The $2.2 billion Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System project, located on approximately 3,500 acres of federal land in California’s Mojave Desert managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior‘s Bureau of Land Management, is at the halfway point and has reached it peak construction workforce of 1,200 construction workers. Related Links: Ivanpah Solar Project Renews Power Market Principals on the project include NRG Energy, Google, BrightSource Energy and construction partner Bechtel.The 370 (net) megawatt Ivanpah solar power facility is actually three individual power plants that will feature BrightSource Energy’s solar thermal power tower technology to produce clean, renewable energy from

The 10 leading companies on ENR California's 2012 Top Contractors list collectively had a strong year, reporting a 15% gain in their Golden State revenue in 2011. But in general, most contractors saw business hold relatively steady, posting small revenue upticks or declines compared with their 2010 results. Related Links: ENR California's Top Contractors 2011 Ranking Engineering News Record As they look at 2012 and beyond, California contractors are starting to see brighter business signals on the horizon. In particular, they are spotting signs of life in the technology-driven commercial office and residential markets, both in the San Francisco Bay

A video posted on YouTube captures the moment when a roadheader, an enormous tracked tunneling machine, breaks through a wall of rock and earth and workers step through to greet their fellow miners on the other side. Titled "NIT's Road Header Rendezvous," the clip shows one grinning crew member shouting congratulations over the drilling noise as he reaches out to shake hands with a teammate. Related Links: Race Against Time: Water System Upgrade Moves Into High Gear (ENR 9/22/10) Hetch Hetchy System Launches Upgrade (ENR 7/17/06) The clip shows the moment on June 12 when the two mining crews working

The design-builder team of Hensel Phelps and Fentress Architects recently joined U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, acting Federal Aviation Administration administrator Michael P. Huerta, Mayor Edwin M. Lee and airport director John L. Martin in officially breaking ground for San Francisco International Airport’s new air traffic control tower. Rendering courtesy of SFO HNTB designed the tower. Image courtesy of SFO HNTB was the designer of the new tower. Related Links: Watch the YouTube video of the new control tower design and construction. The new control tower will be located between Terminals 1 and 2, east of the existing tower. It will

A key green element to the just-opened 13-floor, $190-million San Francisco Public Utilities Commission headquarters is its water management system, called the Living Machine. According to the project’s designers, KMD Architects & Stevens Architects, the building will consume 60% less water than similarly sized buildings. The advanced gray-water and black-water system was developed by Worrell Water Technologies, Charlottesville, Va. The SFPUC headquarters at 525 Golden Gate is one of the first urban office buildings to use the system, satisfying 100% of the water demand for the building’s low-flow toilets and urinals. The Living Machine system, along with faucet sensors, on-demand

A new pilot program system designed to target an increase in water savings and crop output has captured the interest of several agencies and regional water districts. The system serves a portion of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID) in California’s Central Valley near Ripon. Local growers using the system utilize a combination of mobile technology and “airline-ticketing-style” online tools to schedule individualized water deliveries, according to Danny Craig, a spokesman for Stantec, the project’s consulting engineer and construction manager. Stantec provided mechanical, civil, structural, electrical, the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)

Nearly 20 months before the December 2010 groundbreaking for the massive University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, members of the design and construction team gathered at the project's site in the Mission Bay neighborhood to map out a plan of attack. Their goal: to win a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold rating—a rare achievement for a hospital—for the 878,000-sq-ft complex. Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record The team brought together about 100 key players, including the project's general contractor, architects, engineers, construction-management advisers and 13 subcontractors, to produce a plan to integrate lean construction methods, implement

A California seismic-retrofit mandate for hospitals has produced a wave of major projects over the past several years, giving a welcome lift to the state's architectural and engineering firms. But as the program's first major deadline draws near, the wave of hospital work has receded. To cope with the decline in the health care sector, many A/E firms are branching out to new regions or offering a wider range of services to potential clients. Related Links: Top Design Firms 2011 Architectural Record Combined revenue for this year's top 10 design firms rose a modest 2.6% over the total for last

Clif Bar & Co. reports that its Emeryville headquarters has been awarded LEED platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Related Links: Clif Bar Headquarters Wins Award of Merit Located at 1451 66th St., Clif Bar’s 115,000-sq-ft office space is the first building in Emeryville to achieve LEED platinum certification in the commercial interior category. The firm is a maker of organic foods and drinks.The general contractor/construction manager on the project was DPR Construction and the architect was ZGF. The project, which won an Award of Merit in last year’s ENR California’s Top Projects competition in the Office category,

Stanford University Medical Center’s goal of reaching $1 billion in donations to fund its expansion project reached the half-way point this month and site prep and utility work are now under way. Preston Top Grade (a joint venture with Preston Pipeline and Top Grade Construction), Sandis engineers and AECOM landscaping are working on the Welsh Rd. utility improvement project, which replaces utility services and information technology infrastructure along Welch and Quarry roads. The project also includes the widening of Welch Rd., one of the main arteries into the medical center campus, and the replacement of sidewalks, planting of new trees, installation