Facing new challenges in an election year, U.S. union tradeswomen attending a second annual conference earlier this month in Sacramento reviewed anti-union measures on ballots across the U.S. and vowed to unite to slow attrition. The conference, co-sponsored by the AFL-CIO’s Building and Construction Trades Dept. and the California State Building and Construction Trades Council (SBCTC), attracted women craft workers from 26 states and Canada as well as Namibia, Curacao and Switzerland. With 100 fewer attendees than last year, 520 came to the 11th annual meeting for state tradeswomen.SBCTC spokeswoman Debra Chaplan, also a member of Teamsters’ union Local 853,
A three-office California design firm that has made sustainability central to its projects, large and small, was chosen by the editors of the ENR regional publications as the Design Firm of the Year 2012.
A 464-unit high-rise apartment complex, Los Angeles’ largest residential development project since 2008, broke ground this week in the mid-Wilshire district near Koreatown. Rendering courtesy of Jerde Partnership The Vermont apartment complex The $200-million The Vermont project is being built by local developer J.H. Snyder Development Co. The architect is Jerde Partnership and the general contractor is J.H. Snyder Contracting Inc.Washington Capital Management, which manages investments for union pension funds in Washington State, is the lead equity investor in the project. Snyder, a regional residential and retail builder, also infused equity into the project. At the end of 2011, JP
An $8-million steel-reinforced replacement bridge over San Mateo Creek at Trestles Beach in northern San Diego County opened last week as the northbound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner No. 769 train rumbled by. Photo by Brett Shoaf The new San Mateo Creek Bridge San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), the project manager, says the design engineer on the project was HDR, Inc., and the joint venture general contractor was FLATIRON West/Herzog Contracting Corp.North County Transit District purchased the tracks in the northwestern-most corner of San Diego County in 1992 from the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. The aging 858-ft wooden post-and-beam
AGC of California held its annual Spring State and Division Board Meetings and Conference earlier this month at the Monterey Plaza Hotel in Monterey. More than 150 AGC members and guests from across the state were in attendance, in additional to nearly 60 AGC student chapter members from seven chapters across the state. The two AGC Division Boards of Directors tackled a range of topics during their quarterly meetings. During a combined session, the divisions heard an update on funding and lending practices and what changes are facing the industry from Nancy Tillman of EAST-WEST Bank, while Dennis Huie and
Clif Bar & Co. reports that its Emeryville headquarters has been awarded LEED platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Related Links: Clif Bar Headquarters Wins Award of Merit Located at 1451 66th St., Clif Bar’s 115,000-sq-ft office space is the first building in Emeryville to achieve LEED platinum certification in the commercial interior category. The firm is a maker of organic foods and drinks.The general contractor/construction manager on the project was DPR Construction and the architect was ZGF. The project, which won an Award of Merit in last year’s ENR California’s Top Projects competition in the Office category,
Stanford University Medical Center’s goal of reaching $1 billion in donations to fund its expansion project reached the half-way point this month and site prep and utility work are now under way. Preston Top Grade (a joint venture with Preston Pipeline and Top Grade Construction), Sandis engineers and AECOM landscaping are working on the Welsh Rd. utility improvement project, which replaces utility services and information technology infrastructure along Welch and Quarry roads. The project also includes the widening of Welch Rd., one of the main arteries into the medical center campus, and the replacement of sidewalks, planting of new trees, installation
Despite record-breaking rainfall, the 2012 Fresno Construction Career Awareness Day (CCAD,) sponsored by AGC of California, scored a record of its own of 1,100 students from 30 local high schools – the highest number of students and schools to ever participate in the Fresno CCAD. Held last month at the Fresno Fairgrounds, the CCAD event provided an excellent forum for high school students to learn about various career paths and the training and education necessary in the construction industry. In addition to the rain, the event also brought in a record number of exhibitors and sponsors with 25 different companies,
The California High-Speed Rail Authority Board last week certified the final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement for the Merced-to-Fresno section of the high-speed train project. Related Links: The final EIR/EIS reports are available on the High-Speed Rail website Final High-Speed Rail EIR Report Issued for Merced-Fresno The authority says it now anticipates starting construction in late 2012 or early 2013. The authority also chose a north-south route and station locations for Merced and Fresno.The Merced-to-Fresno high-speed train section is approximately 65 mi long and will follow a route known as the “hybrid” alternative, according to the authority. This alignment was
As California Department of Transportation Construction Manager Douglas Coe tells it, the key to success on a very complicated seismic retrofit of the Antioch Toll Bridge is the mastering of the three B’s – birds, bearings and bracing. Rebuilt in 1978 from the original 1926 edition, the steel-plate girder, 1.8-mi bridge spans the San Joaquin River from the East Bay city of Antioch in Contra Costa County to the Sherman Island wildlife refuge in Sacramento County along State Route 160. It has one lane in each direction with bicycle and pedestrian access and traffic numbers about 15,000 vehicles a day.Though
RSS