When Gale Grady, district manager at PCL Civil Constructors, discusses Florida's Dept. of Transportation's information technology system, it sounds a lot like sailing: To take advantage of a beautiful day, or an interesting contract up for bid, a contractor connects to an online program that allows digital submissions, or even multiple resubmissions if modifications are necessary, before bids close. Like a sailboat catching a good wind, the e-bid system propels the contractor through a streamlined process fairly quickly and pretty smoothly. "This is far and above what manual submissions are like," says Grady, whose Tampa, Fla.-based firm has teamed up
New York City construction accidents dropped 18% last year to 128 and injuries fell 7.8% to 152, continuing a three-year downward trend in both categories, according to data from the NYC Dept. of Buildings. However, there were five construction-related fatalities in 2011, up one from the prior year. The most common construction accident is workers falling, but the five fatalities last year were the result of improper procedures on the job, such as a lack of fall-protection and improper construction practices, DOB says.Meanwhile, the issuance of construction permits grew 7.7% to 86,895 last year, the third consecutive year in which
As components of the World Trade Center project near completion beginning in 2013, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will realize a “peace dividend, just as our nation did when our troops left Vietnam in the 1970s,” says Patrick J. Foye, PANYNJ executive director. After paying about $7 billion of debt incurred to fund WTC construction, the will dividend will allow the agency to return to its core mission of transportation infrastructure and economic development, he says. Photo by Bob Wallace “While it’s early, my own preliminary conclusion having been at the authority for just shy of
The financial industry in the not-so-distant past drove much of the real estate development in New York City but the information technology and media industries are becoming more active players, said Adam B. Frazier, development manager at Boston Properties. On the tech front, Facebook and Google have each announced NYC expansion plans and Twitter opened its first office in the city last fall. Publishing giant Conde Naste, the anchor tenant for 1 World Trade Center accounting for 1.05 million sq ft of space in the tower, will reportedly soon sign on for an additional 133,000 sq ft, according to a
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo today unveiled a $132.5-billion budget plan that includes $1.3 billion in state investment aimed at spurring $25 billion in investments from other sources to launch or accelerate major infrastructure projects and create jobs. The governor's budget for fiscal year beginning April 1, 2012 would continue to support programs including the Environmental Protection Fund, which would be maintained at $134 million. The budget plan includes $102 million in new funding for the Department of Environmental Conservation to advance flood control, coastal erosion and critical dam safety projects, as well as $94 million for capital rehabilitation
PSEG Solar Source, a subsidiary of Newark, N.J.-based Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G), is expanding its solar farm business with the purchase of a planned 25.2 MW solar project in Arizona for $75 million. Construction of the PSEG Queen Creek Solar Farm, to be developed by engineering procurement construction (EPC) contractor juwi solar Inc., Boulder, Colo., is expected to begin this month with completion slated in the third quarter. Photo Courtesy of PSEG Solar Source The farm at the Mars company, which makes candy including M&Ms, was PSEG Solar Source's first project. The PSEG Queen Creek Solar Farm
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says it hit a $1-billion milestone today for direct contracts to minority- and women-owned firms for work on the World Trade Center during the last five years. The authority says it has awarded about 200 minority and women-owned businesses close to 500 WTC contracts, generating 2,417 construction, architectural and engineering jobs. Photo by Joe Woolhead The authority credits its staff from the World Trade Center Construction, Office of Business Diversity and Civil Rights and Procurement departments for ensuring that each WTC contract met its goal of minority and women-owned (M/WBE) enterprise
New York City's efforts to improve its educational system took the spotlight in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s State of the City address earlier today, but job creation and a slew of construction projects planned or under way were also mentioned. The mayor, who spoke at Morris High School in the Bronx, praised the city’s 2011 accomplishments and set a broad list of goals in several areas including plans to streamline the building inspection process. "We've already opened an online hub for reviewing and approving digital construction plans," Bloomberg said, referring to the Dept. of Buildings' recently launched NYC Development Hub. "Now,
New York University will present a plan to add 3.1 acres of publicly accessible open space in Greenwich Village, at Community Board Two's Parks, Recreation and Open Space Committee meeting tonight. The plan is under the university's NYU Core strategy, part of the university’s 20-year, city-wide plan for growth dubbed NYU 2031: NYU in NYC. Rendering Courtesy of NYU The university's plan calls for the addition of 40,000 sq ft of public parkland, totaling more than four acres to be used by the university community and the neighborhood. It also includes landscape improvements to the university-owned streets bordered by West
New York City released details on Monday of its financial pre-development arrangement with Cornell University that allows the university to jumpstart its $2-billion-plus applied sciences campus on Roosevelt Island. Under the deal, Cornell’s first deadline is Jan. 17 for payment of a $5 million pre-development deposit and a $5 million security deposit. The university’s obligations include submission of its Uniform Land Use Review Procedure application by Nov. 10, or it must pay a penalty fee of $1,000 a day for the first two months, increasing by an additional $1,000 a day every two months after that. The university must also
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