Panoramic. Iceland�s rugged vistas are backdrop for aluminum smelter powered by electricity from new hydroplant. (Photo by Peter Reina for ENR) Converting “melting icebergs into aluminum...is pretty smart,” notes a manager on a vast integrated hydro and smelter project in Iceland. Energy, both hydro and geothermal, is the only significant natural resource Icelanders have to compensate for declining fisheries. The tiny subarctic nation, stranded between Greenland and Scotland, is determined to export as much as it can in energy-intensive products. Iceland’s biggest electricity project ever, rated at 690 MW, is now being built solely to serve an emerging 322,000- tonne-per-year
Deep Work. Spiral casings installed for Francis turbines. (Photo courtesy of Landsvirkjun) Iceland may be a wealthy, developed country but its remoteness and harsh highland climate demand serious pioneering skills from builders of the Kárahnjúkar hydro project. Setting up camp before the first biting winter was the Italian main contractor’s initial priority. With two-thirds of tunneling complete, the goal now is preventing further program slippage. “I’ve worked in Inner Mongolia at minus 35° F but that was nothing. There was no wind,” says Gianni Porta, project manager with main contractor Impregilo S.p.A., Milan. For much of the year, arctic temperatures
Rapid escalation of materials prices is causing contractors some headaches but the availability and delivery of fabricated materials is a migraine. “The ability to deliver is of greater importance than the cost of materials and equipment,” says Jim Scotti, vice president and chief procurement officer at Fluor Corp., Irving, Texas. Many owners understand the spike in material prices but will not accept longer timelines and that makes “the shop space with our fabricators our biggest concern,” Scotti says. Most fabrication shops are running over 90% capacity and are booked far in advance., he notes. Related Links: Copper: Subs struggle with
Rising crude oil costs and refinery improvements are giving asphalt prices a steady push upward. In May, asphalt costs were 48% higher than a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index. And ENR’s 20-city average price for liquid asphalt is up 42% for the year. The aggregate binder accounts for 40% to 60% of a paving project’s total cost, says Mike Pack, president of Frehner Construction Co., North Las Vegas. Dan Gallagher, vice president of operations for Thornton, Ill.-based Gallagher Asphalt Corp., says it is paying $405 per ton compared to $170 a year ago.
(Photo courtesy of NAPA) Highway contractors reuse millions of tons of asphalt pavement every year. Now, with the price of liquid asphalt up more than 40% on average over the past 12 months, they are looking to recycle more. Standing in their way are transportation engineers who believe that reclaimed asphalt pavement does not perform as well as virgin material. “If you don’t solve this issue, we will charge you more,” says Dan Gallagher, vice president of operations at Thornton, Ill.-based Gallagher Asphalt Corp. Contractors in the Chicago area have more than 200,000 tons of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) waiting
Contractors have more work than they have people to do the work. This has led to a desperate struggle by contractors to find and retain qualified managers, ratcheting up the pressure on salaries to unprecedented levels. Contractors anticipate giving average salary increases of 3.97% in 2006, according to a survey by PAS Inc., a Saline, Mich.-based construction compensation consulting firm. “But we generally see actual increases go up at least a half percent by the end of the year,” says Jeffrey M. Robinson, president of PAS. Related Links: Copper: Subs struggle with soaring prices Economics: Inflation is gaining momentum Procurement:
Manual. Crews building the early Interstate system worked six days, and were hired locally. (Photo courtesy of Michigan Department of Transportation) Administering the early years of the Interstate highway program required the cooperation of officials at the federal, state and local levels. It began as something of a patchwork job but was probably more democratic than a top-down setup. Although the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 that launched the program established the Highway Trust Fund, administered by the Bureau of Public Roads, the program was executed by the 48 states. Many were not ready to leave the starting gate.
In 2002, Arizona Dept. of Transportation engineers sincerely thought they were being context-sensitive. Their $45-million proposal to four-lane nine miles of State Route 179 in Sedona provided for deer crossings, stained rocks and replanted cacti. Then at a fateful meeting, Sedona residents “ripped into me,” recalls Debra Brisk, former ADOT deputy director and now transportation sector manager with HDR Inc., Omaha. “They were right,” she says. “We were just looking at it as mitigation. But it’s beyond that.” So ADOT started over. A panel with citizens and federal officials helped choose a consultant team. “We did all that before we
The complete 2006 Top 100 Design-Build / Construction Management special report will be available on Friday, June 9, 2006. click here for more information Related Links The Top 100 Overview | Story | The 100 Design-Build Firms | Story | List | The Top CM Firms | Story | List | The Top CM-at-Risk Firms | Story | List | The Top 40 Program Mangers | List | For people involved in the construction business, this is a strange time. For designers, contractors and construction management firms, work is plentiful. For owners, the economy is good and funding generally is available
There was a time when advocates were proclaiming that design-build would become the predominant project delivery method for most major projects in the U.S. That has not come to pass. But design-build has matured to become a major presence in many markets and that presence is growing. There still are skeptics. “Smaller public agencies are scared to let go of control at 20% design, so they try to hold on through 80% design. And if they demand that, that’s not true design-build,” says Steve Margaroni, vice president of construction management services at Psomas. The complete 2006 Top 100 Design-Build /
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