The state of South Carolina experienced continued growth in its nonresidential construction sector in April, but it wasn’t sufficient to keep the state’s overall total for new contracts from going negative, according to information from McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR Southeast. The company estimated the value of new South Carolina construction contracts at $515.5 million during April, or 5% lower than the same period of a year ago. Related Links: Florida Contracts Decline 14% in April April Another Poor Month for Georgia Contracts North Carolina Contracts Drop 23% in April Nonresidential contracts totaled an estimated $164.9 million in April, or
VICK Ed Vick Jr., former chairman of transportation engineering firm Kimley-Horn and Associates, Raleigh, N.C., died on May 13 in Durham, N.C., after a brief battle with cancer. He was 76. Vick, who co-founded Kimley-Horn in 1967, was its president from 1972 to 1992 and chairman until 2000. The firm is the industry's 40th largest engineer on ENR's current Top 500 Design Firms list, with $320.9 million in 2010 revenue. It now works internationally with a 1,500-person staff. “Ed was an amazing visionary,” says Mark Wilson, the firm's current chairman. “He always pushed for excellence.” In 2007, Vick was inducted
For the second year in a row, Florida legislators have raided the state's transportation trust fund in order to help close a multibillion-dollar budget gap, and again the state's governor is apparently considering vetoing the measure. This year's session, which finished work on May 6, included a “sweep” of $150 million from the trust fund's cash reserves into the general budget. That was nearly identical to the $160 million that state politicians raided from the road fund last year, only to have former Gov. Charlie Crist (R) veto the action after considerable lobbying from the transportation construction industry.Robert G. Burleson,
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signed legislation on May 13 that expands state requirements to use the federal E-Verify system to check the immigration status of employees. It also closes a loophole for project worker identification and sets severe penalties for violations. Building on previous state rules that required public owners and public-works contractors to use E-Verify, the new law expands mandates to all businesses with more than 10 employees. The new rules will take effect on Jan. 1 for employers with 500 or more full-time employees; on July 1, 2012, for those with between 100 and 499 workers; and
Photo courtesy Savannah District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers After lengthy delays from bid protests and legal action, the Savannah District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers held a ceremonial groundbreaking in late April for the $333-million Martin Army Community Hospital at Fort Benning, Ga. Turner Construction Co., Atlanta, will lead the design-build contract, which covers the construction of the 745,000-sq-ft, 70-bed facility. The Corps of Engineers first awarded Turner the contract in September 2009. Shortly thereafter, Ellerbe Becket, Turner’s design partner, was acquired by AECOM. Competing bidders cited that fact as a conflict of interest because another AECOM
On May 13, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signed legislation expanding the state�s requirement for the use of the federal E-Verify system when hiring workers, closes a loophole for project worker identification and imposes severe penalties for violations. Photo courtesy Office of Gov. Nathan Deal The new law builds upon previous state regulations that required public owners and public works contractors to use E-Verify, and expands the mandate to all businesses with more than 10 employees. The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2012, for employers with 500 or more full-time employees, and on July 1, 2012, for firms
For the second year in a row, Florida legislators have raided the state�s transportation trust fund in order to help close a multi-billion-dollar budget gap, and again the state�s governor is apparently considering vetoing the measure. This year’s legislature, which finalized work on May 6, included a “sweep” of $150 million from the trust fund’s cash reserves into the general budget. That was nearly identical to the $160 million that state politicians raided from the road fund last year, only to have former Gov. Charlie Crist (R) veto the action after lobbying from the transportation construction industry. Robert G. Burleson,
Charles Perry Construction and PPI Construction Management, two Gainesville, Fla.-based construction companies long affiliated with each other, announced they have merged operations. CARLSON The new company will be known as Charles Perry Partners Inc., with ownership consisting of principals Breck Weingart, John Carlson, Domenic Scorpio and Brian Leslie. Weingart was previously a partner in both companies, Carlson and Scorpio were principals of PPI, and Leslie was a principal with Charles Perry Construction. WEINGART Carlson will serve as chief executive officer of CPPI, while Weingart will be chairman. Both companies were founded by Charles R. Perry. Charles Perry Construction focused on
Despite a formal protest from the second-place bidder for a 3,000-ton-per-day waste-to-energy facility, the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County awarded a $668-million design-build contract to a team of Babcock & Wilcox and BE&K to design, construct and operate the facility. + Enlarge Image: courtesy SWA B&W’s design-build estimate of $668 million was roughly $62 million higher than that of Wheelabrator, the division of Waste Management Corp. that placed second. However, SWA factored in the value of electrical generation and recoverable materials that each team guaranteed that their respective designs would deliver to the authority for a net present
Florida politicians at the state and national level are trying to prohibit, defund or at least slow down implementation of a new water-quality standard for phosphorous and nitrogen. The new rule, recently issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, addresses the problem of algae blooms and establishes numeric criteria for nutrient pollution, mostly related to nitrogen and phosphorous, in the state’s lakes and flowing waters. Florida’s current standards are narrative-based, or verbal descriptions of clean- water conditions. EPA developed the rule as part of a 2008 lawsuit settlement with the Florida Wildlife Federation and finalized it in November 2010, according
