A new study published in a National Safety Council journal says that widely differing perceptions of safety helped conceal that an aggressive schedule, congested jobsite and lax safety enforcement may have created conditions that led to eight construction worker deaths at two big Las Vegas projects, CityCenter and Cosmopolitan, between 2007 and 2008. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Perini Building Co., a unit of Sylmar, Calif.-based Tutor Perini Corp., is the general contractor for both projects. The study appeared in the most recent issue of the Journal of Safety Research. Using a survey of more than 5,000 employees, the

Pulice Construction Inc. and Granite Construction Co. have been awarded an $85-million contract by ADOT to rehabilitate 10 mi of S.R. 202L in Maricopa County. The project includes constructing HOV lanes in each direction, widening the SB Price Road Bridge and constructing two fly-over bridges at the I-10 and S.R. 101 interchanges. Work will also include drainage improvements, retaining walls, electrical, utility relocations and landscaping. Construction is estimated to begin in September and will take approximately 14 months to complete.

McCarthy Building Cos., Inc. topped out construction on the new 2.3 million-sq-ft Terminal 3 parking structure at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Photo Courtesy McCarthy Building Cos. McCarran International Airport Terminal 3 Parking Structure, Las Vegas. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" McCarthy, who has self-performed the concrete work completed the final pour of the 126 structural post-tensioned garage deck pours. Over the course of construction, an additional 14 pours were completed for the structure’s circular concrete helix entry ramp. Construction of the $121.7 million parking structure began in December 2008 with the project team pouring one deck every

Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center broke ground on a $71-million expansion of its Surgical Services department in Phoenix. Designed by HKS Architects and slated for completion in August 2012, the project adds six new operating rooms, twice the number of recovery areas and provides families waiting for friends and loved ones to come out of surgery with additional space. The new OR’s will feature the latest in surgical lighting and patient monitoring equipment, as well as significantly more space to allow for more productive and efficient movement around the patient during surgery.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) says the state will appeal a July 28 preliminary injunction by a U.S. district judge that prevents portions of the state�s controversial immigration law from going into effect. �I will battle all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary, for the right to protect the citizens of Arizona,� Brewer said. Brewer said the state would file an expedited appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The law, which allows police to detain individuals under �reasonable suspicion� of being an illegal alien, was signed April 23 was supposed to have gone

An inflatable dam in downtown Tempe, Ariz., burst on July 20, emptying most of the contents of the 1-billion-gal Tempe Town Lake. No one was injured and no property was damaged in the resulting flood, which traveled down the normally dry Salt River through Phoenix. Peak flows were measured at 15,000 cu ft per second, equivalent to an average release during the area�s winter rainy season. Photo: Tony Blei Photography Eight rubber-coated fabric bladders retained 1 billion gal of water in Tempe. The two-mile lake was formed in 1999 using eight flexible, rubber-coated fabric tubes manufactured by Tokyo-based Bridgestone Industrial

Construction crews hit water June 30 while tunneling 600-ft below Southern Nevada's drought-racked Lake Mead to create a third straw. The incident required a hasty evacuation, and could delay project progress by months. Water breached a 600-ft underground cavern during construction of Lake Mead's third straw, damaging equipment and potentially delaying construction. A 200-ft-long by 37-ft-high vault breach caused four days of gradual water seepage that eventually made it no longer accessible. Workers were building a 28-ft-dia, 100-ft-long horseshoe-shaped starter tunnel before using a $25 million Herrenknecht 1,500-ton tunnel boring machine when the incident occurred. Vegas Tunnel Constructors LLC �

Arizona officials have enacted new "prompt pay" rules to keep cash flowing to struggling contractors, caught by banks and developers that have been withholding project payments in tough times. Gov. Janice K. Brewer (R) on May 11 signed into law a bill establishing retainage and final-payment timetables for properly completed construction work. Failure to comply results in penalties of 1.5% monthly interest charges.  “Retention issues should be dealt with immediately and not be dragged out for cash-flow purposes, ” says Michael F. Markham Sr., president of Markham Contracting Co. Inc., Phoenix. “The banks have been a problem with this. They

UniSource Energy Corp. kicked off construction of the company�s new headquarters building on a two-acre downtown Tucson lot. The nine-story building will provide 170,000 sq ft of office space for more than 425 employees of Tucson Electric Power, the company�s principal subsidiary. The building also will include nearly 11,000 sq ft of ground-floor retail space as well as a conference center, meeting rooms and about 500 parking spaces. Developer and general contractor Ryan Cos. is expected to complete construction before the end of 2011. The building has been designed by DAVIS and Swaim Associates from the ground up to conserve

PROJECT COST: $20.2 Million PHOTO: MCCARTHY BUILDING COS. Valley High School The project includes mechanical, plumbing, electrical, structural and architectural upgrades to Valley High School, which is approximately 300,000 sq ft. The work is being completed in four phases to allow students to attend classes while the renovation is being completed. The project adds 581 tubular day lighting units to bring in natural light to help students focus and learn more efficiently, while conserving energy. The existing mechanical penthouses are being removed, along with the existing multizone air handlers and are being replaced and modernized. Location: Las Vegas, NVStarted: June