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High-speed rail advocates celebrated the Jan. 28 award of grants from the $8-billion pot that is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but officials must now figure out how to leverage the seed money into successful long-term programs. Florida, one of the big grant winners at $1.25 billion, is now pondering design-build and public-private partnerships along with other funding sources. Related Links: Public Works: Industry’s Salvation Transportation, Military and Civic Projects are Saving the Day for Some Southeast Firms Most of the funds went to long-term programs that now can proceed with environmental reviews and preliminary engineering. But

Military project starts remain strong throughout the four-state region. But how long can it last? Photo: Walton Construction Co. Walton Construction Co. of Harahan, La., is building a barracks complex at Parris Island, S.C. Photo: AeroPhoto, www.aerophoto.com VOA Associates of Orlando is the designer of record for the $21-million barracks complex for the Echelons Above Brigade at Fort Stewart, Ga. Image: BPRH ShenkelShultz Architecture of Orlando designed and Balfour Beatty Construction is building an elementary and middle school at Fort Bragg, N.C. Image courtesy of Balfour Beatty Construction. Image: BPRH BRPH Cos. of Melbourne, Fla., designed a $7-million, Child Development

Baseball, transportation and education have become the top construction markets in Miami, an area where residential condominium work has hit a wall and public work has taken precedence. Photo: Odebrecht Construction Miami International Airport and the surrounding area is one of the areas in Miami where construction activity is robust. Projects include MIA’s North Terminal, an extension of Miami’s light-rail line (pictured here) and the Miami Intermodal Center. Image: Turner Construction Co. Miami Dade College is constructing a hospitality management building in downtown Miami. Related Links: Game Changer Image: Suffolk Construction Suffolk Construction expects to complete Florida International University’s School

WILLIAMS DUEKER Aguirre Roden announced Taylor Dueker, AIA, has been named vice president for its Austin office. In his role, Dueker will be responsible for professional design services, business development and project management. He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in art and design from MIT and master’s of architecture from MIT. KBR, Houston, announced the appointment of Mark S. Williams as group president overseeing KBR’s Government & Defense, Infrastructure & Minerals, and Power & Industrial Business Units. Williams has more than 25 years experience in the government and defense sector. Williams joinsed KBR from Jacobs Engineering, where he most

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The body of PBSJ Corp. transportation engineer Lee Strickland has been recovered from the remains of Haiti’s Hotel Montana, which collapsed during the January 12, 2010 earthquake. “It is a strike at the heart,” says Kathe Jackson, PBSJ vice president of corporate communications. “We’re a pretty close-knit company, and Lee touched many of our lives.”  Strickland, a group manager for the company’s engineering unit, traveled to Haiti to attend a two-day workshop on behalf of the company. STRICKLAND International search and rescue teams have worked at the site of the collapsed hotel since soon after the quake. Teams from the

Odebrecht Construction of Coral Gables, Fla., has completed repairs at Haiti�s Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, enabling commercial carriers to resume service to and from Haiti�s capital beginning Feb. 19. Slide Show Photo courtesy Odebrecht Construction Odebrecht Construction of Coral Gables, Fla., oversaw repairs to the Port-au-Prince airport. Representatives of Dallas-based American Airlines and Odebrecht toured the devastated city four days after the Jan. 12 earthquake. According to Odebrecht, the contractor immediately assembled a team to repair and rebuild the airport’s commercial terminal. The contractor is currently performing more than $1 billion in construction at Miami International Airport’s North

In its latest step on the acquisition trail, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Pasadena, Calif., said on Feb. 15 it had purchased Norcross, Ga.-based Jordan, Jones & Goulding Inc., a 500-person engineering firm specializing in water and wastewater markets. The purchase price was not disclosed, but JJG ranks 151st on ENR’s list of the Top 500 design firms, with nearly $82 million in 2008 revenue. About two-thirds is in environmental infrastructure-related work, with the remainder in the transportation and general building sectors. The firm has 17 offices across the southern U.S., says Jacobs. Don Allen, JJG’s CEO, becomes vice president in

Image courtesy Populous A rendering of the Florida Marlins' new ballpark, which was designed by Populous (formerly HOK Sport). A joint venture of Hunt Construction Group and Moss & Associates is leading the construction effort. Photo by Smith Aerial Visions/Courtesy Moss & Associates This aerial photo of the project shows the super-columns taking shape. Related Links: Miami Report: Public Projects are Metro's Saving Grace In September, Hunt-Moss JV, conducted the first vertical concrete pour for the super columns of the new Florida Marlins ballpark. The pour constituted the first estimated 16 ft of the nearly 40-ft tall rebar cage. The