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
PROJECT COST: $188.9 Million PHOTO: KIEWIT/SUNDT JV Loop 202 Widening, SR 51 to Loop 101 This design-build project, one of ADOT�s largest, widens approximately 9.8 mi of the Loop 202 freeway from four to six lanes, adding new HOV and auxiliary lanes from the I-10/SR-51 interchange in downtown Phoenix to the Loop 101 in Tempe. The project also includes 22 bridges (including the 1-mi-long Salt River Bridge over the Salt River and Tempe Town Lake); reconstruction of ramps, noise and retaining walls; modifying the drainage system; landscaping; and installing an updated freeway management system. Location: Phoenix/Tempe, Ariz.Started: December 2008Target Completion:
PROJECT COST: $32.3 Million IMAGE: JMA 9. Windmill Library & Operations Center The new Windmill Library and Operations Center facility will be constructed on a 15-acre site located along Windmill Lane and Rainbow Boulevard. This facility encompasses a 44,380-sq-ft branch library, 9,390-sq-ft auditorium, 20,395-sq-ft service center and 66,225-sq-ft office/administration space. The project team will seek LEED gold certification and will be utilizing sustainable design and construction practices through passive design, optimized energy 35% above ASHRAE standards, use of daylighting, improved indoor air quality and high water efficiency. Additionally, a 103.5 KW DC photovoltaic system will produce 12.5% of the structure�s
The 44 projects featured in the following pages are among the largest projects that broke ground in 2009 and beyond. In total, these projects will provide over $3.5-billion in construction activity for Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada over the coming years. Photo: Patti Reznik Photography The steel-framed Maricopa County Court Tower building rises 14 stories above downtown Phoenix and two levels below grade. The target LEED silver building is the second largest Arizona project on this year�s top starts ranking. Top starts from the past six years, as well as an electronic version of this year�s ranking, are available on