Skanska USA Building has won a $13-million contract to upgrade the central plant at the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel in downtown Atlanta. The main focus of work will be to replace the 30-year-old boilers and chillers. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Other planned upgrades include removal of all major components of the 73-story hotel’s central heating and cooling systems, and replacement with high-efficiency systems. Skanska recently finished replacing all 6,350 windows at the hotel, which had been damaged in a tornado in 2008. The central plant renovation will be completed by the end of 2011.
Specialty-contracting giant EMCOR Group of Connecticut announced that it has acquired infrastructure contractor Harry Pepper & Associates of Jacksonville, Fla. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The Florida-based contractor had 2010 revenues of $100 million, and current backlog is estimated at $150 million. Pepper’s expertise includes large infrastructure and building projects such as water, wastewater and storm water treatment facilities, dock repair, levee and canal restoration, and pumping stations.
The Everglades Foundation recently released the results of an analysis of the financial return on investment generated by restoration of the Everglades. According to the study, conducted by Mather Economics, restoration will produce an increase in economic benefits of approximately $46.5 billion. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The study shows that for every dollar spent on Everglades restoration as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, $4.04 will be generated in economic benefits. Projections indicate that there will be an incremental impact on employment of about 442,644 additional jobs over 50 years. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also
McDonough Bolyard Peck of Fairfax, Va., has opened its twelfth office, in Tampa. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" MBP provides a variety of construction management and dispute resolution services, including cost estimating, value engineering, constructibility review, CPM scheduling, claims consulting; delay, impact and damages analysis; and alternative disputes resolution.
div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Award of Excellence - Architectural Design NASCAR Hall of Fame Location: Charlotte, N.C. Owner: City of Charlotte / Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority / Lauth Property Group Contractor: Turner / BEK / Davis Joint Venture Architect: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects LLP Civil Engineer: Kimley-Horn & Associates Structural Engineer: Leslie E. Robertson Associates MEP Engineer: Jaros Baum & Bolles Award of Excellence -Civic/Public Works Floridan Aquifer Desalination Facility Location: Florida City Owner: Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority Contractor: Wharton Smith Construction Manager: CH2M HILL Architect/Engineer: CH2M HILL Award of Excellence – Civil/Public Works I-595 Shared-Use
The Savannah District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded contracts totaling $35.5 million for projects at Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Included is a $28-million contract awarded to W.G. Yates and Sons of Biloxi, Miss., to build the Battle Command Training Center at Fort Bragg. The 145,585-sq-ft facility will provide soldiers with virtual battle command training. The building will include photovoltaic solar collectors mounted on the roof that can produce 25 kilowatts of electrical power. The project is scheduled for completion in May 2012. Also, USACE
Touting his Pickens Plan, Dallas oilman and philanthropist T. Boone Pickens, the 82-year-old Texas oil tycoon, gave the keynote address to attendees in September at the 2010 Sunbelt Builders Show held at the Gaylord Texan. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Pickens says out of the 85 million barrels of oil produced daily across the globe, the U.S.–with 4% of the world’s population–consumes 21 million [per day] of those. “Of the 14 million barrels we import every day, five million comes from OPEC and the Middle East; from countries where our State Department advises us not to travel.” He adds
div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" ALLEN SECKINGER WALTER P MOORE, Houston, announced that Ryan Seckinger, P.E., was chosen as the 2010 recipient of the firm’s prestigious “Javier F. Horvilleur Outstanding Young Engineer Award.” The award is presented annually to one young structural engineer at WALTER P MOORE who best exemplifies design excellence, outstanding client service and business acumen. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s of science and master’s of science in civil engineering. Also, it was announced that Hollis Allen, Jr., P.E., Ben Cheplak, P.E., Doug Coenen, P.E., Joseph Dowd, P.E., Daron Hester, P.E.,
The tight, compact site on which the new Vandegrift High School was constructed caused scheduling issues during the layout of the geothermal loop wells. Coordination among the mechanical contractor and subcontractors kept work moving and allowed the project to remain on schedule. Photo: Jim Lincoln Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards The entire project included the 5,000-seat Monroe Memorial Stadium, a 7,400-sq-ft sports complex, a 175,000-sq-ft building shared by fine arts and athletics and a 225,000-sq-ft academic and career building. The layout of the wells required utilizing areas that would be covered with concrete paving. The geothermal loop wells would
From the outset, the renovation and addition project at the Sid W. Richardson Visual Arts Center on the Fort Worth Country Day School campus offered many challenging obstacles. The project included a major renovation of the old 5,000-sq-ft Walsh Cafeteria and a 5,000-sq-ft addition to the visual arts building. Photo: Sedalco Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards Crews knew the basement of the existing building served as a hub for many of the campus’ utilities, but the extent of service—particularly once services left the building and went underground—was largely unknown and undocumented prior to the project. Through surveys and marking
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