Florida Secretary of Transportation Ananth Prasad announced July 1 that Gov. Rick Scott (R) has decided to allow Central Florida’s planned, nearly $1.3-billion commuter rail project, SunRail, to proceed to construction. The governor’s office issued a brief statement: “Today, Gov. Rick Scott authorized Florida Dept. of Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad to sign the Full Funding Grant Agreement to continue the process of implementing the SunRail project, as approved in the 2009 Special Legislative Session.”Scott had suspended the project shortly after taking office earlier this year when he placed a hold on all state contracts valued at more than $1 million.
Nearly $1.7 billion in new Florida construction contracts moved forward in May, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, but that was 11% behind last year’s pace, as all three sectors declined during the month. Both the nonresidential and nonbuilding sectors were 13% lower than a year ago. New nonresidential contracts totaled $570.4 million for the month, while nonbuilding starts tallied roughly $432.9 million. The value of new residential contracts was estimated at $683.6 million, or 8% below last May’s pace.For the year to date, McGraw-Hill Construction estimates the value of 2011 Florida contracts at nearly $8.8 billion, or 23% below the $11.4
The pace of new nonresidential and residential construction starts in Georgia accelerated in May, with both sectors experiencing 10% increases, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR Southeast. However, a major slide in the nonbuilding sector caused Georgia’s overall monthly total for new contracts to drop 3%, for a $913.1 million total. The residential sector’s 10% gain resulted in an estimated $295.4 million total for the month. Nonresidential contracts totaled slightly more than $496.7 million. The nonbuilding sector, which includes infrastructure contracts, fell 46% compared to the same period of a year ago, registering $121 million in new work.For the
The pace of new North Carolina construction contracts slowed slightly in May, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. The state’s nearly $1.1 billion in new contracts was 5% behind the pace set last May. Residential contracts improved slightly during the month, with the $528.5 million in new starts equaling a 2% gain compared to a year ago. Nonresidential’s total of nearly $394.9 million was 6% behind last May’s pace. The nonbuilding sector, which includes infrastructure projects, experienced a 24% decline, with about $128.6 million in new starts.The slight May decline was actually an improvement of sorts. For the year-to-date, new North Carolina
Rather than shutting down its cracked Crystal River Nuclear Plant 3 in Citrus County, Progress Energy Florida will seek approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the state of Florida for up to $1.3 billion in additional repairs to the out-of-commission facility, likely keeping it offline until 2014. Photo courtesy Progress Energy Progress Energy plans to remove and replace the steel-reinforced concrete in the remaining five bays of its Crystal River 3 nuclear power plant's containment building. Photo courtesy Progress Energy It was in the course of making repairs to the previously cracked bay of the plant's containment building that
The pace of new South Carolina construction contracts fell significantly in two of three construction sectors in May, resulting in a 22% overall decline, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR Southeast. The end result was $468.7 million in new starts. Nonresidential fell the furthest, as this sector’s May total of nearly $90.7 million was 57% below the pace of a year ago. The nonbuilding sector, which includes infrastructure contracts, recorded $76.7 million in new starts during the month, or 28% behind last May’s volume. Residential work collectively improved by 7%, with about $301.3 million in new contracts moving forward
With the June 13 recovery of the body of a trapped worker following a boiler structure collapse in St. Petersburg, Fla., company and government officials will switch their focus to finding the accident’s cause. Photo courtesy Progress Energy In an attempt to find Clark White, a missing welder lost in the June 9 collapse of a Progress Energy building in St. Petersburg, Fla., crews searched the resulting rubble for four days before finding his body. Around 5 p.m., rescue workers recovered the body of Clark White, 65, a welder employed by Frontier Industrial Corp. of Buffalo, N.Y., which was the
The value of new Georgia construction contracts fell by 15% in April, for a $814.5-million total, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR Southeast. Related Links: Florida Contracts Decline 14% in April North Carolina Contracts Drop 23% in April South Carolina Sees Ups, Downs in April All categories of construction fell for the month, though the nonbuilding sector, which includes infrastructure projects, suffered the most. The value of that category’s total starts was estimated at $127.1 million for April, or 47% below the same period of a year ago. Nonresidential contracts fell 2% compared to last April, with roughly $389
The bad news for Florida contractors returned in April, as the value of new contracts fell by 14% overall, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR Southeast. The downward slide returned after a strong March—the state’s only positive month for the year—and pushed the latest total for new construction contracts down to approximately $2 billion. Related Links: April Another Poor Month for Georgia Contracts North Carolina Contracts Drop 23% in April South Carolina Sees Ups, Downs in April All three sectors declined during April, but nonresidential fell by the greatest percentage. This category’s total dropped 33% compared to the same
Despite a significant uptick in the value of infrastructure projects, North Carolina’s overall total for new construction contracts fell 23% in April, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR Southeast. The decline resulted in an estimated $912.6 million in new contracts during the month, down from last April’s $1.2-billion total. Related Links: South Carolina Sees Ups, Downs in April April Another Poor Month for Georgia Contracts Florida Contracts Drop 14% in April McGraw-Hill Construction estimated April’s total for the nonbuilding category, which includes infrastructure work, at $168.4 million, or 20% ahead of the same period of a year ago. The