The Regional Transportation District Board of Directors has approved a request from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus to relocate the planned Montview Station on the I-225 Rail Line to a new location at Fitzsimons Parkway. CU officials requested the station be moved to help mitigate electromagnetic interference (EMI) and vibration near sensitive research equipment at current and future medical buildings. The decision by the Board of Directors will allow the I-225 project team to identify environmental impacts and propose mitigation before moving forward with design and construction.During the 2007 - 2009 environmental and early design process, RTD and
Construction employment increased in a majority of states in May, setting all-time highs in Louisiana and North Dakota, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data. Association officials noted that construction demand remains very uneven and urged policy makers to expedite stalled public and private projects. “The strongest recoveries in construction employment have occurred in states with oil and gas activity, while the steepest construction job losses have occurred in Sunbelt states,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “However, patterns for the past year show that even some lagging states are beginning
Contractors are reporting business benefits from instituting strong safety programs, according to a new report by McGraw Hill Construction on safety management in the construction industry. In particular, construction companies report the following benefits due to the implementation of safety management practices: • 51% report increases in project ROI, with a fifth of those reporting increases of greater than 5%.• 43% report faster project schedules, with half reporting schedule improvements of a week or more.• 39% report a decrease in project budget from a safety program, with a quarter reporting decreases of 5% or more. Only 15% reported that safety
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has selected Mortenson Construction and HDR Architecture, both of Denver, for a $94.9-million design-build contract for the 13th Combat Aviation Brigade Barracks at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs.
At a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $495.7 billion, new construction starts in May advanced 5% from the previous month, according to McGraw Hill Construction, a division of McGraw Hill Financial. Much of the upward lift came from nonresidential building, which registered moderate growth for the second month in a row after its sluggish performance at the outset of 2013. Smaller gains in May were reported for housing and nonbuilding construction (public works and electric utilities). During the first five months of 2013, total construction starts on an unadjusted basis were reported at $187.6 billion, down 3% from the same
Home furnishings retailer IKEA will increase the solar array atop its Denver-area store, which opened two years ago in Centennial. Installation of panels on the roof’s remaining space will begin in July, with completion expected by this fall. Already the state’s largest single-use rooftop array on a commercial building, the project will become Colorado’s largest rooftop array of any use. The 83,700-sq-ft solar addition will consist of a 623-kW system built with 2,492 panels and will produce 961,000 kWh of electricity annually for the store.Including the existing system, the total 1,121-kW solar installation of 4,704 panels at IKEA Centennial’s store soon
Construction employment increased by 7,000 in May, helping to push the industry’s unemployment rate down to the lowest May level in five years, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said the relatively positive jobs report for the sector underscores the need to address potential shortages of skilled workers. “Although the monthly job gain in May was modest, both residential and nonresidential construction have been adding workers at roughly double the rate of the overall economy in the past year,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “At the same
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper recently signed into law a measure to expand and improve the state’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES) statute to drive clean-energy investment, jobs, and project development in rural Colorado. “A year ago, the market outlook for renewable energy in Colorado was bleak,” said Sarah Propst, executive director of the Interwest Energy Alliance. “Implementation of SB 252, combined with Xcel’s recent announcement that it will buy 550 MW of wind based on low price alone, means a complete turnaround for the Colorado market. Now we expect roughly 1,000 MW of market opportunity for clean energy over the next
Justin Cooper has been named a vice president at GE Johnson Construction, Denver and Colorado Springs. Since joining the firm in 1998, Cooper has led preconstruction, team integration and development on more than 5 million sq ft of health care projects, including five new hospital campuses. Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record Shannon Rogers has also been named a vice president at GE Johnson. Starting in 2006, Rogers developed the firm's in-house building information modeling team and systems integration group, which now includes nine design and construction professionals.Jim Starling, a veteran Regional Transportation District project manager who oversaw the
Following the first reversal into negative territory in 10 months in April, the Architecture Billings Index bounced back in May. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine- to 12-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects reported the May ABI score was 52.9, up dramatically from a mark of 48.6 in April. This score reflects an increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 59.1, up slightly from the reading of 58.5 the previous
RSS