The construction sector began to show signs of life at the end of 2014 and those trends remained steady for the most part across the southwest in February of 2015. There were gains of 4,000 jobs relative to last year across the three state region according to data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Related Links: Southwest Construction Employment Is Strong Year-Over-Year, But Hits Speed Bump In January Arizona and Nevada both saw growth compared to February of last year, with New Mexico being the only state of the three to post a loss in the construction sector.
Phil Washington, general manager of Denver's Regional Transportation District since 2009, is leaving the agency to become the head of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the third-largest public transit system in the U.S. Washington has earned praise for managing construction of RTD's $5.3-billion FasTracks program, which is building 122 miles of new commuter rail lines and dozens of stations across the Denver area. Related Links: Washinton to Leave Denver's RTD for L.A. Post Architectural Record Lakewood, Colo.-based civil and structural engineering firm Martin/Martin Inc. has promoted two associates to principal. Firm principal Jerry May is a
Prices for inputs to construction industries expanded 0.8% in March, the largest monthly increase in more than two years, according to the April 14 producer price index release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices have now expanded for two consecutive months after declining during the previous six; however, input prices are down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. March marks the fourth consecutive month that year-over-year input prices have declined, the longest such streak since 2009. Crude petroleum prices fell 4% in March and have fallen in eight of the previous nine months.“Although overall construction materials prices rose for the
In the coming months, the Regional Transportation District and the Colorado Dept. of Transportation will mark several milestones as the U.S. 36 Express Lanes project nears completion. An express lane is currently being added in each direction on U.S. 36 from Federal Boulevard to Table Mesa between Boulder and Denver. RTD’s bus rapid transit service and high-occupancy vehicles (HOVs) will operate in the express lanes. Single-passenger vehicles may choose to use the express lanes and pay a toll. In addition, there will be two free, general-purpose lanes in each direction for drivers who do not wish to pay a toll.While
Large transportation infrastructure projects led the list of top starts in the Mountain States region for 2014, as Denver and Salt Lake City officials are working to meet the needs of a fast-growing population in both metro areas. Related Links: Denver's Cherry Creek North Booming CDOT Opens New I-70 Eastbound Tunnel Salt Lake International Airport's $1.5-billion Terminal Redevelopment Program topped the list. The TRP is building 4 million sq ft of new facilities at the airport, including a new terminal and concourse and a connecting parking deck. The project also will improve and rehabilitate other structures, roadways and overpasses. Construction
Water will begin running uphill—and north—along Colorado's southern Front Range next year when the $841-million Southern Delivery System goes on line. Related Links: SDS Pipeline Working Its Way West Ground Broken on SDS Water Project SDS is one of the largest water projects under construction in the Western U.S. and the biggest project undertaken by owner Colorado Springs Utilities in decades. The project will convey Arkansas River water stored in the Pueblo Reservoir to the cities of Colorado Springs, Fountain, Security and Pueblo West.Program manager MWH of Broomfield, Colo., has teamed up with Colorado Springs Utilities to build the multi-phased
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had decreased in February, improved in March. The index now stands at 101.3 (1985=100), up from 98.8 in February. The Expectations Index increased from 90.0 last month to 96.0 in March. The Present Situation Index, however, decreased from 112.1 in February to 109.1 in March. Consumers’ assessment of present-day conditions turned moderately less favorable for a second straight month. The percentage saying business conditions are “good” was unchanged at 26.7% while those claiming business conditions are “bad” increased from 16.7% to 19.4%.Consumers were mixed in their assessment of the job market. The proportion
MWH Constructors has hired Todd Larson as its global project delivery director of engineering and quality for infrastructure projects. Larson rejoins MWH after eight years with Black & Veatch. He will focus on design excellence in construction design-build operations and oversee the U.S. and U.K. design and estimating support teams as well as commissioning, start-up and quality. He is a licensed engineer in seven states. Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record Wells Squier has been promoted to partner at Anderson Hallas Architects in Golden, Colo. Squier has more than 16 years of experience and a master's degree in architecture
The 2015 ENR Mountain States' Top 20 Under 40 winners are architects, engineers, constructors, college professors, consultants and project managers, but also sustainability gurus, virtual building experts and company owners.
Construction firms added jobs in 43 states and the District of Columbia between January 2014 and January 2015 while construction employment increased in 31 states between December and January, according to a recent analysis of Labor Dept. data by the Associated General Contractors of America. “Most of the country experienced a welcome rebound in construction employment last year,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Yet it is unclear how public-sector demand and new regulatory requirements will overshadow relatively robust private-sector demand.”Texas added more new construction jobs (49,600 jobs, 7.9%) between January 2014 and January 2015 than any other state.
RSS
