Across the Southeast, overall contracting activity is definitely picking up the pace. But a still uneven construction market is enabling those firms that aim to make the most of the strong residential sector to race ahead of the pack.
As continuing construction delays cause financing and related costs to mount, time is starting to put "significant" strain upon the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project's economics, according to recent testimony presented to the Georgia Public Service Commission by Georgia Power, state monitors and others.
As part of a streamlining announced last December, Houston-based engineer-contractor KBR is selling its building construction unit to Illinois construction firm Pernix Group Inc. for $28 million, including $6 million in working capital, the firms said June 10. R
A complex, groundbreaking automated car elevator system, situated in the center of the $560-million, 60-story Porsche Design Tower project in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., is raising the bar on "sky garage" technology, and taking its builders on a memorable journey as contractors and engineers make accommodations for the massive system.
TOM MURPHYTom C. Murphy (top) and Sean Murphy were named co-presidents of Coastal Construction Group, Miami. Tom oversees business development, preconstruction services and owner contract negotiations.
The entrepreneurial "enterprise within an enterprise" approach that Cary, N.C.-based Kimley-Horn first implemented more than 40 years ago is proving to be a perfect fit for today's business environment. Built around the idea of "practice builders"—specialists in various design disciplines who are given greater freedom to cultivate their own niche markets and service areas—the concept is contributing to the firm's growing share of the current market's crop of increasingly complex projects. It is winning over owners who demand a higher level of engagement and innovation from their design consultants. Related Links: Southeast Top Design Firms Ranking Southeast Design Firms Making
Southeast design firms are for the most part making gains in business activity as the region's construction economy continues to improve. But while most of the engineering and architectural firms that participated in ENR Southeast's annual Top Design Firms survey reported increased revenue for 2014, gains were often modest. Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record For instance, the group's collective 2014 revenue total of $3.3 billion marked a 10% improvement over last year's survey total of $3 billion. However, much of that increase can be attributed to AECOM's inclusion of new revenue resulting from its 2014 acquisition of URS
A Dept. of Energy-sanctioned report on plutonium disposition alternatives, citing uncertainties related to design and construction of the Mixed-Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility project in South Carolina, indicates shifting to a new approach would be less costly than continuing to pursue the MOX program.
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