Scott Blair

By Scott Blair Related Article: Condo, Transit Projects Dominate California's 2012 Top Project Starts 2012 Top Starts In california Rank Project Location Project Cost ($ mil.) Start Date/ End Date Owner/Contractor/Designer 1 New Santa Clara Stadium Santa Clara $1,000 June 2012 March 2016 Owner: Santa Clara Stadium Authority GC: Turner/Devcon, Joint Venture Design: HNTB Corp. 2 The Carlsbad Desalination Project Carlsbad $901 Dec. 2012 June 2014 Owner: Poseidon Resources Inc. GC: Kiewit Shea Desalination (Kiewit Infrastructure West and J.F. Shea Co. JV) Design: IDE Technologies; ARCADIS; Tetra Tech 3 Graton Resort & Casino Rohnert Park $800 June 2012 Late 2013

Engineers Surprised by Damage To Modern Buildings in Christchurch Quake-Damaged Building Implosion in Christchurch One for the Books Demolition experts say one of the lessons learned in the ongoing recovery efforts after the 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, is that contractors should have more involvement in emergency preparedness.Meeting on March 23-26 in San Diego—in a state that potentially has much to learn from the New Zealand experience—the National Demolition Association

While the top 25 construction starts of 2012 totaled just $3.7 billion—a drop from the previous year's $10.4 billion, which included Intel's $5 billion Fab 42 project that topped that year's list—industry analysts say the decline isn't an indication of weakness. On the contrary, many are seeing renewed activity in sectors that were hardest hit by the recession. Related Links: View ENR Southwest's Top 25 Starts of 2012 Chart Marshalls Warehouse Debuts in Phoenix "We see the hotel and gaming market coming back to life in Las Vegas," says Judy Caruthers, regional manager for the Southwest in the Los Angeles

Despite the high-tech robots and building-size 3D printers being pitched at ENR’s FutureTech Conference on March 14 in San Francisco, one group of building experts presented a vision of the future that involves something a bit more old-fashioned: teamwork and communication. Photo courtesy ENR Gerald Hartford with Hartford Engineering says he prefers to work with subcontractors directly on the fabrication models as early in the project schedule as possible. Related Links: ENR FutureTech Conference Turns Heads With Process Innovation “We have a lot of great technology and have made a lot of shifts in process, but as an industry, we

By Tom Sawyer IBM's Bartlett called for urgent action to reduce building energy waste By Tom Sawyer Rudolf and Sletten's Chris Jadwin speaks with EarthCam representatives. Related Links: The Rise of the Super Subs Collaboration Apps Top ENR Survey Results Construction practitioners are eager to embrace technology to improve the industry, but they are hungry for information that can help them see how.More than 300 construction professionals turned out for ENR's FutureTech Conference, held on March 14 in San Francisco, looking for just that kind of information. It was the fourth ENR-sponsored event in the past two years on the

The Federal Highway Administration has pledged $2 million in immediate aid that can be used to continue investigating the cause of a landslide on a stretch of U.S. 89 last month near Page, Ariz. Photo courtesy ADOT The landslide on Feb. 20 caused 500 ft of damage to U.S. 89 near Page, Ariz. Photo courtesy Coconino County The slide caused the roadway to drop by up to 6 ft in places. Related Links: View ADOT Video of the US 89 Landslide Geotechnical Assessment The Arizona Dept. of Transportation requested the quick release of emergency relief funds from the FHWA after

University of Arizona’s $100-million cancer center formally broke ground in downtown Phoenix on Feb. 21, though actual construction is likely still several months away. Image courtesy ZGF Architects LLP ZGF Architects designed the five-story building, which will feature 85 examination rooms and two linear accelerators. Photo courtesy University of Arizona College of Medicing - Phoenix Hundreds of people attended the long-anticipated groundbreaking this week in downtown Phoenix. Related Links: Slideshow: Newest Biomedical Campus Building Opens in Downtown Phoenix Innovative Bioscience High School Breaks the Mold in Phoenix Located on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus at the northwest corner of Fillmore and

Image Courtesy of California High Speed Rail Authority Construction of California's high-speed-rail line will begin on a 30-mile section running from Madera to Fresno. Related Links: Calif. High-Speed Rail Backers Push 'System Blend' Innovation, Policy Baby Steps Cheered a Frustrated U.S. Transportation Industry in 2012 California's High-Speed Rail Authority selected Wong-Harris as the project and construction manager for the first 30-mile section of a high-speed-rail line from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The joint-venture contract for PGH Wong Engineering, San Francisco, and Concord, Calif.-based Harris & Associates, is worth up to $34.9 million."It's an important step forward for the project,"