Contractors and government agencies in Arizona and Nevada are testing the public-private partnerships with mixed results in delivering buildings and roadways. Arizona has led the way in vertical P3 development. Alternative project delivery legislation that allows certain P3 projects goes back to 2000. The $455-million Arizona Cardinals stadium in Glendale was design-built by Phoenix-based Hunt Construction Group. It is owned by the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority and was paid for in part by the Cardinals as tenant. That joint venture is considered an early role model for P3. “P3 is a practical extension of design-build,” says Gary Aller, director
Las Vegas and North Las Vegas are similar but different, neighbors yet independent. The two cities are currently building dueling city halls, and both projects promise to make big civic statements. There are more similarities. Both are pursuing LEED silver, and they have the same general contractor: Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. of Baltimore, which declined to comment about the projects because of a company no media policy. The city of Las Vegas broke ground on its new downtown digs this year. The $146.2-million project is a public-private partnership, lease-purchase agreement between Cleveland-based developer Forest City Enterprises and the city, which enables
Despite a recent stumbling block, work is progressing on the $447-million design-build contract to build a third raw water intake tunnel at Lake Mead—the Las Vegas Valley’s water lifeline. The Southern Nevada Water Authority awarded the contract in March 2008 to Vegas Tunnel Constructors LLC, a joint-venture of S.A. Healy Co., Lombard, Ill. and Impreglio S.p.A., Sesto San Giovanni, Italy. The additional intake is needed because lake levels have dipped 110 ft since 2000. Lake Mead now operates at 1,087 ft, or about half of its capacity. One or both of the existing water inlets will be forced to shut
Our annual survey of subcontractors in the Southwest shows revenue totals plummeting in 2009. Last year, we ranked 160 companies totaling $6.13 billion based on their 2008 revenue. This year, the responses fell to 113 firms with revenue totaling just $3.58 billion in 2009. Photo Courtesy Carollo Engineers Crews pour concrete for a clarifier floor during construction on the third phase of the $60-million Casa Grande Water Reclamation Facility. Related Links: Top 113 Specialty Contractors State/Worldwide Market Sectors Safest Subcontractors Even with the drop in participation, the largest firms remain fairly consistent year to year. All but five of last
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) says the state will appeal a July 28 preliminary injunction by a U.S. district judge that prevents portions of the state�s controversial immigration law from going into effect. �I will battle all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary, for the right to protect the citizens of Arizona,� Brewer said. Brewer said the state would file an expedited appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The law, which allows police to detain individuals under �reasonable suspicion� of being an illegal alien, was signed April 23 was supposed to have gone
An inflatable dam in downtown Tempe, Ariz., burst on July 20, emptying most of the contents of the 1-billion-gal Tempe Town Lake. No one was injured and no property was damaged in the resulting flood, which traveled down the normally dry Salt River through Phoenix. Peak flows were measured at 15,000 cu ft per second, equivalent to an average release during the area�s winter rainy season. Photo: Tony Blei Photography Eight rubber-coated fabric bladders retained 1 billion gal of water in Tempe. The two-mile lake was formed in 1999 using eight flexible, rubber-coated fabric tubes manufactured by Tokyo-based Bridgestone Industrial
Construction crews hit water June 30 while tunneling 600-ft below Southern Nevada's drought-racked Lake Mead to create a third straw. The incident required a hasty evacuation, and could delay project progress by months. Water breached a 600-ft underground cavern during construction of Lake Mead's third straw, damaging equipment and potentially delaying construction. A 200-ft-long by 37-ft-high vault breach caused four days of gradual water seepage that eventually made it no longer accessible. Workers were building a 28-ft-dia, 100-ft-long horseshoe-shaped starter tunnel before using a $25 million Herrenknecht 1,500-ton tunnel boring machine when the incident occurred. Vegas Tunnel Constructors LLC �
Arizona officials have enacted new "prompt pay" rules to keep cash flowing to struggling contractors, caught by banks and developers that have been withholding project payments in tough times. Gov. Janice K. Brewer (R) on May 11 signed into law a bill establishing retainage and final-payment timetables for properly completed construction work. Failure to comply results in penalties of 1.5% monthly interest charges. “Retention issues should be dealt with immediately and not be dragged out for cash-flow purposes, ” says Michael F. Markham Sr., president of Markham Contracting Co. Inc., Phoenix. “The banks have been a problem with this. They
UniSource Energy Corp. kicked off construction of the company�s new headquarters building on a two-acre downtown Tucson lot. The nine-story building will provide 170,000 sq ft of office space for more than 425 employees of Tucson Electric Power, the company�s principal subsidiary. The building also will include nearly 11,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail space as well as a conference center, meeting rooms and about 500 parking spaces. Developer and general contractor Ryan Cos. is expected to complete construction before the end of 2011. The building has been designed by DAVIS and Swaim Associates from the ground up to conserve
PROJECT COST: $20.2 Million PHOTO: MCCARTHY BUILDING COS. Valley High School The project includes mechanical, plumbing, electrical, structural and architectural upgrades to Valley High School, which is approximately 300,000 sq ft. The work is being completed in four phases to allow students to attend classes while the renovation is being completed. The project adds 581 tubular day lighting units to bring in natural light to help students focus and learn more efficiently, while conserving energy. The existing mechanical penthouses are being removed, along with the existing multizone air handlers and are being replaced and modernized. Location: Las Vegas, NVStarted: June