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  Although some key market indicators, including a recent survey of backlogs by the Associated Builders and Contractors Inc., show construction activity in the Midwest trailing activity in the South and Northeast, the region led in February's Architectural Billings Index (ABI), according to the Washington D.C.-based American Institute of Architects.The index, which provides a glimpse of future nonresidential construction spending activity, remained in positive territory in February for the fourth month in a row, with a score of 51.0, up from 50.9 in January. By comparison, the Midwest regional average score was 56.0, followed by the South with 51.3, the

Now that engineers have determined that a ruptured diaphragm plate led to the failure of a pair of cables on a 2,200-ft cable-stayed suspension bridge in Minneapolis, they are turning their attention to potential causes of the rupture, as well as fractures uncovered on two additional plates in late February. Photo Courtesy of the Minneapolis Department of Public Works The Martin Olav Sabo Bridge, a on a 2,200-ft cable-stayed structure bridge in Minneapolis, remains closed as investigators attempt to determine why a diaphragm plate supporting one its cables ruptured. Meantime, city officials say they are satisfied with results of an

Related Article: Transportation Institutional Work Dominate Rankings Top Starts In The Tristate Region Rank Project Location Project Cost Owner Project Team 1 Delta/JFK IAT Redevelopment Terminal 4, Concourse B Queens, N.Y. $1.2 billion Delta Airlines GC Turner Construction Architect JV of Skidmore Owings & Merrill and Arup 2 Hudson Transmission Line Ridgefield, N.J.-New York, N.Y. $850 million Hudson Transmission Partners EPC Contractor JV of Siemens and Prysmian Cables & Systems Engineering/Architecture Burns & Roe 3 No. 7 Subway Line Extension — Systems, Finishes, Core and Shell of Site A New York, N.Y. $542 million MTA Capital Construction CM JV of

Although U.S. construction employment hit a two-year high in January, it remains below peak levels in 329 out of 337 metro areas, including Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill, where employment has declined by 35 percent since peaking at 187,200 jobs in 2001, according to data compiled by the Arlington, Va.-based Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). On a percentage basis, job losses in the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville area were the fourth worst in the nation, behind Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz.; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.; and Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.Year-over-year data present a mixed picture for the Midwest, with Illinois, Ohio and Indiana showing employment gains from December 2010 to

Although average construction backlogs in the Midwest remained largely unchanged for the fourth quarter of 2011, backlogs slid 3.2% nationwide, from 8.1 months to 7.8 months, for the same period, according to Washington, D.C.-based Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). Backlogs in middle states, including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri, rose from 6.22 months to 6.53 months between the third and fourth quarters, putting the region roughly on par with Western states, but well behind the Northeastern and Southern regions, whose backlogs for the fourth quarter averaged 7.99 months and 8.92 months, respectively.“The disparity between regional construction is on the

Overhead, an El train rumbles across Chicago's Devon-Sheridan viaduct. Below, amid cracks, spalls and exposed rebar, a network of strain gauges measures the amount of stress that has shifted from the original concrete structure to new supplementary steel shoring. As the structure continues to deteriorate, primarily from exposure to deicing chemicals, the steel columns and their concrete footings are expected to absorb more of the loading imposed by trains, the roadbed and the structure itself.The gauges measure the elastic movement of the steel columns each time a train crosses the overpass—as many as 450 times a day. The greater the

Overhead, an El train rumbles across Chicago's Devon-Sheridan viaduct. Below, amid cracks, spalls and exposed rebar, a network of strain gauges measures the amount of stress that has shifted from the original concrete structure to new supplementary steel shoring. Photo Courtesy of the Infrastructure Technology Institute Data culled from monitoring the structural performance of the Chicago Transit Authority's Devon-Sheridan viaduct will be used to develop models to predict the long-term performance of similar strucures. As the structure continues to deteriorate, primarily from exposure to deicing chemicals, the steel columns and their concrete footings are expected to absorb more of the

  CourtneyBrian Courtney has joined Chicago-based general contractor and CM Reed Construction as senior project manager. Courtney previously was senior project manager with construction manager and general contractor Barton Malow Co., where he managed a multiproject construction management portfolio. Courtney's current duties include working with building owners to develop strategic architectural plans for projects; overseeing estimating; securing permits; soliciting and negotiating subcontractor bids; and working to ensure successful and timely completion of Reed's projects.    Ken Fuller has joined Miron Construction, Wausau, Wis., as an industrial project manager. His responsibilities include budgets, scheduling, preliminary estimates, coordination of construction activity, project closeout

Two Midwest projects, the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids Mich., and BP Bright Lights, a Chicago-based office facility, are among the winners of Engineering News-Record's fourth-annual Best of the Best Projects Awards, a competition among 119 Best Projects winners awarded by ENR’s seven regional publications. Winners will be profiled in the Feb. 13, 2012 issue of ENR. Photo Courtesy of Lend Lease BP Bright Lights, Chicago, was named Best Interior Design/Tenant Improvement Project for 2011 An independent panel of design and construction professionals selected 18 winners in categories ranging from green building to transportation. Projects were judged on