The Komatsu name is a familiar one at mining operations and construction projects in the Intermountain West, and the Komatsu Equipment Co. of Salt Lake City intends to keep it that way. The firm, which has been in business for more than 50 years, opened its new headquarters in August. The $10.6-million, 102,000-sq-ft, two-story-tall headquarters is mostly occupied by 12 expansive service bays designed to keep everything from small skid loaders to gargantuan mining trucks in working order. The rest of the 11.5-acre site east of Bangerter Highway in Salt Lake City will be used for displaying and testing equipment.

Idaho Power’s new $45-million Hemingway substation near Melba, Idaho, will be the terminus of two transmission lines. The lines, nearly 1,450 miles long, are components of a proposed 500-kV transmission path from a substation near Boardman, Ore., 300 miles away, and another substation near Glenrock, Wyo., 1,150 miles away. Photo Courtesy Of Idaho Power The Hemingway substation is Idaho Power’s largest and will serve as a central point where electricity can be switched, controlled and distributed to customers in Treasure Valley. Photo Courtesy Of Idaho Power Before construction on the Hemingway substation, the area was undeveloped. The project will help

North Temple Street in Salt Lake City is in the midst of a $250-million extreme makeover to prepare for an extension of the Utah Transit System’s TRAX light rail that will run 6 miles from the downtown Intermodal Transit Hub to Salt Lake City International airport. In addition to construction of the new light-rail line, Salt Lake City planners have taken the opportunity to install new utilities and make multiple other improvements to the street, including new lighting and sidewalks. North Temple serves as a main surface-street connection from the airport to the city but has long been a troubled

When the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden released its 506-page RFP for a non-negotiable LEED-Platinum-certified office building, it wasn’t clear how something jammed full of sustainable elements would take shape. The RFP laid out not what the building should look like but how it should perform; it was up to the design-build team to come up with the rest. At 222,000 sq ft, the Research Support Facility, completed in June, is the largest net-zero-energy building in the nation, and is supported by a matrix of innovative features, most of which were designed by NREL scientists.

Mountain States Construction: How many projects has the district cancelled or put on hold because of funding? Photo Courtesy of Wadman Corp. The new South Ogden Junior High School opened to students in August. The $17.6-million project consisted of 150,000 sq ft of new construction. It was designed by MHTN Architects of Salt Lake City and built by Wadman Corp. Related Links: Alpine School District: Q&A with Rob Smith Assistant Superintendent, Business Services Park City School District: Q&A with Patrick Ogden PCSD Facilities Aurora Public Schools: Q&A with Jim Bittle Construction Management & Support Director Adams 12 Five Star Schools:

Mountain States Construction: How many projects has the district cancelled or put on hold because of funding? Photo Courtesy of VCBO Architects The $28-million, 26,000-sq-ft, two-story Park City High School is the first comprehensive high school in Utah to receive LEED certification, and was designed to incorporate legacy sections of the old Park City High School as well as elements that echo the area’s mining history. Related Links: Alpine School District: Q&A with Rob Smith Assistant Superintendent, Business Services Weber School District: Q&A with W. Drew Wilson Admin. Director of District Facilities & Operations Aurora Public Schools: Q&A with Jim

The Manwaring Student Center on the BYU-Idaho campus in Rexburg, Idaho, represents the final phase of on-campus construction—a transition that has seen the small pioneer academy grow from a two-year college into a modern, four-year university. The original building was completed in 1966 and named for Hyrum Manwaring, who served as president from 1930-1944. The Manwaring Center, the college’s student union and the heart of the campus, has gone through several revisions, with the current major renovation scheduled for completion later this year. The project consists of remodeling the existing space, along with an addition on the north side that

The Top Specialty Contractors rankings cover most of the commercial specialty trades working in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. Every year, Mountain States Construction asks hundreds of the region�s subcontractors to provide their revenue totals for the previous year. Information for this year’s rankings was gathered through online questionnaires completed by companies in April and May. Firms were asked to provide revenue totals for their 2009 calendar year, no matter where the projects that contributed to those totals were located. Those revenues are the sole criteria for the rankings. There is no charge for participating in the annual Top

The new science facility at the Auraria campus in downtown Denver upgrades the original mid-1970s building and provides additional space necessary to bring the offices and classrooms for three colleges under one roof. “This was a project of necessity,” says Jill Jennings Golich, Auraria campus planner. “The old building did not have enough room for our current enrollment and could not accommodate the new equipment necessary for the teaching and research laboratories.” The new facility at Speer Boulevard and Lawrence Street was made possible by a partnership between the University of Colorado at Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver and

Boulder’s Casey Middle School employs a North Face backpack of energy-saving tools that make it one of the most sustainable new schools in the state. Those include geothermal and solar power, a zero-waste cafeteria, ample use of recycled materials and a salvaged partial fa�ade from the original school that gives the new one character and a connection to its historical roots. Casey’s advisory team of designers, Boulder Valley School District officials, parents and community members began meeting in 2007 to consider options for upgrading the 1924 school. Influenced by the site’s expansive clay soils, which had caused walls to crack