The restoration of the Gulf of Mexico is expected to get a boost as a result of an agreement between the Natural Resource Trustees for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and BP. The agreement, announced on April 21, stipulates that BP will pay $1 billion for “early” restoration projects related to the Gulf spill. According to administration officials, BP is providing the restoration funds voluntarily. “This agreement accelerates our work on Gulf Coast restoration and in no way limits the ability of all the Natural Resource Trustees from seeking full damages from those who are responsible as the process moves

Despite a formal protest from the second-place bidder for a 3,000-ton-per-day waste-to-energy facility, the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County awarded a $668-million design-build contract to a team of Babcock & Wilcox and BE&K to design, construct and operate the facility. + Enlarge Image: courtesy SWA B&W’s design-build estimate of $668 million was roughly $62 million higher than that of Wheelabrator, the division of Waste Management Corp. that placed second. However, SWA factored in the value of electrical generation and recoverable materials that each team guaranteed that their respective designs would deliver to the authority for a net present

Related Links: Georgia Contracts: 23% Decline in February North Carolina Contracts Decline 10% in February South Carolina: February Construction Contracts Drop 33% In February, for the second month in a row, the value of Florida’s new construction contracts was 50% below the same period of a year ago, according to the latest information from McGraw-Hill Construction, the publisher of ENR Southeast. The overall total for February was slightly more than $1.3 billion, down from last February’s $2.7 billion. Again, the nonbuilding and nonresidential sectors experienced the greatest declines. The value of new nonbuilding contracts was $309 million, or 79% behind

Related Links: Florida Contracts Fall 50% in February North Carolina Contracts Decline 10% in February South Carolina: February Construction Contracts Drop 33% The collective value of February Georgia construction contracts was 23% behind that of the same period of a year ago, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, the publisher of ENR Southeast. In all, the state recorded an estimated $684.9 million in new contracts during the month. The nonbuilding sector tumbled by 65% compared to last February, recording roughly $114.7 million in new contracts during the month. Residential contracts were off by 12%, with a total of about $255.4 million. Georgia’s

Related Links: Florida Contracts Fall 50% in February Georgia Contracts: 23% Decline in February South Carolina: February Construction Contracts Drop 33% The overall value of North Carolina’s new construction contracts fell by 10% in February, to $861.6 million, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, the publisher of ENR Southeast. On a sector-by-sector basis, it was either 20% up or down for the month. The residential and nonbuilding sectors each declined by 20% during the month, for totals of $360.9 million and $211.2 million, respectively. Meanwhile, nonresidential contracts improved by 20%, totaling nearly $289.6 million. For the year-to-date, North Carolina’s contracts are estimated

Related Links: Florida Contracts Fall 50% in February Georgia Contracts: 23% Decline in February North Carolina Contracts Decline 10% in February The overall value of South Carolina construction contracts fell by 33% in February, compared to the same period of a year ago, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, the publisher of ENR Southeast. The monthly total for new contracts was $482.5 million, down from last February’s $720.5 million. All three construction sectors experienced significant declines. The nonbuilding category, which includes transportation and civil projects, dropped 43% and totaled $142.6 million for the month. Nonresidential contracts declined by 37% and tallied $116.3

Merlin Entertainments Group of London announced plans to bring the Orlando �Eye,� a 425-ft tall Ferris wheel, along with a Madame Tussauds wax museum, to the proposed $130-million I-Walk Orlando entertainment and restaurant center in the city�s tourist corridor. Image: Antunovich Associates, Courtesy Unicorp National Developments Unicorp National Developments of Orlando will develop I-Walk with partner and wheel owner Circle Entertainment of New York, says Chuck Whittall, owner of Unicorp. Merlin will rent the space and operate the attractions. An average of 10,000 people per day visit Merlin’s London Eye observation wheel, according to Merlin. Sally Ann Wilkinson, spokesperson for

Two firms studying potential ridership for the now-cancelled Tampa-to-Orlando high-speed rail line concluded separately that the system would have been profitable by its first year, according to preliminary data released in early March by the Florida Dept. of Transportation. According to the findings, the $2.7-billion system would have generated $62.9 million in revenue in 2015, its first year of operation, along with an estimated $10.24 million in profit. By its 10th year of operation, the latest estimates indicated $91.75 million in revenue and $28.6 million in profit. Though the study is not yet complete, FDOT presented the preliminary data to

The value of new Florida contracts signed in January for future construction tumbled by 50%, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of ENR Southeast. The result was approximately $1.25 billion in new contracts, compared to last January�s total of more than $2.5 billion. The bad news to start 2011 was widespread, with both the nonbuilding and nonresidential sectors dropping dramatically. The nonbuilding category, which includes infrastructure and civil contracts, fell 78% compared to last January, and totaled $200.3 million. The nonresidential sector experienced a 58% drop for the month, ending up with nearly $397.3 million in new contracts, well down from

Georgia construction continued its reduced pace in January, as McGraw-Hill Construction reported that the value of new contracts fell 19% in January, compared to the same period of a year ago. Overall, the value of new contracts during the month totaled approximately $733.9 million, down from last January�s $909.5 million. The nonbuilding sector, which includes infrastructure and civil contracts, declined by the greatest percentage. The value of these new contracts totaled $133.6 million, or 47% below last January�s $251.2 million. Nonresidential contracts also declined, totaling $355.1 million, down 11% from the same period of a year ago. Residential contracts totaled