Studies show that wildlife-vehicle collisions have doubled in the past 15 years in the Intermountain West, says Rob Ament, ecology program manager for the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University in Bozeman. Ament says the reasons for collisions can vary from the presence of high-quality habitat at the road’s edge to animals moving from winter to summer ranges. Another factor is winding roads with poor visibility. The increase in collisions has spurred transportation agencies to identify major wildlife corridors and engineer solutions to prevent accidents. One solution includes wildlife crossings that connect habitats divided by highways. The crossings involve

The St. Luke’s Health System hospital currently under construction in Twin Falls is the most recent of the system’s more than a dozen large and small projects in southwest and south-central Idaho.

The Idaho State Capitol in Boise has been returned to state government and the public after a three-year, $120-million renovation and expansion. The project was led by Utah-based construction and engineering firm Jacobson-Hunt Joint Venture. McAlvain Group of Cos. of Boise was the design-build manager for the underground wings portion of the project, which included design work, excavation, concrete, flatwork, structural concrete, steel erection, waterproofing, rough carpentry, mechanical/electrical, fire sprinkler, some interior framing, drywall and stairway work. McAlvain Project Manager Penny Dennis says the job was “pretty much a business-as-usual construction project for us.” It also provided a lot of

Boise commercial real estate pioneer Winston Moore says he learned the commercial real estate business by the seat of his pants and says it seemed that the harder he worked the luckier he got. Slide Show When Moore got into the commercial real estate in 1977, the western edge of Boise was Cole Road. To the west lay acres and acres of beet and onion farmland dotted with pheasants. Today, Idaho’s Boise Valley is a top-ranked business mecca, much of which has been developed by Moore in a simple fashion. He buys the land, improves the property, then builds and

Related Links: Innovation and Dedication Joseph Maierle, founder Three generations of Morrisons and two generations of Maierles have led the employee-owned firm: John Sr., John Jr. and Robert Morrison, and Joe and Jim Maierle. In 1991 John Sr.’s grandson, current president and CEO Robert Morrison, returned to Montana from CH2M Hill in Boise. He is the third and most recent Morrison to lead the firm. John Morrison Jr. John Morrison Sr., founder “When I came back to Montana and joined the firm, I started doing some wastewater work in Cut Bank,” Robert says. “We were replacing two of their sewer

Like the rest of America, post-World War II Montana was poised for growth and prosperity after years of sacrifice and worry. Mining and ranching had been the predominant industries in the state, but after the war, returning veterans needed work – and the state’s infrastructure needed improvement. Photo courtesy of Morrison-Maierle Morrison-Maierle staff have been working on The Mni Wiconi Rural Water System in southwestern South Dakota for approximately 20 years. Photo by Linda Donaldson Photography Morrison-Maierle opened an office in Bozeman, Mont., in 1967. It�s new Bozeman office was awarded LEED Gold certification from the USGBC in 2008. Photo

The 33-year-old William H. Kibbie-ASUI Activity Center in Moscow, Idaho (aka the Kibbie Dome) is undergoing a $12-million renovation that will make the northern Idaho icon safer, more functional and pleasing to the eye, inside and out. Slide Show Photo courtesy of the University of Idaho Related Links: Growth Spurt Located on the campus of the University of Idaho at the edge of the Palouse in northern Idaho, and the home of the Vandals of the Western Athletic Conference, the facility is used primarily for football, basketball, tennis and indoor track and field. Portland, Ore., contracting, engineering and architecture firms

Four Intermountain firms involved in a variety of construction disciplines have had to reinvent themselves in some manner. Some have seen more dramatic changes than others, yet each firm has worked hard in its own way to adapt to those changes. Owyhee Construction, Idaho Joe McClure is president of Owyhee Construction, an Idaho underground utility company in business since 1977. McClure says that Owyhee has downsized its equipment fleet as well as field staff from 80 employees to about 25. They have also expanded their work-search area. “We used to look for work about 100 miles out. Now we are

Two recently completed eastern Idaho highway construction projects, one on Idaho 48 in Rigby and the other on U.S. 20 near Henry’s Lake, are the first of 16 Idaho projects to use federal stimulus funds, according Idaho Transportation Dept. District 6 Manager Bruce King. Photo: IDOT In December, crews from HK Contractors of Idaho Falls completed work on a 1.7 mile stretch of Idaho 48 through Rigby. The total cost of both projects was more than $5 million. In 2009, Idaho received $182 million for highway construction in stimulus funds. In December, crews from HK Contractors of Idaho Falls completed

The new $14-million East ParkCenter Boulevard Bridge in Boise will provide a new access to East Boise and Barber Valley for pedestrians and motor vehicles. Photo: Joe Evancho The entire project connects ParkCenter Boise and Warm Springs Avenue in southeast Boise and includes sidewalks, bike lanes and pedestrian tunnels and other greenbelt connections. Photo: Joe Evancho The large girders span the entire river, making it unnecessary to place a pier in the riverbed. Related Links: Traffic Cop Adam Zaragoza, Ada County Highway District project manager, says the bridge will allow easier access to recreation opportunities at Lucky Peak Reservoir and