The Texas Dept. of Transportation has selected a developer for the expansion of state highway 99, Grand Parkway, a 184-mile outer loop that will give area drivers a third route to get around the Houston metropolitan area, the agency announced September 27. Zachry-Odebrecht Parkway Builders, a design-build joint venture between Zachry Corp. and Odebrecht that was formed specifically for this project, will construct three phases of SH 99. Related Links: Texas Dept. of Transportation Zachry Corp. Odebrecht “Zachry and Odebrecht will operate as a fully integrated joint venture, responsible for design and construction,” says Tara Snowden, manager of Government Relations
Cajun Constructors Inc., a subsidiary of Cajun Industries LLC announced this week that it has acquired Industrial Design & Construction, a privately held general industrial construction firm with a primary focus in mechanical construction. Related Links: ENR Texas & Louisiana Contractor of the Year: Cajun Industries Cajun Industries LLC Industrial Design & Construction While Cajun has been known primarily in the industrial civil side of the business, its industrial mechanical side has always taken more of a back seat in recent years, says William J. Clouatre, vice president of Business Development for Cajun Constructors.“We’ve had more industrial clients ask us
ith $168 million in funding from state legislators in hand, along with an additional $2 billion in funding that the Texas Department of Transportation identified in its budget earlier this year, the 38-mile US 290 corridor, one of the most congested roads in Texas, will see expansion work up to 20 years sooner than expected. Photo by Nick Escobedo US 290 north of the IH 610 W interchange is one of the areas that will be under construction next year. Photo courtesy of TxDOT A timeline showing the revised schedule and expected bid amounts of the US 290 work. Related
Oil and gas giant ExxonMobil announced last week that it will invest more than $200 million to expand its Baton Rouge chemical and lubricants plants, which will mean increased capacity for synthetic lubricant base stocks manufacturing and lubricants blending, packaging and storage. According to Exxon, the expansion will boost the company’s worldwide capacity of synthetic esters and alkylated naphthalene by more than 25%, making Exxon’s Baton Rouge chemical plant the world’s largest producer of these two products, the company claims.These plans include the construction of a “state-of-the-art” blending center for synthetic aviation oil at Exxon’s Port Allen, La., lubricant blending
Panda Power Funds is bringing two new natural gas-fueled, combined-cycle power plants to Texas, one in Temple and the other in Sherman. Both plants will be built by a turn-key consortium of Bechtel and Siemens Energy Inc. Photo courtesy of Panda Power Funds Artist representation of the 758-megawatt Panda Temple Power Plant. Photo courtesy of Bechtel Bechtel's team helps break ground on Panda Temple Generating Station. Related Links: Panda Power Funds Bechtel The Siemens Energy Sector On September 6, the companies broke ground on the Temple project, which will provide 758-MW of power to the local area when complete in
As the construction industry evolves, so too must the tools with which engineers and contractors do business. Plenty of companies have developed their own apps that do everything from managing project data to calculating cost-per-square-foot of concrete. Texas-based SpawGlass has joined the mix after seeing the need for an app with a broader scope. Related Links: Some Companies Hungry for Custom Business Apps Decide to Build Their Own Earlier this year, SpawGlass launched its Targeted Estimating Database iPad app, which helps with the development of a realistic budget for commercial construction projects by offering real-time, cost-per-square-foot pricing using the average
North Carolina State University's high-tech library project, intended to transform collaborative learning, is itself educating its builders on the positive power that information technology has on design and construction. The team creating the $95.2-million NCSU James B. Hunt Jr. Library project in Raleigh met challenges inside and out—from difficulties with the customized curtain wall to a mechanical system rarely used in the Southeast. Related Links: Skanska USA Reboots for a Southeast Rebound ENR Southeast: Projects Collaboration, coupled with a raft of information technology tools, has enabled the team to guide the project toward a happy ending. The 220,000-sq-ft, four-story library
This year's Top Specialty Contractors survey revealed that at least some firms working in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas are starting to experience real, and significant, business growth again. But like the overall economic recovery itself, the fortunes of Southeast specialty contractors are proving to be decidedly mixed. Photo by Ben Tanner Photography; courtesy KHS and S Contractors Improving Conditions? KHS and S handled metal panel work for Marlins Park in Miami, where market conditions are showing signs of improvement. Related Links: 2012 Southeast Top Specialty Contractors Ranking SteelFab: Southeast 'Specialty Contractor of the Year' Some firms are finally finding
Steel fabricator and erector SteelFab Inc. was certainly not immune to the construction industry's dark days of late 2008. At that time, the specialty contractor found itself in much the same panic mode that gripped many others as its project backlog suddenly, and literally, shrank to nothing. Related Links: For Southeast Specialty Firms, Recovery is Proving Hit or Miss 2012 Southeast Top Specialty Contractors Ranking The Charlotte, N.C.-based steel designer, fabricator and erector saw 26 projects mothballed or canceled as the local economy spiraled down in the wake of the nation's banking crisis. Project owners were left with no choice
An idled methanol plant currently located in Chile will soon be relocated to Geismar, La. Related Links: Methanex Corp. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. Methanex Corp., the plant owner, has hired Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. to complete EPC services for the project. The companies estimate that the construction value will total $550 million.Methanex made the final decision to relocate the plant on July 25. Relocation, compared to a new-build, will offer some capital savings and a reduced project time frame.The facility is being moved for several reasons, according to Methanex, including the North American shale gas boom, which has created a
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