January 6, 2009

News for contractors and the construction industry

§                                 Contract signed for nuclear reactors in Florida
A $7.65 billion contract signed by Progress Energy for two nuclear reactors in Florida includes nuclear engineering, procurement and construction by Westinghouse Electric and The Shaw Group. The company expects the project to cost a total of $17 billion and hopes to start operating the reactors, which will be capable of generating 1,100 megawatts, between 2016 and 2018. The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) (1/5)

§                                 Texarkana Interstate project reaches halfway mark
A $153 million expansion and renovation project on Interstates 59 and 30 on the Texas side of Texarkana is about 50% complete, contractors say. The project includes 22 new bridges as well as new entrance ramps and new exit ramps, among other things. They expect to complete the project, which will use more than 1.1 million cubic yards of concrete, in December 2010. Associated Construction Publications/Texas Contractor (1/5)

§                                 Innovative Florida buildings set new standards for energy efficiency
Two new buildings in Florida are expected to set new standards for sustainable buildings. A new Community First Credit Union in Lakeland will be housed in the state's first net-zero energy building, which will include a roof-mounted solar array and rainwater reuse. Meanwhile, Rilea Group is developing Miami's first LEED Gold office tower. Off-site renewable energy sources will provide 35% of the 35-story building's electricity. CoStar Group (1/5)

§                                 Renovation plans for San Francisco hospital move ahead
Forest City Enterprises is preparing to renovate the historic section of a former San Francisco hospital complex. The company has secured $67.5 million in construction financing for the project, which is expected to cost $108 million. It expects to spend four months demolishing non-historic wings of the complex. When the demolition is finished, it will transform the original hospital into apartments. GlobeSt.com (1/5)

§                                 Other News

·                                 Judge upholds Trump's "transient" hotel building permit
The New York Times (1/5)

·                                 NYC safety requirements update rules for high-rise standpipe inspection
GlobeSt.com (1/5)

§                                 Scarce credit, high lending costs slow construction
Higher borrowing costs and limited credit are two of the effects of the financial crisis -- each of which affects construction. Meanwhile, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts U.S. economic activity will decline by 0.9% in 2009, and commercial construction is expected to decline 12% from last year's levels, according to McGraw-Hill. Buildings magazine (1/2009)

§                                 Digging robots have many applications
Robotics companies have developed robots capable of digging and burying. In fact, a robot built by a U.K. company is used to bury phone cables and pipelines underwater. Other robots are used to explore caves, dig up roadside bombs and for other military, space and energy applications. Investor's Business Daily (1/5)

§                                 Column: Roof of Bird's Nest in Beijing blends with supports
The Bird's Nest in Beijing, also known as the National Stadium, ranks as one of the most modern pieces of architecture in the world, writes architect Jason Buensalido. The character of the retractable-roof stadium, which hosted the Summer Olympics last year, comes from its secondary steel nest surrounding the inner red bowl. "To camouflage these steel supports for the retractable roof, the team developed the seemingly random steel latticework to blend the supports into the rest of the stadium, forming the overall aesthetic of the 'nest,'" he writes. BusinessMirror (Philippines) (1/5)

§                                 Airport parking garage designed for efficiency, strength
Clark Pacific has designed a new parking garage at San Jose Airport using a pre-cast/post-tensioning method for strength and efficiency. The technique was created specifically for the project. "The pre-cast system allows for a single pre-cast element to replace the work of two pre-cast elements and one cast-in-place element that would have been very complicated and expensive to construct," notes Farid Ibrahim, director of Clark Pacific preconstruction services. The structure will store more than 5,000 rental cars and includes an attached building that will house car-service facilities. Associated Construction Publications/California Builder and Engineer (1/5)

§                                 Proposal would boost energy-efficiency requirements for buildings
Proposed changes to an energy standard for buildings would provide minimum requirements for the energy-efficient design of all buildings with the exception of low-rise residential buildings. The proposal requires all cooling and heating equipment that operates under standard conditions to comply with the existing minimum efficiencies, noted Mark Hydeman, vice chair of the ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1 committee. Today's Facility Manager (1/2009)

§                                 Other News

·                                 Concrete specs differ for new Minn. bridges
Associated Construction Publications/Construction Bulletin (1/5)

§                                 Construction spending falls less than expected, outlook still bleak
Strong nonresidential construction helped offset the steep decline in housing construction in November, according to a Commerce Department report. Construction spending fell 0.6% in November, less than half the 1.3% predicted by economists. However, they continue to predict significant weakness in the market. Forbes/The Associated Press (1/5) , CNNMoney.com/Reuters (1/5)

§                                 ConsensusDOCS offers valuable tools for turbulent financial times
The ConsensusDOCS standard contract 290, Guidelines for Obtaining Owner Financial Information, and the related Financial Questionnaire 290.1, provide an easy and direct way for contractors to quickly determine the financial viability of projects. ConsensusDOCS is the only catalog of standard contract documents that provides such a project tool, which are crucial in turbulent economic times. For more information, please visit www.agc.org/bookstore or contact Carrie Ciliberto at 703-837-5367 or cilibertoc@....

§                                 AGC offers construction Tool Box Safety Talks DVD
This DVD contains more than two hours of video (30 titles) of the most used Tool Box Safety Talks for construction jobs. You'll be able to select videos by title with just one click. Each video topic is an average of five minutes in length. Topics include: Chemical Safety, Compressed Gas Safety, Construction Equipment Maintenance, Crane Signals, Cut-off Saw Safety, Environmental Hazards, Eye & Face Protection and much more. To purchase copies, visit www.agc.org/bookstore, item #0550D.

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