WILLIAMS DUEKER Aguirre Roden announced Taylor Dueker, AIA, has been named vice president for its Austin office. In his role, Dueker will be responsible for professional design services, business development and project management. He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in art and design from MIT and master’s of architecture from MIT. KBR, Houston, announced the appointment of Mark S. Williams as group president overseeing KBR’s Government & Defense, Infrastructure & Minerals, and Power & Industrial Business Units. Williams has more than 25 years experience in the government and defense sector. Williams joinsed KBR from Jacobs Engineering, where he most
The body of PBSJ Corp. transportation engineer Lee Strickland has been recovered from the remains of Haiti’s Hotel Montana, which collapsed during the January 12, 2010 earthquake. “It is a strike at the heart,” says Kathe Jackson, PBSJ vice president of corporate communications. “We’re a pretty close-knit company, and Lee touched many of our lives.” Strickland, a group manager for the company’s engineering unit, traveled to Haiti to attend a two-day workshop on behalf of the company. STRICKLAND International search and rescue teams have worked at the site of the collapsed hotel since soon after the quake. Teams from the
Odebrecht Construction of Coral Gables, Fla., has completed repairs at Haiti�s Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, enabling commercial carriers to resume service to and from Haiti�s capital beginning Feb. 19. Slide Show Photo courtesy Odebrecht Construction Odebrecht Construction of Coral Gables, Fla., oversaw repairs to the Port-au-Prince airport. Representatives of Dallas-based American Airlines and Odebrecht toured the devastated city four days after the Jan. 12 earthquake. According to Odebrecht, the contractor immediately assembled a team to repair and rebuild the airport’s commercial terminal. The contractor is currently performing more than $1 billion in construction at Miami International Airport’s North
In its latest step on the acquisition trail, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Pasadena, Calif., said on Feb. 15 it had purchased Norcross, Ga.-based Jordan, Jones & Goulding Inc., a 500-person engineering firm specializing in water and wastewater markets. The purchase price was not disclosed, but JJG ranks 151st on ENR’s list of the Top 500 design firms, with nearly $82 million in 2008 revenue. About two-thirds is in environmental infrastructure-related work, with the remainder in the transportation and general building sectors. The firm has 17 offices across the southern U.S., says Jacobs. Don Allen, JJG’s CEO, becomes vice president in
High-speed rail advocates celebrated the Jan. 28 award of grants from the $8-billion pot that is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but officials must now figure out how to leverage the seed money into successful long-term programs. California and Florida, the anticipated big winners at $2.25 billion and $1.25 billion, respectively, will now ponder design-build and public-private partnerships along with other sources of funding. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation was flooded with applications, receiving $57 billion in proposals. That includes $50 billion in rail-corridor proposals submitted by 24 states and $7 billion from 34 states for specific
On Jan. 28, officials with the Obama administration unveiled grants totaling $545 million for the state of North Carolina to use to fund rail improvements. A grant totaling $520 million will fund nearly 30 interrelated projects aimed at increasing top train speeds and doubling the number of round trips on the Raleigh-Charlotte corridor. These funds will provide for the purchase and rehabilitation of locomotives and cars, track upgrades and station security improvements. A separate $25-million grant will fund "congestion mitigation" between Raleigh and Richmond, Va. Lisa P. Jackson, administrator with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, made the announcement Jan. 28
Florida’s transition to more efficient and clean energy production hit a speed bump in January when Juno Beach, Fla.-based FPL Group said it would immediately halt work on approved nuclear and modernization projects that collectively totaled as much as $20 billion. The sudden move came on the heels of the state Public Service Commission rejecting FPL’s requests for rate hikes totaling more than $1 billion. FPL Group Chairman and CEO Lew Hay cited the decision as evidence of a deteriorating regulatory climate in Florida that “is increasingly hostile to investment.” The largest projects are two additional nuclear units at the
Florida is looking to the private sector to bankroll high-speed rail. The state’s proposal for federal funding anticipates that private-sector funding would cover all operations and maintenance expenses for a planned line between Orlando and Tampa. State transportation planners aren’t committing any state funding to the system for the foreseeable future. Despite widespread enthusiasm for the project, the president of the Florida Transportation Builders Association is worried about high-speed rail’s long-term impact on state transportation funding, especially since the state has no dedicated funding source for a rail system. “There doesn’t appear to be any recognition at all of the
The PBSJ Corp., the Tampa architect-engineer, confirms an internal probe into whether its subsidiary PBS&J International Inc. violated U.S. law in pursuing projects overseas. The parent firm, which ranks No. 30 on ENR’s list of the Top 500 Design Firms with $594.3 million in 2008 revenue, disclosed the investigation in a Dec. 30, 2009, filing to the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. It said it could not file on time its required year-end annual report for 2009 because its board was seeking “to determine whether any laws have been violated, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, in connection with certain
Snapshot January 5, 2010 Our editors are everywhere�at all the industry events that matter most. When They're not speaking on panels, they're busy taking notes�and snapping photos�so they can inform their readers about what was said and who was there. The restoration of the Coweta County Courthouse in Newnan, Ga. The restoration of the Coweta County Courthouse in Newnan, Ga., included a complete replacement of the dome’s copper cladding to match historical details, says the architect, Lord, Aeck & Sargent, Atlanta. The courtroom was also restored to its original colors and finishes. Selective demolition helped reveal many of the building’s
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