On the Scene: Texas & Louisiana
? In January, Odebrecht received a delegation in New Orleans from Harvard�s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the University of S�o Paulo. The group, part of a collaborative field course in �Engineering, the Environment and Extreme Events,� had the opportunity to visit centers of research, environmental management and operations from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Mississippi and Louisiana. While in New Orleans, participants visited Odebrecht�s West Return Floodwall (LPV-3.2b) and Fronting Protection � Pump Stations No. 1-4 (LPV-9.2) projects, both under the USACE�s Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System. The program was implemented after nearly 80% of New Orleans was flooded during Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005.
Photo Courtesy of Odebrecht
? ENR Texas & Louisiana held its 2011 Best Projects awards event on Dec. 14 at the Renaissance Houston Greenway Plaza Hotel in Houston. Twenty-seven projects in 16 categories were honored during the ceremony. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center�s Albert B. and Margaret M. Alkek expansion in Houston was cited as best overall project. Pictured are members of the project team, including representatives from McCarthy Building Cos., the general contractor; HKS Architects, which led the design team; design consultants Walter P. Moore Engineers + Consultants and CCRD Partners; and the project owner, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The event also included an Owner�s Outlook, during which a roundtable offered a forecast of construction activity in 2012. The panel included representatives from the Texas A&M University System, the Methodist Hospital System and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District.
Photos courtesy of Bruce Buckley
? Crews raise a wall on Jan. 6, officially starting the new home that SpawGlass is building in Tomball, Texas, for Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Peterson, who was severely injured in Afghanistan. The project was built through Homes for Our Troops. SpawGlass employees Richard Moore, Cliff Thuot and Ryan Massey led the project�s �Build Brigade.� Peterson had both of his legs amputated after an explosion in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan on July 24, 2010. Returning from a classified mission, his special forces team was making its way along a tree line while heading to base when a bomb exploded, hurling Peterson more than 10 feet into the air. In addition to the amputation of his legs, Peterson also sustained a fractured pelvis and shrapnel wounds from the blast.
Photo Courtesy of SpawGlass
? The Lemoine Co., Baton Rouge, La., held its Christmas party on Dec. 17. Dubbed �Louisiana Winter Wonderland,� the event was held at Acadiana Center for the Arts in Layfayette. The company completed renovations on the facility in 2010. Courtney Axel, right, Lemoine Co. project manager, receives the Servant Leadership award from Donald Broussard, the company�s chief financial officer.
Photo courtesy of The Lemoine Co.
