Prior to California Transportation Commission allocation meetings this week, Caltrans sent a �White Paper� to Dale Bonner, secretary of the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, which oversees the department, outlining drastic measures the department will have to make if the state budget is not passed � and passed quickly. Cindy McKim, Caltrans director, says that if the current budget impasse continues through the end of August, �transportation fund cash balances may be depleted resulting in potential suspension of ongoing construction projects.� McKim says that if the impasse carries on into September, the department would have to stop or delay
The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded LEED-NC gold certification to Paramount Child Development Center in Avenal, designed by Architects McDonald, Soutar & Paz. The general contractor for the project was Clarion Construction, Inc. Paramount Child Development Center is a center built for the children of Paramount Farms employees. The $7-million, 12,000-sq-ft learning and development center is built on 5.3 acres of land and can accommodate up to 80 children. The building itself houses a multitude of innovative green technologies, including overhead chilled beam systems and hydronic heating in the floor, which provide noise-free gentle temperature control. A roof mounted
The tallest bridge in California � the Foresthill Bridge in Placer County � is about to embark on a $71-million renewal and seismic upgrade project. The county, which owns, operates and maintains the bridge, will oversee the project, which started bid advertising June 29 with bid opening scheduled for Sept. 7 and the award announced in November. Construction is scheduled to begin in December with completion in late 2013 or 2014. A number of high-profile firms are bidding on the project, including American Bridge/Fluor, California Engineering, Golden Gate Bridge Inc., Skanska, Teichert Readymix and William P. Young Construction. The Foresthill
A design/build team led by San Carlos-based Gonsalves & Stronck Construction recently completed a historical rehabilitation to one of Woodside�s oldest and most significant equestrian properties. Photography by Steve Whittaker Photography by Steve Whittaker The Folger Estate Stable, together with the other buildings that formed the grand country estate of the coffee magnate James A. Folger II, was designed in 1905 by Arthur Brown Jr., famous for later work including San Francisco City Hall, Coit Tower, and other California landmarks. Even in this youthful work, Brown�s Beaux-Arts training and personal genius is clearly evident in a design that draws upon
Construction on the $102-million Orange Freeway (State Route 57) Northbound Widening Project will begin this fall as officials, construction workers and business leaders gathered recently to celebrate the kickoff of the Orangethorpe to Lambert segment. The Orange County Transportation Authority, in partnership with Caltrans, is sponsoring improvements to the SR-57, which will add a northbound lane from north of the SR-91 near Orangethorpe Avenue in Placentia to Lambert Road in Brea. The project will also add traffic and merging lanes at various locations, reconfigure entrance and exit ramps, construct retaining walls and sound walls and standardize existing general purpose lanes
An October completion is planned for the $100-million Valley Performing Arts Center at the southwest corner of California State University, Northridge. C.W. Driver is the general contractor and HGA Architects and Engineers is the designer on the project, a five-story, 166,000-sq-ft performance hall that includes a 1,700-seat concert hall designed to support orchestra, opera, Broadway, film and dance; 175-seat black box theater; backstage support; classrooms; 230-seat lecture room; rehearsal and events space; and a new broadcast facility for KCSN public radio. It is being built to LEED silver certification standards. C.W. Driver�s construction team is using 34,000 sq ft of
Now that Mineta San Jose Airport has its new 12-gate Terminal B and concourse, an upgraded Terminal A and a Consolidated Rental Car Center and public parking garage, regional passengers can now take the time to absorb the enhanced, modern atmosphere and, literally, bask in its glow. The $1.3-billon project, almost a decade in design and development, certainly improves Silicon Valley�s main transportation hub operationally, but it does something else as well: It enhances the region�s image. Or, as Steve Weindel, Gensler�s principal in charge of design, put it: The designers set out to �create an iconic building that people
The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners last week unanimously approved the Environmental Impact Report for the project to replace the aging Gerald Desmond Bridge at the Port of Long Beach with a new, nearly $1 billion span that will accommodate future traffic needs and dramatically improve safety for vessels and vehicles alike. The Port of Long Beach, in partnership with Caltrans, will oversee the project to design and build a higher, wider bridge parallel to and just north of the existing Gerald Desmond Bridge. Once the new bridge is completed and open, the old structure will be taken down.
With the news that Facebook had surpassed 500 million users, the social networking website has decided to more than double the size of its first wholly-owned data center currently under construction in Prineville, Ore. The initial $188-million project broke ground in January and has been moving along rapidly. The expansion will add another 160,000 sq ft of shell space to the 147,000 sq ft facility now being built, with the shell space being built out later as business demand dictates. Photos courtesy Sheehan Partners Photos courtesy Sheehan Partners Photos courtesy Sheehan Partners "We are making excellent progress on the first
Specialty contractors are as different as their niches, but most agree the market has to get a lot better before they’re healthy again. ASAC President Santo Pernicano’s firm, Area-West Fence, is working on the San Vicente Dam project in Lakeside with Kiewit Pacific. No. 32 Clark Pacific supplied the concrete work on Mineta San Jose Airport’s car rental facility. Related Links: 2010 Top Specialty Contractors List Top Specialty Breakdown and Methodology List “One might argue that this is one of the steepest [construction] declines in my generation,” says Tony Guzzi, CEO of Norwalk, Conn.-based EMCOR Group, Inc. Guzzi, whose global
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