The State Transportation Commission recently presented Colorado Dept. of Transportation (CDOT) Maintenance Section 3 staff with the department’s 2012 Environmental Award. Maintenance Section 3, headquartered in Durango and covering six counties in southwest Colorado, received one of just three awards given. Section 3 crews won for their in-house production of a salt brine as a liquid deicer.“Traditionally, CDOT uses magnesium chloride as the base product for snow and ice operations,” CDOT Section 3 Maintenance Superintendent Kyle Lester said. “We began experimenting with the use of salt brine as a liquid deicer in 2006 in an effort to reduce the concentration
SMPS Colorado convened a panel of Denver health-care facilities experts for its “Health-care Reform and Its Impact on Delivering Services” discussion in Denver on Feb. 8. Photo by Joel Eden Photography, courtesy of SMPS Colorado The SMPS Colorado health-care facilities panel shared its expertise and market outlook with luncheon attendees on February 8. Panel members included David Howard, director of facilities and construction for Penrose-St. Francis Health Services; Greg Gauna, director of planning, design and construction for Memorial Health System; Todd Koechlein, project manager for The Children’s Hospital; and Bruce Fong, director of planning and construction for Exempla Healthcare.“Design-bid-build is
Broomfield’s sixth charter school—Prospect Ridge Academy—recently opened its 45,000-sq-ft school building in North Park at the northwest corner of Preble Creek Parkway and Sheridan Parkway, immediately adjacent to the Anthem residential community, one of the fastest growing communities in Colorado. North Park, a 935-acre mixed-use community developed by Loveland-based developer McWhinney, is located just west of I-25 and Highway 7—a major growth corridor along the Front Range. Photo courtesy of McWhinney Prospect Ridge Academy, a new public Adams 12 district-approved Core Knowledge charter school, offers a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum, with a math and science focus. Prospect Ridge Academy is the
Construction manager/general contractor Pinkard Construction Co., Lakewood, working with Parikh Stevens Architects, Denver, has completed renovation of the 192,000-sq-ft Westwood Homes for the Denver Housing Authority. Photo courtesy of Pinkard Construction Co. Pinkards project at 855 Irving St. included partial renovations and small additions to 184 townhomes in 23 buildings where the upgrades are expected to provide a 15% decrease in energy consumption. The $13.1-million project at 855 Irving St. included partial renovations and small additions to 184 townhomes in 23 buildings, plus one building renovation for Catholic Charities’ Headstart program at the same location. Work on this 1950s two-story
Green homes comprised 17% of the overall residential construction market in 2011 and are expected to grow to between 29% and 38% of the market by 2016. By value, this equates to a five-fold increase, growing from $17 billion in 2011 to $87-$114 billion in 2016, based on the five-year forecast for overall residential construction, according to recently released study from McGraw-Hill Construction. The “Green Home Builders and Remodelers Study” was released at the recent National Association of Home Builders International Builders’ Show in Orlando. According to the research, construction industry professionals report an even steeper increase in green-home remodeling;
Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture (BRS) of Denver, in association with SFS Architecture of Kansas City, Mo., has won a national design competition for the new Olathe Community Center planned for Olathe, Kan. BRS will serve as the architect-of-record and design architect, with SFS as associate architect. Rendering by BRS Architecture The recreation center will include a gymnasium, fitness center, indoor aquatics, community rooms, outdoor living room spaces, an amphitheater and great lawn. With total funding established at $22.5 million, the current construction budget for the 60,000-sq-ft project stands at $16.5 million. The site for the Olathe Community Center is planned
Horror stories about identity theft have made us vigilant about protecting our credit cards, Social Security numbers and other personal information. But in our rush to protect personal information, we cannot ignore the growing threat of corporate identity theft. Stealing a company’s identity and using it to deliberately perpetrate fraud can cost millions and devastate an otherwise healthy, growing company. Identity theft has always been a risk, but the frequency and severity of corporate identity theft have been on the rise as technology overtakes every aspect of business. Wireless networks, smart phones, cloud computing and social media have all added
Even though the professional liability marketplace has expanded greatly in recent years, construction project owners still have few cost-effective alternatives offered on a project-specific basis. The first and most recognized options often insure only the design team and will merely add the owner as an “indemnified party.” They do not provide the “insured” status that many firms may want if they were to pay the premium on a project professional liability policy. Unfortunately, there are few carriers currently offering project professional liability coverage for large construction projects not in some way related to corporate or practice insurance programs; other carriers
The construction added 21,000 jobs in January, as a second consecutive month of unseasonably mild winter weather helped the industry raise employment to a two-year high, according to an analysis of new federal employment data recently released by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned that the gains remain fragile amid declining public-sector investments in construction and infrastructure. “Although it’s great news that the industry has added 52,000 jobs in the past two months, the unemployment rate in construction is still double that of the overall economy, and construction employment remains at 1996 levels,” said Ken Simonson, the
Construction employment increased in 148 out of 337 metropolitan areas between December 2010 and December 2011, decreased in 128 and stayed level in 61, according to a new analysis of federal employment data recently released by the Associated General Contractors of America. The construction employment increases were likely fueled by a 4.3% increase in total construction spending between December 2010 and December 2011, driven largely by growing private-sector demand, association officials noted.“Many communities are benefitting from growing demand from the private sector for new construction activity,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Unfortunately, too many other areas are still
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