Watsonville�s Granite Construction Inc. announced continued actions to reduce its cost structure, enhance operating efficiencies and strengthen the business to achieve long-term profitable growth. As part of its Enterprise Improvement Plan, the company says it is initiating a reduction in force of approximately 227 employees, or approximately 13% of its salaried workforce. Actions associated with the reduction in force are expected to reduce the company�s cost structure by approximately $20 million to $24 million annually. Granite will record a pre-tax charge in the fourth quarter of approximately $10 million to $12 million associated with severance and benefits-related costs. As part
California High Speed Rail Authority�s share of the latest round of stimulus funds came with specific directions: The $715 million had to be spent in the Central Valley, to either start construction on the Merced-Fresno or Fresno-Bakersfield leg of the 800-mi, $45-billion project. Authority board members stressed that despite the Federal Railway Administration suggestions of where to direct the funds, they would use a pre-established formal criteria to determine where to begin building the rail infrastructure based on land acquisition, progress on environmental work and other factors. �It is absolutely critical that we invest these funds where they will do
Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, a privately held consulting firm with 500 employees in 14 offices around the world, has acquired Treadwell & Rollo, a premier geotechnical and environmental engineering firm based in San Francisco. The acquisition, the first in Langan�s 40-year history, firmly establishes a nationwide footprint for the company by adding 70 high-caliber professionals from Treadwell & Rollo�s California offices in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento. �This is momentous news for Langan and Treadwell & Rollo, not to mention the engineering and environmental design industry,� says David T. Gockel, president/CEO of Langan. �Two elite firms with
The State of California, Department of Transportation and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority issued a notice of intent to award a public-private partnership project worth $1 billion to a consortium around Essen, Germany-based HOCHTIEF Concessions for the design, construction, finance, operation and maintenance for 33 years of San Francisco�s Presidio Parkway project. HOCHTIEF�s 50% partner on the Golden Gate Bridge southern access project is Meridiam Infrastructure, based in Luxemburg. The consortium�s construction team is led by HOCHTIEF subsidiary Flatiron. The German firm set up HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions North America in 2009 to bid on PPP projects in Canada. It
Salesforce.com announced the purchase of approximately 14 acres of undeveloped land in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco from Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. The company plans to build a facility that will become its new headquarters. The land, which is adjacent to the University of California, San Franciso campus on one side and the San Francisco Bay on the other, is part of the San Francisco Mission Bay redevelopment area. It is located directly on the San Francisco Muni T line at the UCSF station, and is also directly accessible from the Mariposa Street exit off of 280.
University of California, Davis Medical Center and design-build contractor McCarthy Building Cos., with architect and engineer Watry Design Inc., broke ground on a sevem-level, 1,200-stall parking structure. Cost of the design and construction of the project is $20.7 million and work is expected to be completed by September 2011. �Watry and McCarthy have successful track records working on campus projects throughout the U.C. system and we are thrilled to have their combined skill and talent on the new and much needed U.C. Davis Medical Center�s parking structure,� says Doug Austin, project manager of the U.C. Davis Health System. The 417,000-sq-ft
For 29 years, the American Institute of Architects, California Council has celebrated outstanding architecture through the AIACC Design Awards program. Once again, the AIACC last week announced recipients of this year�s competition. According to the council, architects realize that design is about relationships, not just �looks.� �It�s about how look and feel, use and comfort, stability and durability come together to support one another,� the council says. �How light shapes space and space shapes light -- and how light and space together suggest where we would most like to sit. There are less tangible benefits, too, like the delight that
Alamo Iron Works in San Antonio announced the appointment of Francis “Duffy” Shea as president of the company. In this position, he will be responsible for all aspects of AIW’s steel and industrial supply business. Shea has over two decades of experience in the industrial marketplace and supply distribution. LJA employees earn Professional Engineer�s Licenses from the state of Texas. LJA Engineering Inc. announced that five employees in the firm’s Houston office recently received Professional Engineer’s License from the State of Texas. They are: Jared Ciarella, PE, Sean Wallace, PE, Mehdi Nezami, PE, Jeff Ebersole, PE and Amanda Carriage, PE,
Barnhart Balfour Beatty reports that it has completed the $63.8-million Weapons and Armament Technology Center, now known as the Dr. William B. McLean Laboratory, at the Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) in China Lake. KMA Architecture & Engineering provided structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing design and consulting services for the design-build project. The 170,000-sq-ft, two-story technology center combines state-of-the-art engineering laboratories with supporting management offices and conference facilities. The building is described as the hub of the weapons and armament complex at China Lake and is the single largest construction project of the 11 mission-type facilities that were constructed as
Engineering News-Record, part of McGraw-Hill Construction and the leading construction news publication in the industry, announced that it will expand into seven regional markets with local coverage, rankings and insights beginning in January 2011. The markets include California, Midwest, Mountain States, Southeast, Southwest, Texas and New York. “No one else has the depth, breadth and scope of ENR’s award-winning coverage — and now ENR is raising the bar in regional markets too,” says Keith Fox, president, McGraw-Hill Construction. “We saw an opportunity to strengthen ENR’s presence through regional editions. Consistent regional coverage adds value for our readers and advertisers and