Seven outstanding projects built by AGC of California contractors were chosen as winners in the 24th annual Associated General Contractors of California's Constructor Awards program. The winning projects, along with all of the Constructor Awards finalists named in this year’s competition, were honored as the “best of the best” in California construction during the 2011 Awards Banquet and presentation at The Fairmont, Newport Beach earlier this month. The prestigious black tie event, the “Oscars” evening for the construction industry, was attended by nearly 300 people from top construction firms throughout the state. In addition to naming the Constructor Awards winners
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) released a report detailing the enormous impact high-speed and intercity passenger rail projects will have in driving job development, while also rebuilding America’s manufacturing sector and generating billions of dollars in business sales. The report, “The Case for Business Investment in High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail,” reinforces the point that investments in high-speed and intercity rail will have many direct and indirect benefits. Nationally, due to proposed federal investment of high-speed rail over a six-year period, investment can result in supporting and creating more than 1.3 million jobs, APTA says. For each $1 billion invested in high-speed rail
A federal judge recently affirmed that Caltrans’ Disadvantaged Business Enterprises program was “clearly constitutional,” denying a complaint filed in federal court in 2009 by the Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of the Associated General Contractors of San Diego. Judge John A. Mendez, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, found that since 2007 the department made the necessary changes to its DBE program to satisfy legal concerns about the program’s constitutional requirements. Caltrans implements a DBE Program as a condition of receiving $3 billion in federal transportation funding annually. The program ensures a level playing field for disadvantaged and small
HMC Architects has acquired Beverly Prior Architects, which will become HMC+Beverly Prior Architects and will continue to serve clients from its current San Francisco office. The merger enhances both companies’ geographic reach, while strengthening positions in multiple market segments, according to HMC’s President and CEO Randy Peterson. HMC has California offices in Ontario, Irvine, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Jose. HMC Architects’ prominence in K–12 and community college markets will enhance Beverly Prior Architects’ education markets in addition to offering additional expertise in healthcare, interior architecture and specialty education consulting services, Peterson adds. He says that Beverly Prior
The team of Pinner Construction Co. and gkkworks will head a $28-million design-build contract on the Dorsey High School redevelopment project for the Los Angeles Unified School District. The LEED silver project, the district�s first-ever design-build effort, will be completed by June 2014. Major components of the multi-phase Dorsey High School project include construction of 17 interim classroom buildings, demolition of eight existing classroom buildings and a girls’ gymnasium, construction of a two-story, 28,000-sq-ft classroom building and 22,000-sq-ft gymnasium and the extensive modernization of an existing 19,000-sq-ft gymnasium. Some of the benefits for the project owner using design-build delivery include
Crews from Caltrans and American Bridge/Fluor Enterprises joint venture last week placed a steel segment atop the four independent legs of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge’s self-anchored suspension span (SAS) tower. Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney says the new section, known as the “grillage,” will evenly distribute the weight of the 480-ton cable saddle that will hold the SAS’s nearly mile-long single cable as it passes over the tower. The section is nicknamed the “grillage” due to the position of internal steel plates which create the appearance of a grill grate, Ney says. The tower section arrived in the Bay Area
The U.S. Department of Energy�s conditional loan guarantees for two more California solar projects in the past week is expected to generate more than 1,300 construction jobs and help the state meet its newly approved renewable energy goal of 33% by 2020, according to Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Photo: Solar Trust of America The Blythe project will be the first concentrating solar power (CSP) parabolic trough plant to use an air-cooled condenser unit, which will decrease water use by nearly 90% compared with a water-cooled CSP facility. Chu announced the offers of $2.1 billion and $1.2 billion for the Blythe
Two projects have been given the go-ahead at The Railyards in downtown Sacramento. Photo: nc3d.com Construction at the 240-acre redevelopment site has been on hold since the previous developer, Thomas Enterprises, Newnan, Ga., defaulted on a $187 million loan, which forced the property into foreclosure late last year. The new developer, I.A. Sacramento Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Oak Brook, Ill.-based Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc., Thomas Enterprises’ original lender, is currently renegotiating contracts with the city for future projects. Last week, Granite Construction Inc. was awarded a $41-million rail relocation project by the city, booking the project into
Healthcare continues to be a major factor in California�s construction industry, scoring five out of the top 25 Top Starts in ENR California this year. Spurred by regulations pertaining to Senate Bill 1953, requiring seismic upgrades or replacements of hospitals and medical centers, healthcare owners are scrambling to meet the first deadlines that come into play in 2013. Ray Zunino, vice president with Hunt Construction Group, Scottsdale, Ariz., which is rebuilding Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City (no. 16 on the Top Starts list), says that because of the senate bill, Hunt and other general contractors are not getting anywhere near
On The Scene April 11, 2011 Frank Gehry’s Guests from the architecture, design and real estate world gathered on March 19 at the 76th floor penthouse of Frank Gehry�s New York by Gehry building to celebrate the architect�s 82nd birthday and the formal opening of the 870-ft, stainless steel-clad lower Manhattan tower. The event�s host, Bruce Ratner, chairman and CEO of Forest City Ratner Cos., presented Gehry with a 40-inch silver birthday cake shaped like a tower designed by the architect as guests sang “Happy Birthday.” Pictured from left: Berta Gehry, U2 frontman Bono, Frank Gehry and Bono�s wife, Ali
RSS
