U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added the Chemetco site, a closed copper smelter in Hartford, Ill., and the Lake Calumet Cluster site in Chicago, to the Superfund National Priorities List. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex and uncontrolled hazardous waste sites in the U.S. The Chemetco site is on Illinois Route 3 in Madison County, about 2 mi south of Hartford. It was a secondary copper smelter from 1969 to 2001 before filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy. More than 500,000 cu yds of processing slag, sludge and other hazardous materials were left on portions

Hanging more than 200 ft over a jobsite in downtown Kansas City, Mo., James Hague doesn’t seem to notice the tiny people and equipment below his feet. Instead of using paper checklists, J.E. Dunn inspectors enter their findings in a mobile smart phone that instantly sends their reports to the company’s data server, where managers can access them over the Internet. The senior technician intently works a dial gauge that measures the play in a crane’s turntable—the giant platform that rotates the jib. “A bearing could go bad,” says Hague, suspended from a full-body harness. “And that’s something we want

Although 2009 was grim overall for the construction industry, not all numbers were negative. Several niche project categories saw significant increases in the four metropolitan statistical areas within Midwest Construction’s coverage: Milwaukee, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Chicago. Photo: Rendering courtesy of Opus North Marquette University, Milwaukee, plans to break ground for a $35-million, 100,000-sq-ft, five-story building for its engineering school this spring. A second, 155,000-sq-ft, $65-million building is planned for the future to complete the new engineering facility. According to research compiled by McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics (which, like Midwest Construction, is part of the McGraw-Hill Cos.), the category faring the

By most accounts, 2010 looks to be another rugged year for much of the construction industry, though things may improve a little near year’s end. In what promises to be a difficult business climate overall, higher-education construction seems to be a relative bright spot. Photo: Loebl Schlossman & Hackl The College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill., is in the midst of $84 million of renovation and construction for an instructional building and student resource center. The project, scheduled for completion in 2012, will renovate and construct 600,000 sq ft, along with the related storm and sanitary sewers. That’s not to

Is there room at the inn? Odds are, yes, there is room…too much room. That means there’s less need for more rooms—and what’s bad for the hotel business is equally bad for the construction industry. Photo: Steve Kaelble / Midwest Construction The new JW Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis is one of just a few large hotel projects going on in the Midwest. At 34 stories, it is the tallest hotel in Indiana. The statistics tell a grim story. U.S. hotel occupancy rates have been dropping since 2007, and by the fourth quarter of 2009 they had hit 50.6%, according to

HIRES GOODALE Jeff Goodale has joined the Chicago office of architectural firm HOK as senior vice president and co-director of the justice practice. Goodale has been in the profession for more than 20 years. His experience includes master planning, programming, design, security consulting and construction management for a number of criminal justice system projects. Jeff Mazanec has joined R.A. Smith National as senior project manager in the municipal services division at the company’s Appleton, Wis., office. Mazanec has more than 31 years of experience in municipal engineering, transportation, downtown revitalization, water and wastewater, water resources, solid waste, and environmental engineering

MROWIEC Most construction contracts or construction supply agreements contain required completion or delivery dates. Some also incorporate a construction schedule. But some contracts neither provide a specific, firm completion date nor expressly incorporate any construction schedule. If an agreement does not provide a completion date or does not incorporate a schedule, may a construction schedule nevertheless assist in determining a party’s timeliness obligation? That issue was addressed in the recent case of International Production Specialists, Inc. v. Schwing America, Inc., 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 19842 (7th Cir. Sept. 2, 2009). In Schwing America, Volst-Alpine Industries, Inc. acted as general contractor

My contracting firm has generally resisted leasing construction equipment in the past. We always bought because times in recent years were good or average and we always knew we’d have the equipment we’d need for projects.

Epstein-Metter Studios, Chicago, and Dake Wells Architecture, Springfield, Mo., recently earned honors from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Related Links: William Bast Named President of National Structural Engineers Council AIA Chicago Names Vitale Young Architect of 2009 Lean Construction Institute Forms Ohio Valley Chapter AGC of St. Louis and OSHA Form Partnership AIA Chicago Names Nagle Hartray 2009 Firm of the Year Great Lakes Design-Build Institute Elects Officers Northeast Indiana Building Contractors Name Officers for 2010 American Society of Safety Engineers Adds Occupational Health Nurses to Membership CISCO Honors Top Chicago-Area Construction Projects of 2009 Somerville Earns Best Existing

St. Louis contractor Paric is managing the newly started $4.6-million, 51,000-sq-ft renovation of a skilled nursing facility at the Village of St. Mary’s “Villa Theresa” Continuum of Care Retirement Community in O’Fallon, Mo. The work is expected to take 10 months. Related Links: World’s Tallest Building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, was Designed in Chicago Streeter Place 54-Story Luxury Apartment Tower Completed in Chicago Major Eye Institute is Going from Vision to Reality in Indianapolis Metea Valley High School Completed in Aurora, Ill. Building in Orland Park, Ill., Earns LEED Gold Certification St. Louis Metro System’s New Paint Facility Opens Six