| June 28, 2012 | News for contractors and the construction industry |
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| Infrastructure & Project Focus | | |
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- Steel truss shatters windows at NYC's 4 WTC
Windows on the 45th floor of 4 World Trade Center in New York were broken on Wednesday when a steel truss being hoisted by a crane swung into the building. A gust of wind is said to be to blame. "We have suspended steel lifts pending an investigation," said John Gallagher, a spokesman for Tishman Construction, the project's contractor, and the firm is "reviewing protocols for evaluating weather conditions." The Wall Street Journal
(6/27)      
- HDR to oversee design of St. Croix River Bridge
The Minnesota and Wisconsin departments of transportation have awarded engineering firm HDR the $14.2 million contract to oversee the design of what will be the country's second extradosed bridge. The cost of the four–lane St. Croix River Bridge between the two states is estimated to be between $280 million and $310 million. The bridge is part of a bigger project -- estimated between $580 million and $676 million -- that includes expressways on either end of the bridge and historic and environmental mitigation efforts. Design efforts will take about a year and construction is expected to start late in 2013. Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.)
(6/26)
- New SEIS needed for Atlantic Yards' 2nd phase
A new supplemental environmental impact statement for the second phase of the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, N.Y., will need to be done now that the New York Court of Appeals refused to hear the appeal. The original ruling stems from a change in the project's construction timetable, from 10 to 25 years, which the Empire State Development Corp. approved without conducting a new impact study."While we do not agree with the court's decision, we are prepared to conduct the SEIS on Phase 2 as ordered," said Kenneth Adams, CEO and president of ESDC. Crain's New York Business
(6/27)
- $335M Mo. hospital: "Hardened fortress" will withstand EF-5 storm
Architects and engineers closely examined the damage inflicted by an EF-5 tornado last year on the St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo. They used what they learned to design the new $335 million Mercy Hospital Joplin as a "hardened fortress." Much of its electrical power equipment will be located underground as will two stories of the hospital. The Joplin Globe (Mo.)
(6/26)
| Economic Update | | |
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- Recovery varies significantly from place to place across U.S.
The U.S. economic recovery can be summarized as "sprinting" growth concentrated in a small number of energy-rich states and broad stagnation in the rest of the country, according to Chris Mauro, head of U.S. Municipal Research Strategy at RBC Capital Markets. The Brookings Institution described the picture in the U.S. as "significant patchiness" based on its review of metropolitan economies. Reuters
(6/27)
| Innovation & Green Building | | |
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- Al Bahar Towers of Abu Dhabi: A feat of sustainable engineering
With 25 stories that need protection from the heat of the sun, designers of Abu Dhabi's Al Bahar Towers came up with an innovative take on the geometric screens seen on many Middle Eastern buildings. The towers feature a responsive dynamic shading screen in the traditional geometric shape that controls solar glare while optimizing the use of natural light. Inhabitat
(6/26)
| Policy Watch | | |
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- Salazar urges creation of database for global drilling incidents
Drilling-related risks can be mitigated if oil-producing countries form a database for global incidents, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. "The more information that can be shared around the Earth, the better equipped all nations will be in terms of preventing new accidents," he said. The U.S. has made progress in offshore-drilling safety since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and the country's regulations can be used a model for other nations, Salazar added. Reuters
(6/27)
| Association News | | |
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Highway and transit bill will protect jobs and boost economy
The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued a statement on Wednesday in response to the recently announced deal on a 27-month federal surface transportation bill by the House-Senate conference committee. Read more.
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Administration officials significantly underestimated cost of new hiring quotas for federal construction contractors
Administration officials significantly underestimated the cost to construction employers of proposed new hiring quotas for federal contractors, according to a new analysis released yesterday by the Associated General Contractors of America. Read more.
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