ExxonMobil’s plans to build a new ethylene plant in Baytown, Texas, are now underway. The firm recently awarded Bechtel and The Linde Group a contract to design and build the facility, located at the ExxonMobil Baytown Complex. Related Links: Bechtel The Linde Group The new plant will have a capacity of 1.55 million tons of ethylene per year. Construction will start immediately, with design and procurement of key equipment already under way, according to Bechtel.Specifically, Linde will conduct engineering, procurement and services during pre-commissioning and commissioning of the new facility, while Bechtel will be responsible for construction of the facility
With his signature on June 20, Gov. Rick Scott (R) and Florida lawmakers disbanded the scandal-plagued Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority and rechristened it as the Central Florida Expressway Authority, which has a new board. Three Florida counties already have appointed new board members, and Scott will appoint the remaining ones. Related Links: Beers, Burgers and a Bribe? The Case Against a Florida Expressway Official A grand jury indicted two board members, one for violating public-meeting laws in connection with a plan to oust former board Chairman Max Crumit. An engineer seen by many as a transparency advocate, he now works
In its latest report on Everglades restoration, the National Research Council tempered mild praise for "fairly modest progress" in the $13.5-billion plan with its concerns over climate change, rising sea levels and the invasion of non-native plant and animal species. Photo courtesy South Florida Water Management District The report highlighted successes, such as the 85-percent completion of the Kissimmee River Restoration project, which undoes a 1960s channelization of the river. Related Links: NRC Fifth Everglades Quality Report Expected Court OK Will Launch $880M Worth of Everglades Work The fifth congressionally mandated biennial report on the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP),
GLF Construction Corp. has agreed to pay $42,000 in penalties to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as the result of an accident that killed an 18-year-old who had just started working on a Taylor County, Fla., bridge project earlier this year. OSHA officials told ENR Southeast that GLF signed an Informal Settlement Agreement on June 30. Related Links: OSHA, Industry Launch Safety Push on Fall Protection According to OSHA, on Jan. 16, 2014, a nearly 1,800-pound Acrow bridge panel fell upon and killed David Kimberl while he was helping to dismantle a section of the Aucilla River Bridge
Along the curving road leading up to Tampa Bay Water's $129-million reservoir renovation project in Lithia, Fla., signs implore crews to work safely and deliver quality work. One message, "Do it right the first time," is ironic given the project's history. The 8-year-old, 15.5-billion-gallon reservoir already was the focus of a lengthy, expensive legal battle after cracks developed. Therefore, TBW will have to settle for getting it right the second time. Related Links: Tampa Bay Water's Cracked Reservoir Rebuilt and Ready for Refilling As Reservoir Redo Starts, Tampa Bay Water Seeks New GM Jury's Verdict for HDR is Major Setback
GOUVEIAJeffrey Gouveia was named president of Suffolk Construction Co.'s Southeast region, based in West Palm Beach, Fla. Gouveia, who helped launch the firm's regional presence, replaces former region general manager Rex Kirby. Gouveia had served as Suffolk's executive vice president of operations and assisted with growing the Southeast office. Related Links: Call for Entries: Top 20 Under 40 Contest SLIDESHOW: The Southeast's Top 20 Under 40 Richard "Dick" Wells, vice president of Kleinfelder and its transportation market manager in Greensboro, N.C., has been elected chairman of the American Council of Engineering Cos. Wells had been president and a director of
Three years ago, when Coastal Construction Group CEO and Chairman Tom Murphy Jr. predicted to ENR Southeast readers that an "unprecedented" building boom was coming to Miami, skeptics scoffed. "Everybody laughed," says Dan Whiteman, Coastal president. Related Links: 2014 Southeast Top Contractors Ranking 2011: Coastal Construction CEO Says Miami is Set to Boom Again Whiteman—who adds that Murphy "has a stronger sense of the market than any individual I have ever met"—is exaggerating slightly about the reaction. After all, contractors who know the well-connected Murphy would be reluctant to dismiss his insider perspective.Still, back then there was reason for skepticism,
The Southeast's long-anticipated construction revival has arrived for some firms but remains a mere promise for others. According to McGraw Hill Construction, the four-state region of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas saw an estimated $10-billion decline in the value of new contracts in 2013. Even so, ENR Southeast's annual Top Contractors survey and ranking reveals some continued regional momentum. Photo courtesy of Balfour Beatty Construction Georgia firms are seeing signs of life, such as the $1-billion Buckhead Atlanta project being built by Balfour Beatty. Related Links: Southeast Top Starts Ranking Reveals Stop-and-Go Recovery Altogether, firms participating in this year's survey
A lawsuit filed two years ago by Zapata County Independent School District against Houston-based Satterfield & Pontikes Construction and several subcontractors has ended with an $8.12-million settlement paid to the district. The two elementary schools Satterfield & Pontikes built for Zapata County ISD, Zapata South Elementary School and Fidel & Andrea R. Villarreal Elementary School, opened in January 2006. Both were constructed from a $16-million bond package approved in 2003.Six years later, in spring 2012, the school district filed a lawsuit against the design and construction team, alleging poor quality work on the two schools, as well as on covered
Austrian-headquartered Benteler Steel is in the process of constructing a $975 million steel plant in Caddo Parish, La. The two-year project has created 1,000 construction jobs and is currently one of the largest projects in the state. Related Links: Benteler Steel Walbridge Matthias Jaeger, President and CEO of Benteler Steel/Tube GmbH, says the project is being constructed in two phases on a 330-acre site. The first, which is expected to be finished in late 2015, is the construction of a hot rolling tube mill, along with several finishing lines, for the production of seamless steel tubes. The second phase, to
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