New Mexico’s Los Alamos National Laboratory will shed 400 to 800 people through voluntary layoffs this spring, or about 10% of its permanent staff, to cut $300 million from its budget. It will leave the 69-year-old, 36-sq-mi. laboratory with 11,271 students, post-doctoral, term and union workers, which is the same staff number as four years ago. Photo courtesy Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Lab has a current annual budget of $2.2 billion. The site is managed by Los Alamos National Security LLC, comprised of Bechtel National, the University of California, Babcock & Wilcox Co., and URS for the
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney energized a crowd of construction industry executives by promising to undo much of the regulatory and labor initiatives of the Obama administration, during a speech Thursday in front of members of the Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. in Phoenix. Just hours later, ABC announced its endorsement of Romney's candidacy during its board of directors meeting. Photo courtesy ABC Romney won the endorsement of the Associated Builders and Contractors following his address to the group's board of directors on Thursday in Phoenix. Romney, who had sparred the night before with Republican primary opponents at the party’s
HealthSouth Corp., Birmingham, Al., has acquired land in Phoenix and plans to construct a new 48,000-sq-ft inpatient rehabilitation hospital. Located at the intersection of N. 91st and Pinchot avenues, construction is expected to begin at the site in the fourth quarter, with completion by the third quarter of 2013. Image courtesy HealthSouth The new 48,000-sq-ft rehabilitation hospital is expected to be completed by third quarter 2013. Image courtesy HealthSouth Similar to HealthSouth's Mesa hospital completed in 2009, the Phoenix facility will include specialized rehabilitation programs using advanced technology to help patients recover from major injuries and surgeries. Plans for the
A federal judge in New Mexico has ruled in favor of plaintiffs who contended that the portions of the 2007 Albuquerque Energy Conservation Code are preempted by federal law. The Jan. 25 decision by U.S. District Judge Martha Vazquez essentially rejected the city’s attempt, through its building code, to impose heating, ventilating and air conditioning equipment-efficiency standards in commercial, multi-family and single-family residential buildings that are more stringent than federal standards. The lawsuit was filed on Sept. 30, 2010 by a group led by the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute. In another move late last year, the Albuquerque city
Southern Nevada’s long simmering plans for a sports arena took a step forward with a funding pact that could see the $650 million, 17,500-seat Silver State Arena break ground this summer. A memorandum of understanding between United Arab Emirates-based International Development Management and Shenzhen, China-based China Security & Surveillance Technology (CSST) was unveiled Feb. 10, calling for CSST, with support from its Chinese banking partners, to fully fund construction of a 750,000-sq-ft sports arena in Henderson, about 12 miles south of Las Vegas. The deal covers only the indoor arena portion of a potential $1.3-billion project that calls for a separate
A new 1-MW solar power plant is being planned for Arizona State University’s Polytechnic Campus in Mesa, Ariz. The project will be built as a partnership between the school, Phoenix-based utility Salt River Project and San Jose, Calif.-based SunPower Corp. Photo courtesy SunPower SunPower's C7 Tracker technology is designed to concentrate the sun's power sevenfold by combining single-axis tracking with rows of parabolic mirrors. SunPower will engineer, construct, operate and maintain the plant on the southeast corner of the ASU Polytechnic campus. SRP has agreed to buy the entire output of the solar plant, and ASU will purchase an equivalent
The annual World of Concrete show opened its doors in Las Vegas this week with better moods and traffic. The estimated attendance of 50,000 was an improvement over 2011, but 10% less than just two years ago. Photo by Tudor Van Hampton Attendance at this year's World of Concrete is expected to reach 50,000, slightly higher than last year's 48,554. Photo by Tony Illia While some longtime large exhibitors were missing this year, smaller independent dealers picked up the slack. "There is a tinge of optimism," said Ed Sullivan, chief economist for the Skokie, Ill.-based Portland Cement Association, on the first day of
Barry Bartle BARTLEhas been named president at Phoenix-based NAI Horizon and will lead the strategic repositioning of the Property Management Division to help the commercial real estate firm grow its management portfolio to 10 million sq ft. With a career spanning 30 years, Bartle has led property management divisions for such firms as RREEF, Cushman and Wakefield and Pacific Office Properties, directing more than $2 billion in real estate investments for more than 100 clients. Anthony Jeffers has been hired as a project manager for Johnson Carlier, Tempe, Ariz. Jeffers has more than a decade of experience in construction management,
Ahern Rentals Inc., the 58-year-old family-owned equipment rental giant that filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 22, prided itself on not selling out. Now, at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Reno, Nev., Ahern's Chapter 11 proceedings unfold on the heels of an announced merger between the construction industry's two largest rental companies—United Rentals Inc. and RSC Holdings Inc.—which for more than a decade have been chipping away at independents like Ahern through roll-ups, volume purchasing and price competition. Tudor Van Hampton for ENR Don Ahern is a fixture at equipment shows such as World of Concrete. Photo by
An audacious plan is under way to build as many as 24 new schools in key markets across the U.S. solely through corporate funding, donated materials and volunteer labor. Image courtesy Stantec The 6,291-sq-ft Safari building at Roadrunner Elementary School in Phoenix will be built by donated labor and materials. Image courtesy Stantec Stantec architect Annette Zacherson designed the project to maximize natural light through clerestory windows, light shelves and shaded light wells to boost student learning. Dubbed the Green Schoolhouse Series, the idea sprung from father-and-son team Marshall and Jeff Zotara, co-founders of Cause and Effect Evolutions, a Carlsbad,
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