The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined slightly in March, was virtually unchanged in April. The index now stands at 69.2 (1985=100), down slightly from 69.5 in March. The Expectations Index declined to 81.1 from 82.5, while the Present Situation Index improved to 51.4 from 49.9 last month. Consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved in April. Those claiming business conditions are “good” increased to 15.3% from 14.3%. However, those claiming business conditions are “bad” edged up to 33.5% from 33.2%. Consumers’ appraisal of the job market remained mixed. Those stating jobs are “hard to get” declined to 37.5%
New construction starts in March jumped 23% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $482.4 billion, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Cos. The increase came as the result of a sharp gain for electric utility construction, lifted in particular by work at a nuclear power plant facility in Georgia. Meanwhile, public works construction and housing showed modest improvement in March, but nonresidential building lost further momentum. For the first three months of 2012, the amount of total construction starts on an unadjusted basis was reported at $94.2 billion, down 3% from a year ago. For the 12
Sixty-eight percent of the nation’s highway contractors had motor vehicles crash into their construction work zones during the past year, according to the results of a new highway work zone study recently conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials added that the study found those work-zone crashes are more likely to kill construction workers than they are to kill vehicle operators or passengers. “Any time your jobsite is just a few feet away from fast-moving traffic, things can get a little too exciting,” said Tom Brown, the chair of the association’s national highway and transportation division and
The American Institute of Architects Colorado presented 13 awards and honors, as well as 16 scholarships and grants, during its annual Young Architects Awards Gala (YAAG) on April 20 in Denver. YAAG is held annually in April in conjunction with Colorado Architecture Month. The following awards and honorable mentions were selected from entries submitted by firms, designers, students and young architects (licensed 10 years or less) from across the state. The entries were judged by a jury of architects and community leaders, facilitated by Mark Gelernter, dean of the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado Denver.2012
Top Starts in the Mountain States Rank Project LocationProject CostStart Date/ End DateOwner / Prime Contractor1Eagle P3 Commuter RailDenver$1.3 billionOct. 20112016Regional Transportation DistrictDenver Transit Partners2Utah Data CenterCamp Williams, Utah$1.2 billionApril 2011Aug. 2014National Security AgencyBalfour Beatty/DPR/Big-D JV3Replacement Medical Center Facility, Eastern Colorado Health Care SystemAurora, Colo.$604 millionNov. 20112015U.S. Dept. of Veterans AffairsKiewit-Turner JV4Exempla Saint Joseph Heritage ProjectDenver$367 millionDec. 20112014Exempla HealthcareMortenson Construction5U.S. Federal CourthouseSalt Lake City$160.2 millionSpring 20112014General Services AdministrationOkland Construction6NREL Energy Systems Integration FacilityGolden, Colo.$135 millionApril 2011Sept. 2012U.S. Dept. of EnergyJE Dunn Construction7Castle Rock Adventist Health CampusCastle Rock, Colo.$98 millionNov. 2011July 2013Centura HealthGE Johnson Construction8Kaiser Permanente South Multi-Specialty Medical ComplexLone Tree,
Molybdenum and rhenium are not exactly names that roll off the tongue or carry the familiarity of the copper produced by Rio Tinto's Bingham Canyon mine in Utah's Oquirrh Mountains. While not familiar elements to most people, molybdenum and rhenium are nonetheless valuable to steel and petroleum producers, which is why Rio Tinto, the parent company of Kennecott Utah Copper (KUC), is investing approximately $340 million into building a one-of-a-kind facility to extract, process and package the minerals, using a process developed and patented by Rio Tinto. Kennecott's new molybdenum autoclave process (MAP) facility is rising on what was a
The $1-billion first phase of the Southern Delivery System, one of the largest water projects to be built in Colorado in decades, is well under way and headed toward completion in 2016. The SDS will bring Arkansas River water stored in the Pueblo Reservoir, located west of the city of Pueblo, north to Colorado Springs by means of a 62-mile underground steel pipeline. That water will serve the cities of Colorado Springs, Fountain, Security and Pueblo West.More than 100 Colorado companies are already at work on the project, which is owned by Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU), and more than $100
The American Council of Engineering Cos. of Colorado honored Jeanne Sharps of Denver's Felsburg Holt & Ullevig as the 2012 Outstanding Woman in Engineering. The award recognizes a woman in a leadership position in the engineering profession for professional achievements that make her a visible role model for young engineers. Roy Martinez has been named the new water agency market sector director for HDR's water business group. He will focus on strategic planning and business development and support the development of technical resources by working with business class directors. He will be headquartered in HDR's Denver office.Gary Outlaw (left)and Peter
The Utah Transit Authority is applying lessons learned from its first rail projects to create one of the country's largest and most aggressive rail expansions.
RSS
