After enduring Gov. Rick Scott’s suspension of contracts and consequent year-long delay to the start of construction, local, state and federal officials celebrated the survival of their prized $1.3-billion SunRail project with a project kick-off in late January. Actual construction won’t be far behind, with initial sitework set to start in early February, says April Heller, public information officer with the Florida Dept. of Transportation. Photo courtesy Florida Dept. of Transportation FDOT District 5 Secretary Noranne Downs and Congressman John Mica (R-Winter Park) celebrated the start of the $1.3-billion SunRail commuter rail project in Central Florida. Related Links: Gov. Scott
Progress Energy Florida denied a Jan. 26 Tampa Bay Times report that it plans to cancel an engineering, procurement and construction contract with Shaw Group for a proposed nuclear plant project in Levy County, Fla. Image courtesy Progress Energy Florida The cost estimate for Progress Energy's proposed new nuclear plant in Levy Co., Fla., has escalated to approximately $20 billion. Related Links: Florida and Progress Energy Reach Crystal River Fix Plan Suzanne Grant, company spokesperson, told ENR by email: “Progress Energy Florida has not stated any intention to cancel the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the Levy County nuclear
Surrounded by supporters wearing "Go Build" hardhats, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) on Jan. 17 announced the creation of Go Build Georgia, an initiative aimed at promoting careers in the skilled trades.
For most of the Southeast region, contractors should see an increasing set of business opportunities in 2012, according to the latest forecast projections from McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of Engineering News-Record. The company predicts the value of new 2012 construction contracts will improve in three of the four ENR Southeast states, with North Carolina the lone negative. Photo courtesy Southern Co. Georgia should experience significant activity in the power and energy markets in 2012. Southern Co.'s $14-billion Vogtle nuclear power project will continue to move ahead. Photo courtesy BEandK/Turner/BRPH Joint Venture Boeing's new Dreamliner plant in South Carolina could continue to
The March 12, 2012, issue of ENR Southeast magazine will feature a ranking of the region’s Top Project Starts in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas that broke ground in 2011. To have your project considered, we've created a form that readers can use to provide us with this infromation. The form, which is posted here in the "Related Links" box, should be completed and submitted by February 10, 2012. The annual Top Project Starts feature ranks the largest projects in the Southeast by construction contract value. Related Links: ENR Southeast's Top Starts Entry Form Owners, general contractors and design firms
Ryan Gravel, senior urban designer with Perkins+Will, Atlanta, was honored by ENR as one of its 2011 "Newsmakers." Photo by Matt Finn, Courtesy Ryan Gravel Architect Ryan Gravel was the visionary behind the Atlanta BeltLine project, a $2.8-billion infrastructure project that started out as part of his master's thesis project. Related Links: Perkins+Will Envisions New Future for Design Inspired by a brief stint living in Paris during college, Ryan Gravel wrote his master's thesis at the Georgia Institute of Technology on his idea of converting Atlanta's abandoned 22-mile-long freight-rail corridor, which encircles the city's urban core, into a "belt line"
Florida’s construction contract activity in December was a microcosm of the state’s overall year, as nonresidential and nonbuilding markets declined significantly, and residential picked up the pace, according to the latest information from McGraw-Hill Construction. Related Links: Georgia Contracts End '11 With Positive Numbers North Carolina Contracts Gain 17% in December South Carolina Contracts End 2011 With Solid Momentum For the latest month, McGraw-Hill Construction estimated the value of Florida’s nonresidential contracts at about $299.1 million, or 42% lower than the same period of a year ago. The nonbuilding market, which includes infrastructure contracts, tallied $226.1 million, or about 20%
According to the latest information from McGraw-Hill Construction, the value of Georgia’s new construction contracts improved by 14% in December, nearly identical to the state’s overall growth rate for the year. Related Links: North Carolina Contracts Gain 17% in December South Carolina Ends 2011 With Solid Momentum Residential and nonbuilding contracts provided the positive momentum in December. The company estimated Georgia’s housing-related contract activity at $299.3 million for the month, or 13% better than the same period of a year ago. Meanwhile, the nonbuilding sector, which includes infrastructure projects, roughly doubled compared to last December to register $153 million in
The value of North Carolina construction contracts surged 17% in December but fell just short of the amount needed to push the state’s 2011 total into positive territory, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. Related Links: South Carolina Contracts End 2011 With Solid Momentum Continuing gains in the nonbuilding sector, along with a jump in residential contracts, pushed North Carolina’s December total to $1.1 billion, or 17% better than the same period of a year ago.McGraw-Hill Construction estimated the state’s nonbuilding contracts at $233.7 million for December, or more than double the amount registered a year ago. Residential contracts improved by 24%,
South Carolina contracts recorded across-the-board increases in December for a 38% overall spike in new work, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. The company estimated the value of new nonresidential contracts at nearly $110 million in December, or 49% better than the same period of a year ago. Residential contracts picked up the pace, too, registering a 20% monthly gain on roughly $229.5 million in new work. The nonbuilding sector, which includes infrastructure contracts, roughly tripled compared to a year ago, for a $50.8-million total.According to McGraw-Hill’s figures, the value of South Carolina contracts ended 2011 approximately 19% ahead of 2010’s volume.