December 13, 2021

The painful development, and the glories as well, of American construction.

US Army personnel look at a wall of pictures colored by Afghan children at an evacuee processing facility near Philadelphia

Military Projects

Corps Takes on Unusual Mission in Afghan Evacuee Operation

Baltimore, Philadelphia districts prepared space at nearby facilities for thousands with tight deadline

December 5, 2021

The Army Corps of Engineers supported Operation Allies Welcome by preparing space at east coast facilities to handle thousands under a tight deadline.

Water Infrastructure

EPA Announces First Funding Allocations Under New Infrastructure Law

Action deals with clean-water and drinking-water state revolving funds

Tom Ichniowski

December 6, 2021

But it will be weeks until funds are actually released to states.

Transportation Infrastructure

US DOT Selects Winners for New $1B Round of RAISE Grants

Tom Ichniowski

November 19, 2021

Among the 90 winners are highway, bridge, rail, port and several pedestrian-related projects.

Construction Economics for December 13, 2021

December 10, 2021

ENR’s 20-city average cost indexes, wages and materials prices. Historical data and details for ENR’s 20 cities can be found at ENR.com/economics

Smarter Windows Will Enable Arena to Let in the Light

Corinne Grinapol

December 9, 2021

A n arena currently under construction at Sacred Heart University’s campus in Fairfield, Conn., set to house its hockey and figure skating programs will have a design feature not typically associated with indoor ice rinks: windows.

Pulse: Project News for the Week of December 13, 2021

December 10, 2021

Project news from Dodge Data & Analytics.

UAV Technology

New York City Dept. of Buildings Explores Drones for Facade Inspections

New report sees potential in technology, calls for further study

Jeff Rubenstone

November 29, 2021

New report sees potential for drone use in city building inspections, recommends further study of the issue before restrictions are lifted.

Honda Autonomous Vehicle Carries Payloads on Solar Site

Jeff Rubenstone

December 9, 2021

When building solar farms in remote locations, driving materials around the often sprawling sites can be time consuming.

Companies

CEO Shift Announced at Major UK Builder Laing O’Rourke

December 9, 2021

45-year veteran CEO Ray O'Rourke would step down by September, replaced by Seamus French, a mining giant top exec who joins the London contractor as managing director in January.

Court Punts on AECOM Former Unit Whistleblower Suit

November 22, 2021

Appellate judges said lower court must reconsider whether former employee's fraud claims on $1.9B Army contract were 'material' under the US False Claims Act against the unit, which was sold in 2020.

Federal Contracting

US Energy Dept. Awards Latest Nuclear Complex Megacontract

December 1, 2021

Fluor-led team gains performance-based award to manage construction and operations at DOE Oak Ridge, Tenn. and Texas-based Pantex complexes valued at up to $2.8B annually for a possible 10 years.

Energy Construction

LNG Construction Is Welcomed in One State But Rebuffed in Another

December 5, 2021

One Comment

Proposed $10B Louisiana export terminal-pipeline would be one energy firm's fourth in the state, but one in Oregon is terminated amid strong opposition; even so, US will be world's largest LNG exporter by end of next year, says Energy Dept. in new report.

Advanced Manufacturing

Samsung Picks Texas for $17B Semiconductor Plant

Project will support 6,500 construction jobs, Governor claims

November 24, 2021

South Korean tech giant's project comes amid a shortage in semiconductors impacting other industries.

A contractor holds a stop sign for traffic control at a roadside excavation site

Safety and Health

Contractor Groups Highlight 811 System Problems, Seek Improvements

November 17, 2021

One Comment

The Infrastructure Protection Coalition and AGC released separate reports critiquing the 811 system.

Coronavirus and Construction

Kentucky Court Halts Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate in Three States

Conservative federal court extends temporary halt but lawsuit's merits await further debate

November 30, 2021

Dec. 3 ruling in conservative court supports claim of unclear government authority, halting order only in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee; separately, Cincinnati court declines government request to accelerate appeal of halt to OSHA vaccine rule for large private employers, and NYC orders new mandate for all businesses.

US Supreme Court Sets Precedent in States' Groundwater Dispute

November 23, 2021

Nov. 22 decision nixing 15-year Mississippi claim against Tennessee over shared aquifer use impacts will affect other states, with growing climate change issues for water resources, sector experts say.

Flood Disaster

Flood-Wrecked Wash. State, B.C. Infrastructure Rebuild Will Be Long

Scott Van Voorhis

December 9, 2021

Officials and contractors in British Columbia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Washington state push to reopen, repair and add resilience to battered highways and flood defenses after a month of repeat storms.

Fix for Millennium Tower Pile Upgrade Going Well

December 10, 2021

There was no measurable settlement during the Dec. 1-3 drilling for the second permanent pilot pile installed at the northwest corner of the troubled Millennium Tower in San Francisco, says Ronald O. Hamburger, engineer-of-record for the perimeter pile upgrade designed to stem settlement of the 645-ft-tall residential condominium.

A sign posted on a pole centered among a green field, trees and power lines reads "No CMP Corridor"

Clean Energy Construction

$1B Maine Hydropower Project Halted After Governor’s Plea

Johanna Knapschaefer

November 23, 2021

Utility stops construction following Nov. 2 voter rejection of the transmission corridor, but awaits a court ruling to enjoin the vote. A state agency on Nov. 23 suspended a project environmental permit that also halts work.

Codes and Standards

Tornado-Resistant Building Design Premieres in ASCE 7-22

Nadine M. Post

December 2, 2021

American Society of Civil Engineers' bible on design contains first-ever provisions on tornado loads, but only for certain building types.

2021 Global Sourcebook

Glasgow's New 'Smart' Canal

Pam McFarland

December 9, 2021

AECOM is developing a live hydraulic model for a smart canal in Glasgow that will proactively manage flood risk and water quality using rainfall forecast data.

2021 Global Sourcebook

McDermott Wins Contract for Woodfibre LNG Export Facility in British Columbia

Louise Poirier

December 9, 2021

Woodfibre LNG Ltd., a Vancouver, B.C., oil and natural gas firm that is a unit of Singapore-based Pacific Energy Corp Ltd., inked an engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction (EPFC) contract in November with McDermott International for the Woodfibre LNG project—a single train liquefied natural gas export facility to be built on the site of the former Woodfibre pulp mill.

2021 Global Sourcebook

China Tops Out Dome on Reactor in Nuclear Power Expansion Push

Autumn Cafiero Giusti

December 9, 2021

Marking a construction milestone for the Zhangzhou nuclear power plant in China’s Fujian province, the inner dome of the facility’s first reactor unit was recently lifted into place and installed.

2021 Global Sourcebook

Automakers Expand Electric Vehicle Production in Europe

December 9, 2021

Automakers are preparing for increasing electric vehicle demand in Europe, which the International Energy Association says overtook China in 2020 as the fastest-growing market for EVs.

2021 Global Sourcebook

Urban Park Is Part of Madrid's Tunnel Vision

December 9, 2021

Construction is underway to convert the last southern arc section of Madrid’s M-30 beltway into a tunnel.

2021 Global Sourcebook

Urban Campus Aims to Become One of France's Largest Low-Carbon Buildings

Bruce Buckley

December 9, 2021