The Odebrecht Organization awarded its first annual Odebrecht Award for Sustainable Development in the United States in October. A team from Houston’s Rice University brought home first place for their solution for oil companies venturing further offshore – an island constructed for workers to live on while working deep sea oil fields. Photo by David A. Brown, dabfoto From left to right: Neeraj Bhatia, the teams advising professor; David Peebles, VP of Business Development, Odebrecht; winning team members Joanna Luo, Weijia Song, and Alexander Yuen. Photo courtesy of Neeraj Bhatia A rendering of the Rice University team's man-made island, or
Danny Miller has been promoted to vice president of LJA Engineering Inc., Austin, Texas. He has been with the firm's land development division for more than six years. Miller has more than 22 years of experience in land development and site development projects throughout the Central Texas area. His experience includes feasibility studies, conceptual planning, cost estimating and construction phase services. Courtesy of LJA Engineering Inc. Danny Miller has been promoted to vice president of LJA Engineering Inc., Austin, Texas. Related Links: Engineering News Record Balfour Beatty Construction has announced several promotions. Juan Rodriguez has been named vice president of
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
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
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
A slurry-filled sinkhole in the Bayou Corne area of Louisiana’s Assumption Parish that first developed earlier this month now reaches 476 feet (NE to SW) by 640 feet (NW to SE), stretching 300 feet at its deepest as of August 15. Photo courtesy of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources An aerial view of the slurry-filled Bayou Corne sinkhole in Assumption Parish, Louisiana, from August 3. Related Links: Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Assumption Parish While the sinkhole continues to expand, its exact cause remains unknown, a representative from the Department of Environmental Quality tells
Richard W. Galloway was named senior vice president of the water and environment (W&E) group at Atkins. He had been vice president of federal business development and planning director at CH2M Hill. Galloway has 35 years of professional experience as a consultant and contractor to government agencies and private-sector clients. In his new role, he will develop strategies for Atkins' W&E Group in the Texas area and across the country. Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record Arthur Stoddart has been named executive vice president of GL Noble Denton's operations in the Americas, which are based in Houston. He previously
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