September 20, 2021

Check out the September 20, 2021 edition of ENR, featuring part three in our Engineering Justice series, the Top 100 Green Design Firms and Contractors, the Top 400 Sourcebook, news and much more!

Engineering Justice: Third in a Series

Room to Breathe: Industrial Projects and Communities Are Challenged to Coexist

Debra K. Rubin

Mary B. Powers Stephanie Loder Corinne Grinapol

September 16, 2021

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Rising health and climate change risks spur pushback from communities impacted by facility emissions and pollution—as owners, governments, activists and industry advisers weigh options for environmental justice.

Pulse: Project News for the Week of September 20, 2021

September 17, 2021

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Project News from Dodge Data & Analytics.

Pollution

EPA to Set PFAS Source Guidelines

Pam McFarland

September 17, 2021

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Sept. 8 said it plans to set effluent limitations guidelines and pretreatment standards for industrial facilities that manufacture per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as well as chromium electroplating facilities, which use PFAS in their processes.

Louisiana Contractors Brace for Impact On Labor, Materials in Efforts to Rebuild

Autumn Cafiero Giusti

September 17, 2021

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Between COVID-19, the five named storms that hit the state in 2020 and the industry’s ever-present labor shortage, Louisiana contractors have spent the last year trying to get by with a maxed-out workforce and pandemic-related supply chain shortages.

Online Equipment Marketplace eqhq Takes a Deep Dive Into Data

Jeff Rubenstone

September 16, 2021

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When looking to buy or sell a piece of construction equipment, options are often limited. There are a few big auction houses, a handful of websites and a local network of dealers, contractors and rental houses that might be interested.

Empowering Flight 93’s Tower of Voices in Shanksville, Pa., to Speak

Tom Sawyer

September 9, 2021

One Comment

The last element of the three-phase Flight 93 National Memorial —the “Tower of Voices”—may finally be adjusted to communicate this fall.

Fusion Test Produces More Power Than It Takes In

Commonwealth Fusion Systems and MIT announce successful test of key magnet technology

Scott Van Voorhis

September 8, 2021

2 Comments

A nuclear fusion startup led by scientists at MIT announces a major advance that the team believes could pave the way for the world’s first commercial fusion power reactor by the end of the decade.

Accidents

OSHA Probes Two July Fatalities at Amazon Philadelphia Jobsites

Stephanie Loder

September 2, 2021

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One contractor claims an employee was seen removing safety equipment before he fell from roof of a distribution center under construction for the online retail giant, part of an ambitious building program in the city's metro area

Economics

Labor Shortages, Supply Chain Roadblocks, COVID-19 Still Hamper Contractors

Associated General Contractors data shows 89% of contractors have difficulty finding craft workers

Jeff Yoders

September 2, 2021

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Pandemic-related material delays continue to plague construction even as the labor shortage reaches pre-pandemic levels.

NRC Cites Vogtle Safety Violations as Georgia Power Projects Construction Delays

Scott Judy

September 7, 2021

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The utility pushed back the respective in-service dates for Units 3 and 4 by several months.

Companies

Power Contractor Quanta Boosts Renewables Push With $2.4B Purchase

Scott Van Voorhis

Debra K. Rubin

September 9, 2021

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Utility construction giant is set to wrap acquisition of family-owned clean energy EPC sector leader Blattner Co. in Q4; STV deal to buy consulting firm CP&Y will close Sept. 30

Canada Drops Criminal Prosecution of Kiewit In Jobsite Fatality

Scott Van Voorhis

September 9, 2021

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British Columbia authorities say key expert witness death and changed testimonies related to rock scaler Sam Fitzpatrick's fatal accident made conviction of contractor and two ex-managers unlikely.

Flawed Welding Faulted in Mexico City Subway Collapse

Jim Parsons

September 8, 2021

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Report concludes the elevated steel structure and concrete rail bed were acting as “independent parallel beams,” and experiencing “loading conditions for which they were not designed.”

Modular construction at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport

DFW Airport Module Move Is First of its Kind in the Nation

Aileen Cho

September 16, 2021

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Six prefabricated modules forming an 80,000-sq-ft new concourse have rolled into place at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Delivered on self-propelled modular transporters between Aug. 26 and Sept. 9, they are a first of their kind for North American airports.

