Pulse   12/05/2011
Planning

Florida Florida Power & Light Co. is planning to build a new gas-fired powerplant in Riviera Beach. The project entails demolishing an existing oil-fired plant and building a new 1,250-MW gas-fired plant on the 25-acre site. The new three-on-one combined-cycle technology will contain three combustion turbines, three heat-recovery steam generators, a steam turbine, a new administration/control building and a manatee viewing area. Demolition of the existing plant will be completed this month. Construction is expected to begin in January 2012 and be completed by June 2014. Zachry Construction has been selected as the general contractor. The project is valued at $1.3 billion. Zachry Construction, 527 Logwood Ave., San Antonio, Texas, 78221. DR#08-00817920.

New York The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society is planning to build a new headquarters complex in Warwick. Totaling 832,000 sq ft, the project encompasses 12 buildings, including a three- to four-story office building; a 195,000-sq-ft place of worship; four five-story multi-unit residential buildings, totaling 400,000 sq ft; a 137,000-sq-ft service building; a two-story, 100,000-sq-ft maintenance building, and a 750-space underground parking garage. The architect is Perkins Eastman. The construction cost is estimated at more than $50 million. Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, 25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, 11201. DR#10-00630075.

Contracts/Bids/Proposals

Alabama Polyplex Americas Inc. is planning to build its North American headquarters and polyester-films plant in Decatur. The project's first phase entails constructing a 160,000-sq-ft building, which will contain a high-speed, 28.5-ft-wide, thin-gauge film line with an annual capacity of 33,000 tons as well as a resin feedstock plant with a 66,000-ton annual capacity. O'Neal Inc. has been awarded a contract to provide design and program management, and Graycor Construction is the general contractor. The estimated cost of phase-one construction is $110 million. Graycor Construction, 8701 Red Oak Blvd., Charlotte, N.C., 28217. DR#11-00620598.

Kansas McCarthy Building Cos. has started construction of a new Mars Chocolate North America manufacturing facility in Topeka. The project entails building a 550,000-sq-ft facility to accommodate production, office, warehouse, material storage and packaging activities. Sitework and building- structure packages already have been awarded to subcontractors. The remaining building enclosure and fit-out work contracts will be awarded in the first half of 2012. Construction is expected to be completed by September 2013. The project is valued at $250 million. McCarthy Building Cos. Inc., 1341 N. Rock Hill Rd., St. Louis, Mo., 63124. DR#11-00545663.

Washington The Vashon Island School District has selected Heery International to provide project and construction management services for a new high school addition and modernization project. Skanska is the general contractor, and the project architect is Integrus Architecture. Construction is expected to begin in June 2012 and be completed by December 2013. The project is valued at $42.5 million. Heery International, 1011 Western Ave., Seattle, 98104. DR#10-00542600.

Bid/Proposal Dates

Texas 12/19 The San Antonio Water System is seeking qualifications for architectural and engineering services to design a brackish groundwater desalination program. The program consists of 13 production wells, a raw water conveyance system, a reverse-osmosis water treatment plant, a post-treatment storage tank, a residuals-disposal conveyance system and injection wells. The project is valued at $18.2 million. San Antonio Water System, 2800 U.S. 281 North, San Antonio, 78212. DR#11-00630409.

California 12/20 The California American Water Co. is seeking design-build bidders for the Carmel River reroute flood-control project in Monterey County. The project involves rerouting the Carmel River into San Clemente Creek, 3,000 ft upstream of San Clemente Dam. Upstream of the reroute channel, the Upper Carmel River will be excavated and restored to transition to existing channel grades. The accumulated sediment in the Upper Carmel River Reach and the San Clemente Creek arms of the reservoir will be excavated and relocated to the abandoned Carmel River arm. San Clemente Dam will be removed in stages during construction. Construction is expected to begin in May 2013. The project is valued at between $45 million and $55 million. California American Water Co., 511 Forest Lodge Rd., Pacific Grove, 93950. DR#11-00631757.

Rhode Island 1/6 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking design-build bidders for an addition to the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Providence. The project entails building a two-story, 23,240-sq-ft addition, with a basement connecting to the main hospital building. The first floor will contain the emergency department, consisting of 12 patient and two radiology rooms. The second floor will contain eight intensive-care rooms. The job also includes renovating portions of the existing hemodialysis department. Construction is expected to start in March 2012. The project is valued at between $10 million and $20 million. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 696 Virginia Rd., Concord, Mass., 01742. DR#11-00617315.