Plans for federally controlled power lines to transmit solar power are moving ahead in the Southwest, but in the Northwest, lines to move wind power are being slowed while wind developments there are being re-evaluated. Photo courtesy of AP WIDEWORLD / Jae C. Hong MIXED MARKET Solar Southwest is strong, but the windy Northwest is weak. The Western Area Power Administration announced it will hire construction firms to upgrade and build parts of a $91-million transmission- line project in southern Arizona.The 109-mile Electrical District 5-to-Palo Verde transmission project includes a mix of new and upgraded WAPA-owned 230-kV lines as well

Battling monsoons, heat, live traffic and subpar soils, a joint-venture team expects to complete 30 miles of a Phoenix-area freeway expansion in just eight monthsadding another reason for the Arizona Dept. of Transportation to embrace design-build as it constructs projects to cope with growing traffic.A team of Kiewit Corp. and Sundt Construction holds the approximately $90-million contract to add 30 miles of high-occupancy vehicle lanes to Loop 101 between state Route 51 and Interstate 10.To do this many miles in [nine] months is pretty exciting, says Steve Mishler, ADOT project manager. Typically, this project would have been broken up into

SnapShot  September 19, 2011 Submitted By: Dustin Krugel Public Information Officer ADOT, Phoenix A 285-ton oversize load inches across the Roosevelt Lake Bridge east of Phoenix on Aug. 16, carrying a massive anode used for copper refinement. The week-long, 380-mile journey began in Salt Lake City and crossed into Arizona on Aug. 9 via the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge. Hauled by two semis and a custom 18-axle trailer, the anode reached its final destination on schedule at the Freeport-McMoRan mine in Miami, Ariz. Photographer: Mike Poppe Precision Heavy Haul

Routine work on a substation apparently led to a power outage that left more than 1.4 million customers – about 5 million people – without power for 12 hours Sept. 8 and 9 in Southern California, Arizona and Mexico. According to the Arizona Public Service, the outage began about 3:30 p.m. PDT Thursday when a major 500-kV line from Arizona to Southern California tripped off. The outage forced the automatic shut down of the San Onofre Generating Station, a nuclear powerplant. The powerplant and power imported from Arizona on the 500-kV line are the region’s primary sources of power. Without

MGM Resorts International intends to implode Foster + Partners’ unfinished Harmon Hotel due to “serious structural defects” and “public safety concerns,” the company announced on August 15. The news comes a month after the release of a report claiming the Las Vegas building was beyond repair. Image by Bill Hughes MGM hopes to demolish the 28-story hotel. Demolition is not a sure bet, however. County officials have to approve the demolition plans. Plus, MGM would have to get a Clark County district court to overturn an order that prohibits the company from touching the Harmon while civil litigation continues between

Las Vegas is crowded with performers, but few are as huge as Big Stan. Thought to be the world's largest truck-mounted drill, Big Stan is flexing its muscles south of the Strip on a $252.5-million, 7-mile-long widening of Interstate 15.Big Stan's tall stance originally sprang from deep roots. The 250,000-lb, 93-ft-high boring behemoth was built in 1986 by Anderson Drilling, Lakeside, Calif., now a part of London-based Keller Group PLC. The mega-machine, which cost $1.5 million to construct, is named after 6-ft, 3-in.-tall Stan Anderson, who retired as company president in 2006.It didn't take long to realize that what you

With the first phase of PHX Sky Train from the 44th Street Metro Light Rail in Phoenix to Sky Harbor Airport’s Terminal 4 on track for a 2013 opening, many wondered why the second stage to connect the airport’s other terminals to the system wasn't set to open until 2020. That changed earlier this month after the Phoenix City Council voted to move up completion of a .6-mile section to connect Terminal 4 with Terminal 3, along with a walkway for passengers to access Terminal 2, to early 2015. This portion was originally part of a second phase that would

The newest Las Vegas Strip attraction isn't another mega-resort or Cirque du Soleil show. Rather, it is a heavy equipment playground that lets visitors operate life-size Tonka toys.
 Photo courtesy Dig This LLC Dig This patrons can operate a Caterpillar D5 track-type bulldozer to create earthen mounds. Photo courtesy Dig This LLC Visitors are put through skill tests that include scooping basketballs from atop safety cones.  “Dig This” is a construction theme park developed by New Zealand-born Ed Mumm, who stumbled upon the idea while using a rented excavator to build his home in Steamboat Springs, Colo. After a couple

GARRIDO DOEBLER Sallie Doebler has joined Jaynes Corp.'s Las Vegas office as director of business development. Doebler previously was president of her own business development consulting firm, Business Source Nevada, serving the commercial real estate industry. She also served as the business development representative for a regional commercial general contractor for six years prior to founding her own firm. She is the current president of the Southern Nevada chapter of NAIOP, a commercial real estate development association. Jaime Garrido was named director of client services for McCarthy NM, a division of McCarthy Building Cos. based in Albuquerque, N.M. Previously, Garrido

The first phase of a large solar carport was completed last month at Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center, located in Phoenix at 650 E. Indian School Rd. Built by SunWize Technologies, Inc., the carport is an ambitious undertaking. It is the nation’s largest solar carport, and once all phases are complete will house 40 carport structures and 18,000 solar panels. The first phase will produce 630 kilowatts, but once the project is complete, the carport will produce up to 4.45 MW of energy. The project started mid-2010 and the final phase is expected to finish early 2012. SunWize split