Construction Workforce

Construction Loses 3,000 Jobs in August, But Jobless Rate Falls to 4.6%

Tom Ichniowski

September 3, 2021

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Job losses in nonresidential segments outpaced gains in residential sector.

Pollution Leak Taints $56B HS2 Project in UK

September 16, 2021

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As the first anniversary of work on the U.K.’s 225-km London-Birmingham high-speed railroad (HS2) is reached, news of a major bentonite leak of more than 1,500 cu m at the project’s first tunnel has revived opposition to the project.

Virginia Water Infrastructure Project Gets Boost From EPA Loan

James Leggate

September 13, 2021

One Comment

The loan, one of two EPA is providing to Hampton Roads Sanitation District, will help replenish the aquifer, address rising sea levels and help protect the Chesapeake Bay.

Associations

USGBC Seeks New President and CEO

Mahesh Ramanujam departs Nov. 1

Nadine M. Post

September 8, 2021

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Search begins for a leader of the group that developed the popular green-building certification program known as LEED.

ENR Top 100 Green Design Firms and Contractors: Green Market Growth Stunted

Sustainable design and contracting revenue dips, while healthy building standards help projects turn over a new leaf

Emell D. Adolphus

Jonathan Keller

September 15, 2021

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Sustainable design and contracting revenue dips, while healthy building standards help projects turn over a new leaf.

2021 Top 400 Sourcebook: Massachusetts Facility Is Revamped for Vaccines

Johanna Knapschaefer

September 16, 2021

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Site work is underway for a vaccine manufacturing facility in a Dartmouth, Mass., business park, set to develop new vaccines for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

Salt Lake City's new wastewater treatment plant

2021 Top 400 Sourcebook: Pace Picks Up on Salt Lake City Wastewater Plant

Pam McFarland

September 16, 2021

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Sundt and PCL are constructing a $700-million water reclamation facility to replace an aging 33-million-gallon-per-day wastewater treatment plant in the city.

2021 Top 400 Sourcebook: Oil Platforms Boost Production in the Gulf of Mexico

Louise Poirier

September 16, 2021

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Over the summer, BP marked the safe start-up of the Manuel project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the fourth of five major projects the energy company expects to deliver globally in 2021.

2021 Top 400 Sourcebook: Winds of Change at Mojave Wind Farm

Autumn Cafiero Giusti

September 16, 2021

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Work is underway by Mortenson to repower the 60-MW Oasis wind farm in Mojave, Calif., for renewable energy developer and operator Terra-Gen. After acquiring the plant in 2019, Terra-Gen brought in Mortenson as its construction partner to repower the facility, which first operated in 2004.

2021 Top 400 Sourcebook: Caltrans Updates a Coastal Corridor

Jim Parsons

September 16, 2021

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As part of an overall strategy to relieve congestion and expand mobility options in Santa Barbara County, Calif., Granite Construction is serving as construction manager for Caltrans’ upgrade of a 10.8-mile segment of U.S. Route 101 between the cities of Santa Barbara and Carpinteria.

2021 Top 400 Sourcebook: Va. Office Tower Is a Sustainable Addition

Bruce Buckley

September 16, 2021

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Skanska will break ground this fall on a nine-story office tower in Arlington, Va. The building will feature 191,000 sq ft of office space and 10,000 sq ft of retail space.

2021 Top 400 Sourcebook: Contractors Seek to Deliver Certainty to Project Owners

Emell D. Adolphus

Jonathan Keller

September 15, 2021

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Last year, as the pandemic upended the construction industry, contractors hatched a plan to come together. Determined to keep jobsites open and deemed essential around the U.S., a group of contractors partnered on turnkey coronavirus prevention protocols for all companies to use.

Viewpoint: Infrastructure Bill Needs to Boost the Worker Pipeline

Lisa Guzman, Carpenters' Union Local 58

September 8, 2021

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Carpenter apprentice Lisa Guzman, and others, say U.S. must enact funding legislation amendment to insure career success for those long underrepresented in skilled-trades—before workforce gaps grow larger.