The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has expanded the list of organizations whose crane-operator certification programs it formally recognizes, with an agreement with the National Center for Construction Education and Research, Gainesville, Fla. Related Links: Ten Minutes With OSHA Chief David Michaels OSHA chief David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, and NCCER President Don Whyte signed the voluntary agreement on May 17 at the Dept. of Labor headquarters in Washington. In March, OSHA finalized a similar agreement with The Crane Institute of America Certification Inc. OSHA's first such crane-operator program agreement came in 1999, with
Delays in developing large power projects in Florida are bad news for contractors in a state already hurt by sharp construction downturns, says the Greater Florida Chapter of Associated General Contractors president. Photo: Florida Power and Light Power plans FP&L says Riviera gas plant will proceed on schedule, but nuclear units face delays. Florida’s biggest utilities, Juno Beach-based Florida Power & Light (FP&L) and Progress Energy Florida, “stopped work on everything but the essentials” after the state Public Service Commission (PSC) in January rejected most of the big rate increases the utilities had sought, said Richard Marshall, who also is
Photo courtesy BE&K/Turner In early May, the joint-venture team of BE&K Building Group and Turner Construction Co. celebrated the setting of the first steel trusses at Boeing’s Charleston 787 Final Assembly facility project in North Charleston, S.C. Kenny Anderson, BE&K/Turner’s construction manager, said the first two trusses were set May 10 and May 13, with the western half placed first and the eastern half three days later. Each half weighs 221 tons and is 307 ft long. Fully assembled, each truss measures 614 ft long and has a 464-ft clear span. The project broke ground in November. BRPH of Melbourne,
Suffolk Construction Co. of Miami was awarded a $25-million contract to build a classroom/student union facility at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson campus. The six-story, 110,000-sq-ft facility will include classrooms, a film archival library, wellness center, student union/student life center, and a food court and general eating area. Suffolk and architect Zyscovich of Miami will work together to design-build the project. Construction is scheduled to begin in December, and is targeted for completion 12 months later, in December 2011.
Gordon Chew, a handyman in remote Tenakee Springs, Alaska, needed a 12-volt coil to get his Case 686G telehandler up and running again. He called a dealer and was told the part was not in stock. “Case couldn’t find it,” says Chew, who notes the price quoted to him was $230. Not wanting to wait for a special order, he typed the part into a search engine and found GCIron.com. Chew had never heard of the site before, but that didn’t matter. He called up the company, and the operator cross-referenced the part and quickly located it in inventory. “They
The Lane Construction Corp. has been contracted to repave Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Connecticut-based Lane will begin repaving the Daytona NASCAR track on July 4, with a target completion date of January 1, 2011. Since 2003, Lane has paved several NASCAR tracks, including Talladega Superspeedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, Darlington Raceway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. Lane officials stated it will have a crew of roughly 50 workers repaving the 2.5-mile “tri-oval” track, skid pads, apron and pit road. The project calls for removing all of the existing asphalt, down to
During even the best of economic times, fraud is not uncommon in the construction industry. During periods of recession, however, it’s a problem that grows appreciably worse. For various reasons, contractors historically have had weaker internal controls than in other industries. That’s alarming because even the best of companies are at risk. U.S. businesses lose more than 5% of annual revenues to fraud, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Inc. That translates to more than $652 billion in fraud losses each year. Fraud isn’t the only reason contractors need to think about adopting formal internal controls. Controls help
Green building is expected to become the standard rather than the exception. High-performance and “green” buildings are designed and built to minimize resource consumption, reduce life-cycle costs, maximize health and productivity for the building’s occupants and improve performance. To achieve this, owners, architects and contractors must engage new construction practices and behaviors. The standard in the green-construction movement is the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design program (or LEED). LEED certification looks at various aspects of building and awards recognition to buildings that meet certain standards. LEED projects earn credits on a point-based system in several categories. Based upon the
A/E/C firm leaders need to embrace an alternative methodology for assembling teams to meet the challenges of today’s building. Owners and developers are setting ever-higher standards for new buildings as they work to meet demands for sophisticated structures that accommodate complex programs, incorporate sustainablability and provide productive work environments. Industry leaders have responded with improved design processes, new building technologies and advanced project delivery systems. One area remains unchanged: team formation. While building information modeling (or BIM), building performance software and Internet communications advance the building process on a daily basis, the methodology for selecting design teams has not evolved.
Bayview Construction Corp. of Stuart, Fla., recently won a Grand Award from the National Commercial Builders Council of the National Association of Home Builders for its South Florida Water Management District St. Cloud Administration, Field Station and Vehicle Maintenance Facility project. Related Links: AGC Leaders Emphasize Collaboration, ‘Being Heard’ St. Joe Relocates Corporate HQ to Northwest Florida Leo A. Daly Completes Acquisition of Schwab, Twitty & Hanser Ajax Building Opens Atlanta Office
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