During the economic recession, specialty contractors are being forced to do what they can to be more competitive and attractive to contractors. For some, that has meant upgrading skills, learning the latest about building information modeling and sustainability. For others, it has meant spreading out geographically. But all agree that surviving in this climate is about embracing change while still doggedly pursuing traditional jobs. Specialty contractors on large-scale jobs like the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. are learning valuable new technologies that will help them remain competitive in the future. Related Links: Top Specialty Contractors Top Specialty Contractors
A sustainable, mixed-use complex with an “iconic and distinctive” design gets underway in New Jersey’s capital city. The development of a 700,000-sq-ft LEED platinum Class A office tower currently in pre-construction in Trenton, N.J., is tied to the revitalization of the city, and the building’s green credentials are being achieved at a minimum of cost. The 25-story Vista Center in Trenton, N.J. will feature 12,000 sq ft of street-level retail, a 1,140-car garage and a public plaza. The 25-story Vista Center, being developed by Capital Real Estate Group of Trenton, will offer offices in increments of up to 200,000 sq
35 years after traffic was suspended, a former railroad bridge gets a major facelift. A nearly 7,000-ft-long railroad bridge is undergoing an extreme $35-million makeover over the Hudson River, thanks to hundreds of precast concrete panels, community zeal and the windblown determination of engineers and contractors. When completed by October, the revamped 121-year-old Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge may be the world�s longest pedestrian bridge at 6,768 ft, say officials. Photos courtesy of Bergman Associates Old railroad bridge will become a soaring walkway over the Hudson River when it opens later this year. The historic bridge’s 3,094-ft-long, 25-ft-wide main span consists of
The industry continues to try to wrap its arms around what BIM means for green building. While building information modeling is fostering collaboration and improving efficiencies in sustainable design and construction, most experts across the A/E/C industry say it’s still a work in progress. Interoperability and process challenges must be resolved, many say, before BIM can achieve its full promise to help deliver healthy, resource-efficient facilities with reduced carbon footprints. Photo: Oliver Schaper, Gensler The Revit model for the Beacon Institute in Beacon, N.Y. was used for daylighting analysis. The project is reusing and expanding an existing 19th Century masonry
Damaged during the attacks of Sept. 11, the demolition of Borough of Manhattan Community College building begins. Fiterman Hall is finally coming down, and for the City University of New York and the Lower Manhattan community, the resulting hole in the ground will be a most welcome site. Photo courtesy Airtek Environmental Corporation At the completion of the decontamination process in late May 2009 only the slab, walls and steel structure of the building remained. Miles and Shirley Fiterman donated the 15-story, 375,000-sq-ft building at 30 W. Broadway to the Borough of Manhattan Community College in 1993. The circa 1959
Construction crews on the massive One World Trade Center site Wednesday reached a milestone by placing the largest steel column to date for the $3.1 billion tower in Lower Manhattan. The 60-ft, 70 ton beam will serve as one of 24 perimeter columns that surround the building’s core. Once placed, the columns will allow the initial floors of the tower – including the lobby – to be built out. Each of the 24 columns was manufactured at the ArcelorMittal plant in Luxembourg. The steel plates were shipped to North America and fabricated in shops in South Plainfield, N.J. and Terrebonne,
Construction crews on the massive One World Trade Center site Wednesday reached a milestone by placing the largest steel column to date for the $3.1 billion tower in Lower Manhattan. The 60-ft, 70 ton beam will serve as one of 24 perimeter columns that surround the building’s core. Once placed, the columns will allow the initial floors of the tower – including the lobby – to be built out. Each of the 24 columns was manufactured at the ArcelorMittal plant in Luxembourg. The steel plates were shipped to North America and fabricated in shops in South Plainfield, N.J. and Terrebonne,
A grand jury last week indicted New York City’s carpenters union chief and nine other members and contractors following a sweeping investigation that resulted in allegations of fraud, racketeering and accepting bribes. Michael Forde, executive secretary-treasurer of the district council of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and other key union officials are accused of helping individual contractors – which are not named in the 29-count indictment – steal “millions of dollars” from union benefit funds by allowing them to pay union member cash below union rates without benefits, employ undocumented and non-union workers and forgo contributions to the
Paul Yoemans McCarthy Building Cos. added Paul Yeomans as director of hospitality and gaming. He will work with the hospitality/gaming/ entertainment industry to expand and create new business opportunities for McCarthy�s Nevada Division and looks to expand McCarthy�s hospitality successes nationally. Yeomans joins McCarthy from MGM Mirage Design Group. He brings more than two decades of development and construction experience and has managed in excess of $1.2 billion in development over the past four years for MGM Mirage. Yeomans received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia. Jennifer Facio TDIndustries promoted George Athens to vice
With the economy in decline, construction projects will likely experience an increase in claims as parties attempt to mitigate risk and salvage shrinking profit margins. In such an environment, both owners and contractors should get reacquainted with the law that governs one of the most common disputes between owners and contractors: differing site conditions. Generally, construction professionals accept that traditional site condition clauses control the risk associated with differing site conditions. New York case law, however, calls that conclusion into question. WHITE Over 30 years ago, New York courts issued two rulings which imposed liability on owners for their failure
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