Gov. Rick Perry appointed Carlos Rubinstein of Austin to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to a term to expire Aug. 31, 2015, and appointed Bryan W. Shaw of Round Rock as presiding officer of the commission. The commission oversees the state’s environmental permitting and enforcement agency. Related Links: McCarthy Named 2009 Contractor of the Year by Dallas AIA Tulsa Project Wins National Architecture, Engineering Award Architects Compete in Galveston Event Space Design Contest Pulte, Centex Merger Creates Nation’s Largest Homebuilder TCEQ Names New Clean Texas Members Gulf Guardian Awards Honor Efforts to Protect Environmental Health AGC Houston Recognizes Construction

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fort Worth District recently awarded $118.7 million in contracts to Hensel Phelps Construction of Austin for construction of two barracks to house Army personnel that will attend the Medical Education and Training Campus at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. The barracks will augment three dormitories already under construction as part of the ongoing development of METC, which will consolidate the enlisted medical training programs of all branches of the U.S. military. The Army barracks include a 366,000-sq-ft unit for 1,200 individuals and a 192,000-sq-ft facility for an additional 600 personnel. The three dormitories

J.C. Evans Construction Co. of Leander submitted the low bid of $33.8 million for the Cuatro Vientos (State Loop 20 extension) construction project for South Laredo. Related Links: Design-Build Contract Drives SH 161 Forward Construction Expected Soon for Portion of Manor Expressway Lubbock’s Loop 289 Project Widened from Four to Six Lanes Houston’s District’s IH-10 East Freeway Completed Early Passing Lanes to be Added on Kermit Highway SH 137 Rehabilitation Project Rebuilds 7-Mi Road Texas Sterling Starts $29-Million Harris County Project IH-45-Gulf Freeway Project Near Calder Progresses Castro County Maintenance Project Widens FM 1055, FM 2943 TxDOT Prepares to Fund

Through the approval a $20.75-million contract for URS Corp. of Dallas to begin the preliminary design work for the renovation of Terminals A, B, C and E, which opened with the Airport in 1974, DFW International Airport’s Board of Directors began an eight-year renovation process. Related Links: Texas Adopts BIM for State Design and Construction Projects HyperTrack Speeds Construction at Rice University Houston Firms Redo Norwegian Consulate General Offices Corps of Engineers Awards $119 Million in Contracts Structura Restores Galveston Sites Damaged by Hurricane Ike Texas A&M University Selects CDCS for Housing Project Parking Planners to Build Garage for Stephen

McCarthy Named 2009 Contractor of the Year by Dallas AIA   November 2009 McCarthy Named 2009 Contractor of the Year by Dallas AIA The Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has recognized Dallas-based McCarthy Building Cos. as the 2009 Contractor of the Year for its efforts at taking on technically oriented, complex projects. McCarthy was selected along with 13 other organizations and individuals for their contributions to the city’s cultural and architectural environment. The Contractor of the Year award is given to the general contractor that has advanced architecture through its achievement of the built environment, according to the

Editor’s note: This article was written for our December issue, and went to press  on November 5, the day of the shooting at Fort Hood that took the lives of 13 persons and injured some 20 others. Texas Construction offers its deepest sympathies to the families of those injured or killed in the heinous act of violence. Courtesy Randy Cephus/USACE The 45-acre, 32-building Combined Arms Collective Training Facility at Fort Hood. Courtesy Randy Cephus/USACE Fort Hood�s mock village is part of the base�s mobilization mission, which includes training of some 58,000 soldiers from the base as well as outside units

PageSoutherlandPage, which focuses on urban building, civic participation and professional projects, has won the 2009 Architecture Firm Award from the Texas Society of Architects, which represents the AIA in Texas. Photo: PageSoutherlandPage Austin Convention Center. Photo: PageSoutherlandPage Discovery Green in Houston. The firm will receive its award later this week in Houston at the 70th Annual Convention and Design Products & Ideas Expo. The society’s selection of PSP, which has offices across the Lone Star State, was based on three areas of achievement: exemplary design, practice and personal development, and professional and community involvement.  “PSP supports its employees in performing

The Dallas Cowboys’ Irving, Texas, practice facility collapsed on May 2, 2009, injuring 12 people, because wind-load demands exceeded the structure’s capacity to resist a thunderstorm’s 55 mph to 65 mph gusts, which were well below the 90 mph wind-speed specifications set by ASCE 7-98 and ASCE 7-05 Standards for that location, according to a draft report released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a nonregulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Photo: Courtesy NIST Buckling of the steel frame of the Dallas Cowboys practice facility is seen in the upper left of the photograph (marked

Related Links: Employee Training at Intermodal Hub Becomes National Model Texas Supreme Court Confirms Rights of Subcontractors to Sue GCs Green Building Credential Maintenance Program Created Hamilton Form Co. Receives 2009 Best of Richland Hills Award Balfour Beatty Construction Project Wins New Mexico Project of the Year Cherry Named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Houston Port of Houston Authority Chairman Earns Engineering Award Gilbane Golf Classic Charity Event Yields $74,000 for MDA The Green Building Certification Institute launched a credentialing maintenance program recently for LEED accredited professionals, or LEED APs, and Green Associates with a goal of

Related Links: Record Precipitation Doesn’t Rain on Lewisville Lake Toll Bridge Parade Construction Begins on Laredo’s $26 Million State Loop 480 TxDOT Rebuilding State Highway 115 Through Andrews Concrete Culverts at Sand Bend, 4-Mile Draw Get New Slabs Central Texas Roadways Get Annual Facelift, Seal-Coating Sam Houston Tollway Ramps Get Upgrades Parker Rd Bridge Demolition Closes U.S. 75 Overnight for Four Days Work began recently on a $1.5-million stimulus project in Pecos County to rebuild 8 mi. of U.S. 385 south of Fort Stockton. The project will include strengthening the underlying base structure of the section of highway with cement