L&T Construction, Richmondville, N.Y. has won the bid for a three-mile-long highway construction project in Binghamton, N.Y., known as the Prospect Mountain Phase I. L&T made the lowest bid at about $135 million, beating out 10 other companies whose bids reached as high as $157 million, says the New York State Dept. of Transportation. The project includes the convergence of Route 17 and Interstate 81 with I-88. The project will also help bring up to interstate standards an eight-mile section of Route 17 that was designed in the mid-1960s to handle 35,000 vehicles but now handles twice that amount, NYSDOT

Project labor agreements that incorporate community workforce agreements are on the rise nationwide and are becoming more comprehensive than they were prior to 2004, according to a new study by Cornell University's Industrial and Labor Relations School. CWAs, which typically include training and apprenticeships, help in job creation and career development, particularly for disadvantaged communities, says Kimberly Freeman Brown, executive director of the Washington-based American Rights at Work, a pro-union advocacy group that commissioned the study. This is an especially welcome development at a time when frustration over the nation's high unemployment rate and lack of job creation mounts as

Snapshot   October 10, 2011 Submitted By: Claire Voyle In Store Support Specialist Olympus UK, Essex, U.K. “I was both shocked and amazed at the sight of this construction worker traversing the scaffolding much like a tightrope walker at the circus,” says Voyle, who took this shot from the top deck of a New York City tour bus on 5th Avenue. “Being on the top deck of the bus provided me with an unusual vantage point as you would usually be looking up at this kind of scene.” The picture was taken with an Olympus PEN compact system camera with a

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York has awarded Skanska USA a $373-million contract for the final phase of the City University of New York Advanced Science Research Campus at City College in Manhattan. Work is scheduled to begin this month, with completion expected in the fall of 2014. Rendering Courtesy of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates PC The project includes the interior fit-out of about 40,000 sq ft as well as construction of a four-story City College of New York building, a five-story science and research building and a shared ground floor and plaza area to be built

Following in the well-trod path of Match.com and other online dating services, the American Institute of Architects thinks it has found a way to attract investors to the thousands of industry projects put on hold—send the potential suitors to cyberspace for a database of the good-lookers. That is, the AIA is compiling a list of stalled projects nationwide that “make sense” to move forward but for lack of financing, and a list of the types of projects that financial entities specialize in.   “It’s the Match.com for projects,” says Clark Manus, AIA president.   Clark believes AIA’s initiative will help

BBL Construction Services, Albany, N.Y., has hired Brett Stevens as business development executive. Stevens will be working both locally and nationally for the firm. AERCO International Inc. has moved its corporate headquarters to 100 Oritani Dr., Blauvelt, N.Y. Previously, the water heater and boiler manufacturing firm operated out of three separate facilities in Northvale, N.J. VIP Structures Inc., Syracuse, N.Y., has hired Glenn Murdock as safety director. Previously, Murdock worked as safety director for Associated Builders and Contractors, traveling throughout the state to engage in inspecting and training at contractor worksites.   BrazilAine Brazil, vice chairman and managing principal of

Construction Where Architecture Meets Online DatingFollowing in the well-trod path of Match.com and other online dating services, the American Institute of Architects thinks it has found a way to attract investors to the thousands of industry projects put on hold—send the potential suitors online for a database of the good-lookers. The AIA is compiling a list of stalled projects nationwide that “make sense” to move forward but lack financing.“It's the Match.com for projects,” says Clark Manus, AIA president.Clark believes AIA's initiative will help to shed light on the worthiness of restarting some of the projects that investors have overlooked. As

Construction costs in New York City, which started to increase in 2010, are continuing to rise, according to a review of multiple surveys made by the New York Building Congress. This comes after a decline in 2009. NYBC reviewed a series of surveys including Engineering News-Record’s Building Cost Index, which shows that construction costs in New York City have risen 3.55% so far in 2011 and 2.42% in 2010, after falling 1.94% in 2009.Separately, a survey by Rider Levett Bucknall of the New York metropolitan region finds that New York City construction costs have so far increased by 2.13% in

The American Automobile Association of New York and the AAA of New Jersey filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s approved toll and fare hikes. The lawsuit follows a request made by AAA on Sept. 15 to investigate the authority’s act as a violation of the Federal Bridge Act and is an attempt to stop the toll hikes from being collected on the authority’s six bridges and tunnels connecting New York and New Jersey. In addition to the lawsuit, AAA has asked the authority to “turn over the capital plan that stands

The District Council of Carpenters is continuing contract talks with the New York Building Contractors Association and, separately, the Contractors’ Association of Greater New York, says Louis J. Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers’ Association of New York. The two contracts are the last of the 22 union contracts that expired on June 30. Related Links: Carpenters, NYBCA Likely to Extend Talks Past Midnight Deadline “If an agreement is reached with the BCA, CAGNY will accept the same agreement,” Coletti says.The union reached agreements with the Association of Wall-Ceiling & Carpentry and the Greater Floor Coverers Association on September