Related Links: Dodge Data & Analytics report (04/21/2015) Construction starts dropped 13% in March from February’s level, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $633.3 billion, Dodge Data & Analytics reports.In its latest monthly construction report, released on April 21, Dodge D&A also says that megaproject starts in February skewed the comparison. If projects valued at more than $1 billion are excluded from both months' figures, March’s total is up 4% from February’s, Dodge D&A said. (ENR is part of Dodge D&A.)Robert A. Murray, Dodge D&A chief economist, said in a statement: “The presence of unusually large projects will affect
Related Links: Entrepreneurs Taking Tool Ideas to Kickstarter White House Rolls Out New Private Infrastructure Finance Plans If a fledgling venture succeeds, members of the public might be able to participate in crowd-funded public-private partnerships for infrastructure projects.Brian Ross, a former construction manager, conceived the idea in fall 2013 and formed a venture called InfraShares with Pablo Nunez, an entrepreneur with P3 experience in Europe and India. Ross envisions that individual investors will be able to peruse P3 projects and make investments accordingly, through the website InfraShares.Through his experience with P3s in water-wastewater, Ross says, "one common criticism was that
Related Links: Commerce Dept. Census Bureau's release on February construction spending with data tables AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's analysis ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu's analysis Construction spending in February climbed 2.1%, year over year, but slipped slightly from January's total, the Commerce Dept. reports.The department’s latest monthly construction report, released on April 1, showed that the value of finished construction projects in February hit an annual rate of $967.2 billion, up 2.1% from February 2014’s rate but down 0.1% from January’s level. Rates are seasonally adjusted.Residential, the largest construction category, was off 1.9% year over year, to a $355.6-billion
Photo by AP Wideworld Walker supports development but not all and not now, as oil prices are in free fall. Alaska is at an infrastructure development crossroads. With a new governor, crashing oil prices and a $3.5-billion budget deficit, the state is struggling with the fate of several major public-works projects. The trouble has divided lawmakers over the state's energy and transportation future.By an executive order issued in December, Gov. Bill Walker (D) ended new work and spending commitments on six of the state's energy and transportation developments, even though more than $1 billion already has been spent. The work
Photo by Jeffrey Cox / ENR T.B. Penick says in a lawsuit that it expected sub default insurance to pay fast. Related Links: Subcontractor Default Insurance Powerpoint Memorial Day weekend, 2013, was a triumph for New York City as it reopened its ravaged beaches seven months after Superstorm Sandy. To do so, New York City had three months earlier hired Triton Structural Concrete, a part of contractor T.B. Penick & Sons, to build and install most of 35 lifeguard and bathroom station modules at city beaches for $105 million.The project is one of ENR's Best of the Best projects, but
Related Links: Surety Discharged Due to Lack of Timely Notice TxDot Defaults Woodlands Parkway Contractor A few months ago, the Texas Dept. of Transportation declared that a medium-size contractor working on a highway-widening project on the Woodlands Parkway had defaulted on its contract.The work was 80% complete. It isn't clear if the issue involved is quality of work, failure to pay subs or suppliers or safety. But the default illustrates some of the complications of late-contract terminations, when contractors and owners sometimes reach an impasse on schedule and payment despite much of the work already being in place.Late-stage terminations at
Wikimedia Commons The 12-story addition to the Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton had been hailed for its advances in modular construction. Related Links: ENR's feature story on the Miami Valley Hospital addition An industry publication celebrates modular hospital construction A 12-story hospital addition in Dayton, Ohio that was hailed in 2010 as an advance in modular construction has turned into a major legal headache and source of costly losses to the construction team, its insurers and the project architect.The trouble emerged after an outbreak of Legionella in the addition at Miami Valley Hospital in 2011 led to several illnesses and
Related Links: Commerce Dept./U.S Census Bureau report on January 2015 construction put in place ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu's comments and analysis AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's comments and analysis Construction spending climbed 1.8% in January on a year-over-year basis, to an annual rate of $971.4 billion, but it was down 1.1% from December's total, the Commerce Dept. has reported.The latest monthly report on the value of finished construction projects, which Commerce's U.S. Census Bureau released on March 2, also showed that January’s private construction rose 0.5% from its year-earlier level, to a $697.6-billion annual rate, but slipped 0.5% from
Related Links: Commerce Dept./Census Bureau release and data tables for December construction AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's comments and analysis ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu's comments and analysis The construction industry posted a healthy 2014, as total spending rose 5.6% to $961.4 billion the Commerce Dept. has reported. The total was the highest in six years, a construction economist said.In its latest monthly construction spending report, released on Feb. 2, Commerce’s U.S. Census Bureau also said that the seasonally adjusted value of completed work edged up 0.4% in December compared with the previous month, to an annualized rate of $982.1
Robert Trudell's Youtube Channel Image from local resident's video shows part of the Mesa, Ariz., plant whose furnaces must be sold to pay back creditors. After a bankruptcy judge in December approved a settlement with primary creditor Apple Inc., GT Advanced Technologies has started dismantling a Mesa, Ariz., factory that was once touted as a symbol of Apple’s commitment to bring manufacturing jobs back to America. The means of funding the settlement are unusual and have created skepticism. GTAT will give Apple $439 million through the sale of more than 2,000 furnaces it intended to use to make sapphire glass
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