Plans for a Southern Nevada national nuclear waste repository are all but kaput. The U.S. Energy Dept. said Feb. 1 it will withdraw its Nuclear Regulatory Commission application within 30 days. The move comes after DOE spent nearly three decades and $38 billion on waste repository tests and studies at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The agency planned to store up to 77,000 tons of radioactive waste there from 80 sites in 35 states. Spent utility fuel and high-level defense waste would be placed in specially engineered containers housed inside a network of tunnels built deep within
Photo: Las Vegas Monorail Co. Las Vegas� Monorail a Bust, Just Five Years After Opening Las Vegas Monorail Co., private owner of a $650-million, 4.2-mile automated rail line connecting eight Las Vegas Strip resorts and the convention center, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 13, one month after an announced $500-million expansion to McCarran International Airport. The dual-line system began operation on July 15, 2004. Granite Construction Co. Inc., Watsonville, Calif., and Bombardier built the monorail under a $354-million, fixed-price contract. Estimated to carry 40,000 passengers a day, the monorail ran into trouble when, on Sept. 1, a
A funding delay, a cableway collapse and a death: Construction of the Hoover Dam Bypass is a challenge-filled saga that rivals the building of the historic dam itself. But the light at the end of the canyon is beckoning. North America’s longest single-arch concrete crossing, at 1,960 ft, now soars 870 ft over the Colorado River and is scheduled to open to traffic in November 2010. It will carry vehicles 1,500 ft downstream from Hoover Dam, spanning the Black Canyon at the borders of Nevada and Arizona and answering a need that dates back to the 1960s. Photo: Federal Highway
Related Links: Nevada Contractors Association Names Award Winners EPA Recognizes Tempe for Smart Growth Achievements THOMAS Roger Thomas, LEED AP, senior project manager with Burke & Associates, was elected to the Las Vegas Chapter Board of Directors for the USGBC. Thomas is a graduate of the University of Idaho with a dual major in Forestry and Philosophy. Thomas is also a member of NAIOP and serves on their Sustainable Development Committee as well as the NV Energy Design Development Committee. BURKE Kevin Burke, President and CEO of Burke & Associates was named Chairman of the Nevada State Contractors Board. Burke has
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson recognized Tempe and three other diverse communities that are models of how to grow in ways that protect our nation’s air, land, and water; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; provide safe and affordable housing; and strengthen local economies. Related Links: Nevada Contractors Association Names Award Winners Burke & Associates Employees Selected for USGBC, NSCB and AGC Leadership Roles "Every year the Smart Growth Achievement Award winners show us new and creative ways to bring environmental sustainability to our communities -- and this year is no exception," says EPA Administrator Jackson. "Smart Growth has an important
Related Links: Burke & Associates Employees Selected for USGBC, NSCB and AGC Leadership Roles EPA Recognizes Tempe for Smart Growth Achievements The Nevada Contractors Association named the winners of its 10th annual "Contractor of the Year" Awards. Perini Building Co. was named 2009 Contractor of the Year for its work on MGM Mirage’s $8.5 billion CityCenter development on the Las Vegas Strip. Other award winners include: Aztech Inspections and Testing, Subcontractor of the Year; Laborers-Employers Cooperation & Education Trust, Associate of the Year; Peterbilt of Las Vegas, Supplier of the Year; North Corridor Constructors, Safest Contractor of the Year; Las
According to analysts at McGraw-Hill Construction, the parent company of this publication, residential construction will be higher in 2010 in all three states, with Arizona at nearly $4 billion and Nevada rising to $1.4 billion. Both multi-family housing and single family home construction will see increases over the previous year, but will be nowhere near the levels seen in 2006 and 2007. Related Links: Forecast 2010: Residential Rebounds While Other Sectors Struggle New Mexico will also see an increase in non-residential buildings to $1.6 billion, but engineering/highway projects will dip significantly to $935 million in 2010. Nevada, on the other
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McGraw-Hill Construction is forecasting that total construction starts will climb 11% to $466.2 billion in 2010, following an estimated 25% decline in 2009. Bob Murray is vice president of economic affairs with McGraw-Hill Construction. Related Links: McGraw-Hill Construction is forecasting mixed numbers for the Southwest. After a 39% drop in construction between 2006 and 2009, an improving residential market and signs of strength in select public-sector markets such as transportation and infrastructure could spark an overall turnaround in 2010, says Bob Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. "This is not a booming market; it is just inching
Gregs G. Thomopulos, P.E., Chairman & CEO of Stanley Consultants of Houston, was elected president of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers for a two-year term. FIDIC represents globally the consulting engineering industry. Thomopulos has been on the organization’s executive committee for six years. His election marks the first time in 20 years that a U.S. citizen holds the position, which only three other Americans have held in FIDIC’s nearly 100-year history. Dynamic Lighting Solutions in Pearland announced Robert C. Horswood joined the company as utility sales representative, Eastern Division. He graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s