Linbeck’s Scott estimates that on every job, 22 to 30 companies are bidding, and half of the list is from out of state. Consequently, margins are low.

“With margins so tight, individual execution is the key to your success,” Scott says.

Private projects Health-care facilities in the private sector continue to expand.

Manhattan Construction broke ground in May on a $41-million, 240,000-sq-ft Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital East Tower Expansion. The first phase will add eight surgical suites, recovery rooms and 36 patient beds.

In partnership with Skanska Health Realty, Skanska USA Building is constructing a $21-million medical office building in Bryan, Texas, on the Health Sciences Campus of Texas A&M University.

Linbeck broke ground this year on a $33-million expansion at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Motiva continues its Port Arthur Refinery Expansion, which will more than double its current capacity of 275,000 barrels of oil per day to 600,000 barrels per day. The Bechtel Jacobs Joint Venture, a partnership between Bechtel Corp., which has an office in Houston, and Jacobs of Pasadena, Calif., is building the addition.

Education Some higher education work continues, but not at the pace of past years, Sahni says.

Skanska is in preconstruction on a $13- million renovation of Olsen Field at Texas A&M University in College Station and is working on a $34-million liberal arts and humanities building for A&M.

Turner Construction Co. of Houston is working on a $45-million Therapeutics Manufacturing facility at Texas A&M. The prototype design by Ferguson Pape Baldwin of San Diego will serve as the hub for research into pharmaceutical manufacturing process optimization.

At William Marsh Rice University in Houston, Linbeck is providing external project management services and Gilbane Building Co. of Houston is constructing the $44-million Brockman Hall for Physics. The university received $11.1 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology to build the 110,000-sq-ft facility.

Hensel Phelps Construction Co. of Austin continues working on the $161.5-million, 393,000-sq-ft Dental Branch Building and adjacent Biomedical Research and Education Facility the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.

At Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, SpawGlass is building a $32.5-million, 901,976-sq-ft performing arts center recital hall of approximately 150 seats; a concert hall of approximately 800 seats; a centerpiece outdoor performance area; practice rooms for dance and music; and offices for the music, dance and theater departments.

EMJ Construction of Dallas broke ground in January on a new campus, the $13-million, 65,000-sq-ft Lone Star College-Conroe Center.

Haehl anticipates more work at mid-level colleges. Some public school districts still are working on projects funded by past bond referendums, Howe says.

Turner is providing preconstruction services on several Houston Independent School District projects, including the $14-million, 115,000-sq-ft Peck Elementary replacement school; the $12-million, 84,000-sq-ft replacement facility for Lockhart-Turner Elementary; the $12-million, 84,000-sq-ft replacement for James Deanda Elementary; and the $12-million, 84,500-sq-ft replacement for Carnegie Vanguard High School. The projects were funded through a 2007 bond program.

For the Beaumont ISD, Turner is building the $38.5-million, 88-acre Multi-Purpose Athletic Complex in Beaumont. The project includes a 10,365-seat precast concrete stadium, 40,500-sq-ft field house and natatorium, concession and ticket booths and parking.

County, city and federal spending “Coun-ties have money to spend, but a lot of it is road work and maintenance,” Manhattan Construction’s Haehl says. “Cities have less money to spend and are affected by investment value in the municipal bond market.”

Manhattan Construction is working on a $25-million, four-story Central Permitting Center for the city of Houston. The company will convert a 100-year-old rice warehouse into a multidepartment, 190,000-sq-ft office building.

In Bryan, Turner Construction is wrapping up construction of a $45-million, 114,000-sq-ft Brazos County Jail expansion, which includes the addition of a special housing unit, two dormitory housing units and an administrative and booking facility.