depart

In a June 14 filing to the U.S. Securites and Exchange Commission, publicly held Tutor Perini Corp., Sylmar, Calif., announced the planned departure on June 29 of Executive Vice President Mark A. Caspers, 48, who also is the Las Vegas-based CEO of the contractor's building group. He was in that role since 2009 and with the firm since 1982. Caspers is going into business for himself as a developer-contractor, say Las Vegas industry sources who declined to be identified. Three longtime, unnamed Perini executives will also join the new Las Vegas-based venture, they add. It will focus on data centers and multifamily residential construction on a local and national scale, says a source. Tutor Perini stock recently traded at $11.25 per share, down from a 52-week high of $19.32. The firm did not announce a planned replacement.

Planned Pa.-N.J. Line Could Be A $1.3-Billion Project

Allentown, Pa.-based utility PPL Corp. said on June 20 that it would begin preparations in mid-July to build the 146-mile Susquehanna-Roseland high-voltage transmission line from Berwick, Pa., to Roseland, N.J. Total cost of the 500-kV line is estimated at between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion. The utility will begin construction once the U.S. National Park Service decides by October whether a portion of the project can run through public lands, says Paul Wirth, a company spokesman. About 101 miles of the 146-mile project is in Pennsylvania. The remaining New Jersey portion will be built by Newark-based Public Service Electric & Gas. Although Wirth says the schedule has not been finalized, PPL's current schedule calls for foundation construction to begin after the park service's ruling; pole construction is set to begin in December. Sargent & Lundy is the project engineer, but contractors have not yet been selected, Wirth says. The project is projected to be in service before the peak summer season of 2015.

Fords Stolen Most, Says LoJack

Ford trucks are the top vehicles thieves target on construction sites, making up 22% of recovered thefts, says LoJack Corp., an anti-theft-device supplier. Last year, thieves nabbed more work trucks, trailers and light utility vehicles from jobsites than equipment in any other category, says LoJack's latest theft report,released last month. Backhoe loaders, skid-steer loaders, generators, air compressors and welders were also frequently stolen. Since last year, California, Texas and Florida have remained the top three states for jobsite thefts. Law enforcement officials recovered $8.8 million in LoJack-equipped vehicles last year. Other brands pilfered were Deere (11%), Caterpillar (10%), Bobcat (9%), Case (8%) and Ingersoll-Rand (3%).