The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Libertyville, Ill.-based Aldridge Electric Inc. for one serious safety violation following the June death of a worker who developed heat stroke at a job site in Chicago. Aldridge was installing electrical conduit in a trench on a mass-transit line when the worker became ill on his first day on the job. The worker was carrying heavy piping in unshaded conditions when he collapsed. He died the following day.“This tragedy underscores the need for employers to ensure new workers become acclimated and build a tolerance to working in
The City of Chicago is undertaking a $492-million, four-year program to overhaul a mass-transit line extending between downtown and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Beginning in mid-2014, the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) Blue Line will undergo track and infrastructure improvements, in addition to signal, power and station house upgrades. Rather than complete track replacement, plans call for a series of track improvements along the 12.5-mile line, which consists of subway tunnels, elevated structures and ground-level track along I-90, an expressway linking O'Hare to downtown.Unlike recent renovations to a line extending between downtown and Chicago's South Side, the Blue Line will remain
Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin continued to see improving construction employment conditions in October while Illinois, Indiana and Ohio suffered setbacks during the same period, according to year-over-year comparisons compiled by Arlington, Va.-based Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Indiana lost the greatest number of jobs (-11,800, -9.5%) in the nation in October, both in raw numbers and on a percentage basis. Neighboring Ohio lost 1,100 jobs (-0.6). For months, both states have endured job losses due to slackening global demand for manufactured goods, according to industry economists.After several months of stabilization, construction employment dipped precipitously in Illinois (-4.500 jobs, -2.4%),
A civil jury on Thursday assigned the majority of blame to manufacturer Advanced Cast Stone (ACS) for the June 2010 collapse of a concrete panel that killed one and injured two others at a Milwaukee parking structure. The jury also ruled that Random Lake, Wis.-based ACS intentionally concealed and misrepresented a defect or deficiency in its installation of the panel to the O'Donnell Park structure, owned by the County of Milwaukee. During the trial, ACS indicated it received approval to employ an alternative method to install the 30-ft, 13-ton panel to the structure's facade. It also maintained that something must
Midwest Construction backlogs declined by 11.7%, from 6.97 months to 6.15 months, in the third quarter of 2013, according to year-over-year data compiled by Arlington, Va.-based Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). The period also marked the fourth consecutive quarter of declining backlogs for the region, a trend ABC attributes to softening activity in the industrial sector. Nevertheless, construction momentum is becoming increasingly divergent in U.S. regions, the Midwest included, according to ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “The middle states continue to be associated with the shortest average backlog at 6.15 months, even though construction activity has been robust in North
Terry Graber has been named president of Schaumburg, Ill.-based general contractor Power Construction. Graber, who joined Power in 1992, has been instrumental in earning the firm new clients and expanding its staff. Jeff Karp will continue to serve as Power's CEO and Al Gorman as its chairman. Related Links: ENR Midwest People Showcase ENR People Christy Picker Rothchild has been named in-house counsel with Chicago-based engineer Environmental Systems Design Inc. She previously was a partner with Jenner & Block, a Chicago-based law firm, and an assistant professor with Northwestern University School of Law in Evanston, Ill. Whit Rogers has joined
Ohio's Cuyahoga County has completed the task of assembling teams to construct and operate a 650-room hotel that will adjoin the Cleveland Convention Center and Medical Mart, with Hilton Worldwide pegged to manage the $260-million facility and a joint-venture team headed by Turner Construction, Ozanne Construction Co. and Van Aukin Akins Architects, all of Cleveland, to serve as the project's designer and builders. A committee of county officials and consultants selected the Turner team from a field of four competitors, including teams headed by Gilbane Building Co., Panzica Construction Co. and Hunt Construction Group. In a separate competition, McLean, Va.-based
A construction worker struck by a towboat-propelled barge on the Missouri River has died of injuries he sustained from the accident, which occurred on Wednesday. Fifty-one-year-old Rodney Stumo, an employee of St. Louis Bridge Construction Co., West Alton, Mo., was driving a johnboat involved in repairs to a train tressle in St. Charles County, Mo., when his vessel was struck and capsized.Members of the towboat, operated by W.A. Ellis Construction Co., Kansas City, pulled Stumo from the river and brought him to shore, where a St. Charles County sheriffs deputy performed CPR before he was taken to a local hospital.
Demand for design services dipped for Midwest architects in September but managed to maintain positive growth for a third consecutive month, according to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Architectural Billing Index (ABI). After rising to 51.7 in August, the Midwest index retreated to 51 in September. By comparison, the national index, derived from a work-on-boards survey, rose from 53.8 to 54.3 over the same period. According to AIA, any score above 50 denotes increasing demand for design work.After dipping sharply into negative territory in April, the national index has risen steadily since May. The Midwest index also dipped sharply
Downers Grove, Ill.-based Advocate Health Care has launched a $200-million program to expand and renovate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Ill., one of several of major projects the health-care provider has undertaken in metro Chicago in recent years. The three-year Good Shepherd project broke ground earlier this month. The project, which calls for 150,000 square feet in renovations and a 230,000-sq-ft addition, intends to make the 169-bed hospital more patient friendly and efficient while meeting growing demand for operating rooms and intensive-care facilities in the area, located west of Chicago. Project architect HOK, Chicago, and CM Mortenson Construction, Elk Grove
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