The 2011 officers of the AGC of California are formally being installed in January. The installation will take place on Jan. 28 during a special dinner at The Grand Californian at Disneyland in Anaheim, held in conjunction with the first division and state board meetings of the year. AGC of California�s elected leaders for 2011 are, from left, AGC of California CEO Tom Holsman; treasurer Curt Weltz, Flatiron West, Inc., Benicia; senior vice president John Nunan, Unger Construction Co., Sacramento; president Gerry DiIoli, Herzog Contracting Corp., Oceanside; vice president Randy Douglas, Tierra Contracting, Inc., Goleta; and immediate past president Bob
The American Society of Safety Engineers has released a film titled �American Society of Safety Engineers � A Century of Safety� (www.asse.org/ASSECenturyofSafety ) that tells the story of work safety and tragedy through the decades and why we are safer today. The ASSE says the film not only tells the story of how and why we are safer at work today, but the genesis of safety in the workplace and the occupational safety, health and environmental profession. It also part of ASSE�s 100th anniversary. ASSE was founded in 1911 in New York City and now has more than 32,000 occupational
Prior to being sworn in as lieutenant governor, Mayor Gavin Newsom earlier this month nominated Vince Courtney of the Northern California District Council of Laborers to serve on the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Vince Courtney �As the SFPUC continues its work to seismically rebuild our water and wastewater systems and deliver renewable power to San Francisco, Vince Courtney�s valuable experience in workforce training, the building and construction trades and labor negotiations will be tremendous assets to our regional public utility,� says Mayor Newsom. �He is widely respected by business, labor and the community alike and I know he will
San Francisco-based Forell/Elsesser Engineers Inc. was selected by Build Change to assist with the post-earthquake permanent housing reconstruction and technical assistance program in Haiti. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The Jan. 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake damaged or destroyed an estimated 285,000 homes, leaving 1.6 million Haitians homeless, or almost 20% of the total population. Building upon its award-winning post-earthquake housing reconstruction programs in Indonesia and China, Build Change is partnering with Habitat for Humanity International and the Development Innovations Group on a U.S. AID�s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance-funded project to provide technical assistance and support to the government of Haiti
Thanks to a $13-million gift from The Otis Booth Foundation, the Natural History Museum (NHM) of Los Angeles County is going forward with a light-filled, three-story entrance pavilion, as designed by Los Angeles-based CO Architects. The new, glass-walled Otis Booth Pavilion will prominently exhibit one of the museum�s signature holdings, a 63-ft-long fin whale skeleton, and will serve as a beacon to greet visitors and Los Angeles denizens alike. �The goal of the Otis Booth Pavilion design is for the north face of the Natural History Museum to be as transparent as possible to visually offer the Museum�s collections to
Construction firms are facing increasing pressure in December as nearly every material used by contractors rose in price, while bid prices for new buildings remained flat, according to an analysis of December producer price index figures released last week by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials warn that the price squeeze on contractors is likely to intensify in 2011 as global demand for construction materials grows and domestic demand for construction services remains weak. �Bad though these numbers are, there is worse to come,� says Ken Simonson, the association�s chief economist, noting that since the data was compiled,
Boston-based Suffolk Construction Co. acquired ROEL Construction of San Diego and Irvine for an undisclosed price. Wayne Hickey, CEO of ROEL, will be the CEO of the new entity, according to spokeswoman Carolyn Spicer, who adds that Suffolk plans to engage in some market research first to determine the �ROEL� name identity in the region. ROEL is a 90-year-old family-owned general contracting firm. Suffolk also has an Irvine office, but Spicer says it has not yet been determined if the offices would combine. �ROEL is a major player on the West Coast, so we see this as a tremendous growth
In 2007, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) set in motion strict off-road diesel emissions rules that could have had long-range impact on contractors and equipment suppliers. When the recession hit the state particularly hard, the CARB rules, based data that was questioned from the outset, seemed unfair and costly. Officials estimated the equipment replacements and upgrades would cost billions of dollars. Enter Michael Kennedy, the Associated General Contractors of America’s general counsel. In a two-year journey filled with sometimes contentious board and private meetings, Kennedy took the industry’s lead in addressing the issue and negotiating a compromise, which occurred
Despite some heavy recent opposition, including a court-ordered temporary restraining order, California�s Department of Transportation and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority have awarded a public-private partnership contract to their selected bidder for the second phase of the $1-billion Doyle Drive replacement project, known as Presidio Parkway, in San Francisco. The agreement was announced hours after an Alameda County Superior Court judge dissolved the TRO, which was requested by the state engineers union, Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG), and granted Dec. 22. But Judge Wynne Carvill says he will announce a request for a preliminary injunction and a hearing
McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. recently completed construction of Soka University of America�s new Performing Arts Center and Academic Building project, located on 1.9 acres of the Soka University campus in Aliso Viejo. The new Performing Arts Center is designated to become a venue in South Orange County for concerts, theater productions, lectures and assemblies, enhancing Soka University�s role as a cultural center and community gathering place. McCarthy served as general contractor for the $73 million project that began in December 2008. It was designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects LLP of Los Angeles. The project included construction of a three-level,