Top Stories of 2012 Reflect Ups and Downs of Southwest Market

Several large public projects were completed or reached the peak of construction in 2012, including Tutor Perini's $2.4-billion ">Terminal 3 project at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Another airport project, the PHX Sky Train, delicately weaved ">the 2nd phase through some of Sky Harbor Airport's busiest areas in Phoenix.

In Tucson, the $720-million ">Pima County Regional Optimization Plan continued construction on several facilities, and even resulted in the ">discovery of a lifetime for archeologists, who found evidence of the earliest complex agricultural and irrigation system in North America. Just down the road, crews flipped the grade of ">Interstate 10 from Prince to Ruthrauff roads.

By contrast, in New Mexico, ">Los Alamos National Lab saw 10% of its workforce reduced in the wake of lack of funding for a large plutonium project. Other public projects struggled, such as the lack of funding for furnishings for the completed Santa Fe Courthouse, and worries over whether the Spaceport's large public investment would pay off.

Renewable energy and green building were bright spots in all three states this year. The 110-MW ">Crescent Dunes solar plant in Nevada uses a unique salt technology. The ">Colonel Smith Middle School in southern Arizona will act as a living lab for students to learn about energy conservation. ">Taliesin West in Scottsdale received a sustainable facelift. The $2-billion ">Tres Amigas project aimed to link the major U.S. power grids for the first time, opening up new opportunities for renewable development. And the net-zero energy use ">DPR Phoenix Regional Office was crowned the region's best project in ENR Southwest's year-end awards program.

But inaction on the ">renewable energy production tax credit by Congress had a chilling effect on many renewable projects towards the end of the year. And in New Mexico, a federal judge rejected ">Albuquerque's stringent energy codes.

In the region's biggest court case of the year, the U.S. Supreme Court left part of ">Arizona's immigration statute standing.

Blair leads day-to-day operations of the ENR editorial team to ensure brand quality and further best practices. He spearheads ENR's various competitions, including Best Projects and the Award of Excellence, and organizes editorial content at events including the Top Young Professionals conference. A Jesse H. Neal, Construction Media Alliance and AZBEES-award-winning writer and videographer, Blair frequently contributes to ENR’s burgeoning video channel with project tour videos and interviews with industry leaders. He is also a frequent speaker and moderator on topics such as diversity and inclusion, design and jobsite technology, construction means and methods and marketing.