The value of new Florida construction contracts improved by 25% in February, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR Southeast. The company estimated the value of new contracts at nearly $1.7 billion; last February, Florida registered roughly $1.3 billion in new projects. All three broad construction categories experienced increases during February. Residential contracts jumped the highest on a percentage basis, increasing by 36% to total more than $868.8 million for the month. The nonbuilding category, which includes infrastructure projects, improved by 29% for a $409.3 million total. And the nonresidential category recorded $408.1 million in new contracts, or 6% better
With its newest data center in North Carolina, Apple is hoping to get a boost from the sun to power its rapidly growing cloud services. It's also banking on one of the nation's largest fuel-cell installations of its kind in an effort to get completely off the electrical grid. Rendering courtesy of Apple Apple's Maiden, N.C., data center will draw power from a 20-MW solar farm and a 5-MW fuel-cell installation. Related Links: Editors' Choice, Best Green Project: Facebook Data Center Having completed a $1-billion, 500,000-sq-ft data center in Maiden, N.C., in late 2011, the computing giant recently began construction
Eugene A. "Gene" Conti Jr., secretary of the North Carolina Dept. of Transportation since 2009, is fighting the battle for transportation funding on multiple fronts, including a role in a Federal Highway Administration pilot program that could enable tolls on the state's 182-mile stretch of Interstate 95 as a way to pay for upgrades. Photo courtesy North Carolina DOT North Carolina DOT Secretary Gene Conti is leading the state in an effort to widen its entire stretch of I-95 and paying for it with tolls. Related Links: Owner of the Year: North Carolina DOT The state already is building a
As the case of Tampa Bay Water v. HDR Engineering begins, a key trial expert says he still has no official opinion about the cause of the disputed cracking.
Rank Project, LocationProject Cost Start Date/ End DateOwner Prime contractor1Cape Canaveral Next Generation Natural Gas Power Plant, Brevard County, Fla.$1billionFeb. 2011/ 2013FPLZachry2Progress Energy Natural Gas-Fired Combined Cycle Sutton Plant, Wilmington, N.C.$600 millionMay 2011/ 2014Progress EnergyKiewit Engineering and TIC-The Industrial Co.,3Gainesville Renewable Energy Center, Gainesville, Fla.$500 millionMarch 2011/Nov. 2013American RenewablesFagen Inc.4Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Orlando$383 millionJune 2011/April 2014Orlando Performing Arts Center Corp.PCL Construction Services; Balfour Beatty Construction5Martin Army Community Hospital, Fort Benning, Ga.$333 millionApril 2011/ 2014U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah DistrictTurner Construction Co.6Orlando Regional Medical Center Bed Tower Expansion, Orlando$297 millionNov. 2011/ July 2015Orlando HealthBrasfield and Gorrie7Four
A four-year-old biomass energy firm, backed in part by contractor investment, is succeeding where dozens of others have failed—in building one of the largest U.S. biomass plants that will turn waste wood into energy. While the $500-million project has had to deal with the low cost of competitive energy sources and a skeptical public, the accessibility of usable "fuel" in one of the country's most densely forested regions and the project's successful link with a local utility have allowed it to proceed where similar ventures have stalled. The project's developer, Boston-based American Renewables, is prevailing against a weak economy, low
North Carolina's Dept. of Transportation pushed forward to meet the needs of state construction industry stakeholders and residents alike in 2011, thus earning ENR Southeast's designation as "Owner of the Year."
The Southeast's largest projects last year continued to fall within the same few construction categories as they did in 2010, according to the latest Top Starts ranking by ENR Southeast. Energy, health-care and public-sector market categories again were dominant. Related Links: The Southeast's Top Starts Ranking Only five of the 25 projects ranked on the list came from other categories. One of those, a retirement facility, could be considered health care-related.The power market generated the top three spots on this year's Top Starts ranking, with projects from utilities FPL and Progress Energy and from a four-year-old firm called American Renewables
HALLR. Randall Hall was named president of Batson-Cook Co., Atlanta, effective Jan. 1, 2012. Hall most recently served as senior vice president and general manager of the West Point, Ga.-based contractor's Atlanta division, where he was responsible for the Duke Energy Center project in Charlotte, N.C. Prior to that, Hall had served as senior vice president and general manager of the firm's West Point division. Raymond Moody, who had served as Batson-Cook's president for the past 16 years, will continue with the firm as chief executive officer. Steve Kufrovich has been hired by Choate Construction Co. in Atlanta as
The value of new Florida construction contracts increased in all three broad categories during January, resulting in a 44% overall gain and more than $1.8 billion in new work, according to the latest figures from McGraw-Hill Construction. Related Links: Georgia Contracts Stumble 7% to Start the Year In North Carolina, Residential the Only Bright Spot for January Value of South Carolina Contracts Dives in January The two building categories both experienced notable increases. The nonresidential sector recorded a 58% gain compared to last January, tallying roughly $655.3 million in new contracts. Residential totaled $697.7 million in new contracts for the
RSS
