More than five hundred construction and design leaders gathered in Denver in early April for the 2015 Rocky Mountain Green Conference to discuss the state of green building in Colorado and the issues affecting the city. The event was hosted the Colorado chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, which said attendance was up by more than 50% over the previous year. Photo by Brad Nicol Photography Michael Benko of Boulder Food Rescue accepts a prize grant of $2,500 for winning USGBC Colorados Inspire Colorado Live Storytelling Contest at USGBC Colorados Rocky Mountain Green Conference. From left: Maeve Conran, co-director

The Colorado Dept. of Transportation held its annual Remembrance Day ceremony at its headquarters on April 1 to honor the 58 CDOT employees who have died in the line of duty since 1929.  Joining CDOT were representatives from the Colorado State Patrol, Federal Highway Administration and Colorado Contractors Association. “With the highway construction season getting set to move into high gear, this is an excellent opportunity to remember our fallen workers and highlight the need for safe driving throughout the state, not just in work zones, but along all of our roadways,” said CDOT Executive Director Shailen Bhatt.“We often forget that

The Colorado Chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services honored on March 5 the recipients of its 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards. The awards, which featured recipients in more than 17 categories, were presented at the Sherman Events Center. Photo by Brad Nicol, Brad Nicol Photography, courtesy of SMPS Leonardo Winner Dennis Richard (right), vice president of business development at Golden Triangle Construction, and a past president of SMPS, is pictured with Bob Trout. Photo by Brad Nicol, Brad Nicol Photography, courtesy of SMPS Michelle Ott (center), marketing manager at Denvers JE Dunn Construction, and the SMPS Colorado Membership Committee

Thirty-seven firms were named as the nation's safest construction companies in 2014 by the Associated General Contractors of America. AGC, which oversees the Willis Construction Safety Excellence Awards, an annual ranking of construction safety programs, selected the winners after reviewing the safety programs and results from contractors all over the nation, then inviting the top three firms in each category to present and answer questions from a distinguished panel of judges. Interstate Highway Construction Inc. of Englewood, Colo., was selected as this year’s second-place winner in the Highway and Transportation Division’s 300,000–700,000 Work Hour Category.Belair Sitework Services of Commerce City,

The Post Falls School District in Post Falls, Idaho, passed a bond on March 10 and has awarded a design contract to Architects West Inc. of Coeur d'Alene. The district’s $19.5-million bond will fund five school projects. Rendering by Architects West Rendering of the new 47,300-sq-ft elementary school in Post Falls, Idaho. River City Middle School will add 18,900 sq ft to expand the kitchen and build a second floor for 12 classrooms.The contract also includes a new 47,300-sq-ft elementary school, auditorium and auxiliary gym additions at Post Falls High School and an addition for two classrooms at West Ridge

Kiewit’s Denver Union Station Transit Improvements project is officially one of the country’s most significant construction projects of 2014, according to the Associated General Contractors of America, which honored it with a first-place Alliant Build America Award as well as a Merit Award for its partnering efforts.

Wilson & Company Inc. of Denver recently earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement on the replacement of the Pecos Street Bridge over Interstate 70 in Denver in the American Council of Engineering Cos.’ 49th annual Engineering Excellence Awards. Photo courtesy of CDOT It took only one weekend closure of I-70 to replace the heavily used Pecos Street Bridge. It took only one weekend closure of I-70 to replace the heavily used Pecos Street Bridge, due in part to Colorado’s first application of accelerated bridge construction. The ABC method saved money and prevented as much as a year

POWER Engineers hosted its 25th annual Power Delivery Design Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on Feb, 25 and 26,. In a milestone year for the invitation-only event, it featured near-record attendance, including design engineers from 35 utilities as well as 44 speakers who came from as far as Finland to offer training and presentations. PDDC features technical and general sessions on overhead and underground lines, substations, and electrical systems studies. This year’s conference focused on a mix of technical topics related to design and maintenance of power delivery systems, as well as timely issues like FERC Order 1000.This year’s keynote

A May-December romance is drawing cheers from Salt Lake City residents. Salt Lake City's historic Capitol Theatre celebrated its centennial in 2014 with some cosmetic touch-ups, but then also emerged with a new companion next door: the Jesse Eccles Quinney Ballet Centre. The newcomer is infusing energy into downtown and breathing life into the historic theater, though the structural balance of pairing the old and new "performers" had engineers keeping a close eye on the choreography. Image courtesy of HKS Inc. - Jack E. Madsen III The ballet center provides Utah's Ballet West with larger rehearsal space and a headquarters

Costs for the Dept. of Veterans Affairs replacement hospital in Aurora, Colo., have ballooned to $1.73 billion, more than five times the project’s original cost and twice the spending cap set for it by Congress. VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson delivered the bad news about revised cost estimates to congressional leaders in March 17 phone call. The new price tag, up sharply up from the $800 million claimed by the VA in early March, comes from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is advising VA on the project. USACE will assume full management of the project this summer. The