The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is issuing an especially dire forecast for tropical storm activity in the Atlantic and Caribbean basins this hurricane season. Photo: NOAA Hurricane Ike, in 2008. NOAA is predicting an active, to extremely active hurricane season this year. In a report released May 27, NOAA said that it is expecting “an active to extremely active” hurricane season. For the six-month season, which begins June 1, NOAA is projecting a 70% probability of 14 to 23 named storms with top winds of 39 mph or higher. It predicts the named storms will include eight to 14
After receiving tips, Bay County, Fla., Sheriff’s deputies arrested 11 undocumented workers at the Panama City Marina on May 19, 2010, for using stolen social security numbers to obtain employment cleaning up the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Bay County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Ruth Corley indicates BP subcontractors hired the men, who most recently came from South Carolina, Mississippi and other parts of Florida. The men are citizens of Nicaragua, Honduras, Ecuador and Bolivia. BP contracted with Eagle-SWS of Panama City to complete the oil clean-up work. According to BP spokesperson Vani Rao, Eagle-SWS hired CCI (Containment
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has expanded the list of organizations whose crane-operator certification programs it formally recognizes, with an agreement with the National Center for Construction Education and Research, Gainesville, Fla. Related Links: Ten Minutes With OSHA Chief David Michaels OSHA chief David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, and NCCER President Don Whyte signed the voluntary agreement on May 17 at the Dept. of Labor headquarters in Washington. In March, OSHA finalized a similar agreement with The Crane Institute of America Certification Inc. OSHA's first such crane-operator program agreement came in 1999, with
Delays in developing large power projects in Florida are bad news for contractors in a state already hurt by sharp construction downturns, says the Greater Florida Chapter of Associated General Contractors president. Photo: Florida Power and Light Power plans FP&L says Riviera gas plant will proceed on schedule, but nuclear units face delays. Florida’s biggest utilities, Juno Beach-based Florida Power & Light (FP&L) and Progress Energy Florida, “stopped work on everything but the essentials” after the state Public Service Commission (PSC) in January rejected most of the big rate increases the utilities had sought, said Richard Marshall, who also is
Photo courtesy BE&K/Turner In early May, the joint-venture team of BE&K Building Group and Turner Construction Co. celebrated the setting of the first steel trusses at Boeing’s Charleston 787 Final Assembly facility project in North Charleston, S.C. Kenny Anderson, BE&K/Turner’s construction manager, said the first two trusses were set May 10 and May 13, with the western half placed first and the eastern half three days later. Each half weighs 221 tons and is 307 ft long. Fully assembled, each truss measures 614 ft long and has a 464-ft clear span. The project broke ground in November. BRPH of Melbourne,
Suffolk Construction Co. of Miami was awarded a $25-million contract to build a classroom/student union facility at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson campus. The six-story, 110,000-sq-ft facility will include classrooms, a film archival library, wellness center, student union/student life center, and a food court and general eating area. Suffolk and architect Zyscovich of Miami will work together to design-build the project. Construction is scheduled to begin in December, and is targeted for completion 12 months later, in December 2011.
Gordon Chew, a handyman in remote Tenakee Springs, Alaska, needed a 12-volt coil to get his Case 686G telehandler up and running again. He called a dealer and was told the part was not in stock. “Case couldn’t find it,” says Chew, who notes the price quoted to him was $230. Not wanting to wait for a special order, he typed the part into a search engine and found GCIron.com. Chew had never heard of the site before, but that didn’t matter. He called up the company, and the operator cross-referenced the part and quickly located it in inventory. “They
The Lane Construction Corp. has been contracted to repave Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Connecticut-based Lane will begin repaving the Daytona NASCAR track on July 4, with a target completion date of January 1, 2011. Since 2003, Lane has paved several NASCAR tracks, including Talladega Superspeedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, Darlington Raceway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. Lane officials stated it will have a crew of roughly 50 workers repaving the 2.5-mile “tri-oval” track, skid pads, apron and pit road. The project calls for removing all of the existing asphalt, down to
Bayview Construction Corp. of Stuart, Fla., recently won a Grand Award from the National Commercial Builders Council of the National Association of Home Builders for its South Florida Water Management District St. Cloud Administration, Field Station and Vehicle Maintenance Facility project. Related Links: AGC Leaders Emphasize Collaboration, ‘Being Heard’ St. Joe Relocates Corporate HQ to Northwest Florida Leo A. Daly Completes Acquisition of Schwab, Twitty & Hanser Ajax Building Opens Atlanta Office
McCarthy Building Cos. recently completed the $119-million Parker H. Petit Science Center at Georgia State University in Atlanta. Related Links: Value of Georgia Contracts Down 31% in February BE&K Working on Multiple Medical Contracts R.J. Griffin Team Awarded Springfield Hospital Modernization H.J. High/Batson-Cook Awarded Second Mitsubishi Contract OSHA, Skanska Partner for Safety on Westin Peachtree Project Hardin Starts Tech College Project Batson-Cook Building Residence Hall for Rehabilitation Institute The 350,000-sq-ft science center will provide teaching and research labs for the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Health and Human Sciences. Features include dry and wet laboratories, BSL-2
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