Top Story

• Nevada's DesertXpress project now costs $6.5B
  Some are questioning the wisdom of building a 188-mile high-speed train from Las Vegas to Victorville, Calif. DesertXpress Enterprises would own the line, but because the cost to build it has risen to $6.5 billion -- an 85% jump in four years -- the company is seeking a 35-year loan of $5.5 billion to $6.5 billion from the Federal Railroad Administration. Las Vegas Review-Journal (2/26)     

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Infrastructure & Project Focus

• Plans for $1.66B Wekiva Parkway project in Fla. approved
  The $1.66 billion Wekiva Parkway project could break ground this fall after the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority unanimously approved the tollway plan last week. Authority Chairman Walter Ketcham said the road "is going to be an absolute boon to the community in terms of jobs and moving traffic." Meanwhile, a $1 billion, 900-acre mixed-use development called Kelly Park Crossings is planned near a major interchange on the parkway. It would include residential and retail areas, a hospital and school. Orlando Sentinel (Fla.) (2/22), American City Business Journals/Orlando, Fla. (2/23)     

• San Francisco's $1.6B Central Subway project moves ahead
  Work on the $1.6 billion, 1.7-mile subway tunnel in San Francisco that will link the Caltrain station to Chinatown has started with the moving of utilities in preparation for tunnel boring. A $942 million full funding grant agreement is expected from the federal government later this year. Several contracts will be put out to bid over the next few months. San Francisco Chronicle (2/26)     

• N.C. DOT holds discussion on wise use of $10B for transportation
  North Carolina's transportation department held a public meeting to discuss how best to use a projected $10 billion budget for long-term transportation projects. "We will have $63 billion in needs from 2018 to 2022 and only $10 billion to pay for them," said state DOT Secretary Gene Conti. "Getting feedback from local leaders and the public is critical to helping us determine how to spend every dollar to better serve North Carolinians." ProgressiveRailroading.com (2/23)     

• Other News

• FERC denies permit for proposed $3B, 501-mile water pipeline in Colo.
  American City Business Journals/Denver (2/23)     

• Starwood plans 20 Sheraton hotel openings in 2012
  CNBC/The Associated Press (2/23)     

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by AGC SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Slideshow: The ascent of the World Trade Center towers (TribecaTrib.com (New York City))

• 83-year-old, 1,255-foot Ohio River bridge imploded (WTOV-TV (Steubenville, Ohio))

• Which proposed stadium will score in Los Angeles? (ConstructionDigital.com)

• Bidding set for $950M Calif. bridge that will create 4,000 jobs (Press-Telegram (Long Beach, Calif.))

• House Republicans to revamp transportation bill (Politico (Washington, D.C.))

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Economic Update

• Economists: Hiring, house building and spending will increase
  Business spending, employment and house construction are poised to pick up this year, the National Association for Business Economics said. The group left its forecast for growth of gross domestic product unchanged at 2.4%. The Washington Post/The Associated Press (2/27)     

• Other News

• $7B worth of construction projects kept Utah's unemployment rate from being worse
  The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah) (2/26)     

Innovation & Green Building

• European researchers developing self-cleaning, de-polluting concrete
  Europe's Photocatalytic Innovative Covering Applications for De-pollution Assessment project seeks to create products that would improve urban air quality on a large scale and can be applied to building facades. PICADA researchers have been working to develop self-cleaning and de-polluting cement or concrete using titanium dioxide that interacts with water in the air and captures and breaks down air pollutants. "The PICADA project proved that the photo catalytic cement-based products are useful for depollution and self-cleaning," according to Arnaud Plassais, an engineer with the project. Nanowerk/Youris (2/23)     

• Energy-efficient retrofits eyed as job creator in NYC
  New York City has passed measures that will require owners of buildings of more than 50,000 square feet to audit the facility's energy consumption every 10 years in a bid to promote energy-efficient building upgrades. Every $1 million that's spent for green building upgrades generates more than two jobs and 10 indirect jobs, according to a 2009 study from the U.S. Green Building Council. Many in the construction industry have found that honing their knowledge of green building has furthered their business. Crain's New York Business (2/26)     

• EPA's 2012 permit on site runoff excludes numeric turbidity limit
  The new 2012 general permit for construction-site stormwater runoff released by the Environmental Protection Agency on Feb. 16 does not set a limit for turbidity, a fact lauded by construction industry experts, including the Associated General Contractors of America. The revised permit integrates most of the conditions pertinent to the EPA's effluent limitation guidelines but does not include a numeric limit for turbidity due to previous litigation over the numeric limit of 280 nephelometric turbidity units. Engineering News-Record (2/27)     

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Policy Watch

• Consideration of reworked House transportation bill may not happen
  Republican House staffers say the five-year reauthorization of surface transportation programs may not be considered this week. With the March 31 expiration of the current extension for the surface transportation programs fast approaching, House and Senate lawmakers will have only a few weeks left to agree on a transportation bill. The Hill (2/25), National Journal/Transportation Experts Blog (2/27), Green Bay Press-Gazette (Wis.) (2/26)     

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Association News

• AGC's Construction Project Manager Course
  April 15-20 || Potomac, Md.
  PMC is the perfect opportunity for either the well-rounded, early-career project manager with a bright future or for a talented tradesman who has worked his or her way up to project management but could use a bit of polishing around the edges. Everyone who goes through the program has something to gain over the course of six intense days of workshops, assignments and team building activities. Learn more and register.     

• Project Delivery Systems for Construction
  Written by AGC contractor members and professional industry practitioners, the newly released "Project Delivery Systems for Construction -- Third Edition" publication provides detailed information on traditional and alternative project delivery systems. It includes chapters on Design-Bid-Build, Design-Build, Construction Management At-Risk, Construction Management Agency and Program Management. This book uses real-life examples from actual projects and comes complete with self-tests and case studies to emphasize points covered in the text. To order, browse the AGC Store or find it here.     

SmartQuote

One will rarely err if extreme actions be ascribed to vanity, ordinary actions to habit, and mean actions to fear." --Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher