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Water will begin running uphill—and north—along Colorado's southern Front Range next year when the $841-million Southern Delivery System goes on line. Related Links: SDS Pipeline Working Its Way West Ground Broken on SDS Water Project SDS is one of the largest water projects under construction in the Western U.S. and the biggest project undertaken by owner Colorado Springs Utilities in decades. The project will convey Arkansas River water stored in the Pueblo Reservoir to the cities of Colorado Springs, Fountain, Security and Pueblo West.Program manager MWH of Broomfield, Colo., has teamed up with Colorado Springs Utilities to build the multi-phased

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had decreased in February, improved in March. The index now stands at 101.3 (1985=100), up from 98.8 in February. The Expectations Index increased from 90.0 last month to 96.0 in March. The Present Situation Index, however, decreased from 112.1 in February to 109.1 in March. Consumers’ assessment of present-day conditions turned moderately less favorable for a second straight month. The percentage saying business conditions are “good” was unchanged at 26.7% while those claiming business conditions are “bad” increased from 16.7% to 19.4%.Consumers were mixed in their assessment of the job market. The proportion

More than five hundred construction and design leaders gathered in Denver in early April for the 2015 Rocky Mountain Green Conference to discuss the state of green building in Colorado and the issues affecting the city. The event was hosted the Colorado chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, which said attendance was up by more than 50% over the previous year. Photo by Brad Nicol Photography Michael Benko of Boulder Food Rescue accepts a prize grant of $2,500 for winning USGBC Colorados Inspire Colorado Live Storytelling Contest at USGBC Colorados Rocky Mountain Green Conference. From left: Maeve Conran, co-director

The Colorado Dept. of Transportation held its annual Remembrance Day ceremony at its headquarters on April 1 to honor the 58 CDOT employees who have died in the line of duty since 1929.  Joining CDOT were representatives from the Colorado State Patrol, Federal Highway Administration and Colorado Contractors Association. “With the highway construction season getting set to move into high gear, this is an excellent opportunity to remember our fallen workers and highlight the need for safe driving throughout the state, not just in work zones, but along all of our roadways,” said CDOT Executive Director Shailen Bhatt.“We often forget that

The Colorado Chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services honored on March 5 the recipients of its 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards. The awards, which featured recipients in more than 17 categories, were presented at the Sherman Events Center. Photo by Brad Nicol, Brad Nicol Photography, courtesy of SMPS Leonardo Winner Dennis Richard (right), vice president of business development at Golden Triangle Construction, and a past president of SMPS, is pictured with Bob Trout. Photo by Brad Nicol, Brad Nicol Photography, courtesy of SMPS Michelle Ott (center), marketing manager at Denvers JE Dunn Construction, and the SMPS Colorado Membership Committee

Thirty-seven firms were named as the nation's safest construction companies in 2014 by the Associated General Contractors of America. AGC, which oversees the Willis Construction Safety Excellence Awards, an annual ranking of construction safety programs, selected the winners after reviewing the safety programs and results from contractors all over the nation, then inviting the top three firms in each category to present and answer questions from a distinguished panel of judges. Interstate Highway Construction Inc. of Englewood, Colo., was selected as this year’s second-place winner in the Highway and Transportation Division’s 300,000–700,000 Work Hour Category.Belair Sitework Services of Commerce City,

MWH Constructors has hired Todd Larson as its global project delivery director of engineering and quality for infrastructure projects. Larson rejoins MWH after eight years with Black & Veatch. He will focus on design excellence in construction design-build operations and oversee the U.S. and U.K. design and estimating support teams as well as commissioning, start-up and quality. He is a licensed engineer in seven states. Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record Wells Squier has been promoted to partner at Anderson Hallas Architects in Golden, Colo. Squier has more than 16 years of experience and a master's degree in architecture

Construction firms added jobs in 43 states and the District of Columbia between January 2014 and January 2015 while construction employment increased in 31 states between December and January, according to a recent  analysis of Labor Dept. data by the Associated General Contractors of America. “Most of the country experienced a welcome rebound in construction employment last year,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Yet it is unclear how public-sector demand and new regulatory requirements will overshadow relatively robust private-sector demand.”Texas added more new construction jobs (49,600 jobs, 7.9%) between January 2014 and January 2015 than any other state.

The Dodge Momentum Index increased to 126.3 (2000=100) in February, a gain of 4.3% from January’s 121.1, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. The Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. The Momentum Index has been exhibiting somewhat of a saw-tooth pattern of late, up in December, down in January and now up in February. Despite the volatility that is sometimes visible in planning data, the overall trend for the index continues to be