Aging water infrastructure will cost U.S. businesses $147 billion over the next decade, says a new report from the American Society of Civil Engineers. America’s water and wastewater infrastructure systems are aging and overburdened, with many of them built around the turn of the previous century. Unless new investments are made, unreliable and insufficient water infrastructure will cost the average American household $900 a year in higher water rates and lower wages by 2020. American businesses can expect an additional $147 billion in increased costs, and the economy will lose 700,000 jobs by 2020. The report, “Failure to Act: The Economic
Construction equipment manufacturers anticipate overall business to close out 2011 with double-digit increases over last year in the U.S., Canada and worldwide. Growth is expected to continue but at a slower pace for 2012 through 2014, according to the annual business outlook survey of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. AEM is the North American-based international trade group representing the off-road equipment manufacturing industry. Each year the association polls its construction equipment manufacturer members about anticipated sales of the machines and equipment that build and repair roads, bridges, houses, offices, schools and other infrastructure worldwide. Respondents were asked to rank several factors affecting
The Colorado Dept. of Transportation, Douglas County and the Federal Highway Administration held a ribbon-cutting on Dec. 12 marking the opening of the new flyover ramp from southbound Santa Fe Drive to eastbound C-470—four months ahead of schedule and approximately $600,000 under budget. The $23.3-million project, partially funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, constructed the flyover ramp as well as a vehicle and a pedestrian bridge over Erickson Boulevard. A new climbing lane was constructed on eastbound C-470 between Santa Fe Drive and Lucent Boulevard, and the bicycle/pedestrian trail was reconstructed. While the roadway improvements are critical to the
Despite forecasts for modest gains in construction activity and employment in Utah and Colorado next year, the region's top specialty contractors remain only "cautiously optimistic." They are hoping for the best and doing what they can to prepare for whatever lies ahead while they deal with lower margins and less work. The year "2011 was profitable but with significantly less revenue than our past 20-year average," says Kevin Larington, president at Denver mechancial contractor Trautman & Shreve, an EMCOR company. And "2012 looks to be about the same, with some greater opportunity breaking possibly in early 2013."While some companies have
Cache Valley Electric Co.'s first major commercial project was the chemistry building at what is now Utah State University in Logan. That was in 1916. Today, the company has grown to be one of the largest electrical contractors in the West, and it's still working with the university.Long-term relationships are important to the Logan-based, family-owned firm, which has found success in using the latest in technology and also building and maintaining client ties the old-fashioned way.Because of its longevity, consistent service and steady leadership through the recent recession, ENR Mountain States has chosen Cache Valley Electric as the Intermountain Specialty
While firms across the country are tightening their belts, Denver contractor RK Mechanical Inc. has re-invested in its employees and completed one of the largest construction projects in the company's history. For its ongoing pursuit of portfolio diversity and its steadfast attention to the health, safety and training of its employees, RK has been selected by ENR Mountain States as Colorado's Specialty Contractor of the Year for 2011. From its modest start 48 years ago as a plumbing and heating company in northeast Nebraska, to its current world-class headquarters on a 16-acre site in Denver, RK has grown to become
The University of Wyoming wanted a green design for its new Visual Arts Center that would "change the culture of the people in the building," says Tim Belton, the project's lead architect. His firm, Malone Belton Abel, of Sheridan, Wyo., collaborated with THA Architecture, Portland, Ore., to create an 80,000-sq-ft building on a 10-acre site at the UW campus in Laramie. The center, which will open to the public in January, will house classrooms, offices, an exhibition gallery and studios for metalworking, ceramics, drawing, foundations of art, graphics, painting, printmaking and sculpture.The project team, which includes structural engineer Martin/Martin, Lakewood,
The $258-million Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center will be right at home when its 2013 completion fulfills Denver's civic center master plan. The new judicial center, which houses the state courts complex, sits across the street from the iconic Colorado State Capitol and is a neighbor to such design giants as the City and County Building, Denver Public Library and the Denver Art Museum. The granite-clad building features a columned facade and glass-domed atrium that complement the nearby executive and legislative buildings. The 695,767-sq-ft complex includes a 12-story office building that will consolidate seven judicial and legal agencies, improve
Numerous efficiency features are being incorporated into the University of Utah's L.S. Skaggs Pharmacy Building, which will open next summer in Salt Lake City. For example, automated sashes and proximity sensors will reduce air-flow rates when laboratory hoods are not in use. Reclaimed laboratory wastewater will be used to flush toilets and urinals, and radiant-heated slabs will melt snow at the building's entrance. The entire 150,000-sq-ft complex, including the current building, will be named the L.S. Skaggs Pharmacy Institute after Leonard S. Skaggs Jr., the retail force behind such well-known grocery and drugstore chains as Acme, Safeway, Albertsons, Longs and
SnapShot December 19, 2011 Submitted By: Jessie Robertson Business Development Steel Encounters, Salt Lake City The Regent at City Creek Center in Salt Lake City is a 20-story residential tower with four levels of underground parking that was completed earlier this year by Jacobsen Construction. The building is owned by City Creek Reserve and was designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, Portland, Ore. Photographer Alan Blakely took this photo from the roof of an adjacent parking garage using a Canon EOS 1D Mark III camera with a 35 mm Nikkor PC lens. The final image is a blend of several exposures.
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