A new 1-MW rooftop solar installation on the World Cruise Center at the Port of Los Angeles relied on a self-ballasted racking system to protect aging structures while offsetting increased electrical demands from an Alternative Maritime Power system that lights up docked cruise ships. Of the five bidders vying for the $8.5 million contract in March of 2009, Los Angeles-based Martifer Solar was the apparent low bidder, but didn�t provide a bond in time, so the contract went to the next-lowest bidder, Cupertino Electric, Inc. The port included two requirements in the design-build contract: It had to be a non-penetrating
Rosendin Electric has started work on the new San Bruno Grade Separation project. The $4 million electrical contract is part of a $77.7 million construction contract awarded to Granite Construction to elevate the Caltrain rail tracks at key intersections in San Bruno. Rosendin Electric has been subcontracted to install all the electrical work. The first phase of the project includes supporting �shoofly� temporary tracks to re-route trains during construction, which will require building a temporary station platform during construction and modifying traffic signals in the area, and ultimately installing permanent signal lights. Over the next 12 months Rosendin will be
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and California Prison Health Care Services (CPHCS) recently broke ground on a $906 million, 1,722-bed inmate medical facility in Stockton. The 1.2 million-sq-ft facility will include a central kitchen area, diagnostic and treatment center, warehouse and support areas. Security will include a 13-ft-high lethal electrified fence surrounding the facility and 11, 45-ft-tall guard towers. Sacramento-based URS-Bovis Lend Lease Joint Venture was awarded the construction management consultant contract as part of its ongoing work with CPHCS. Sacramento-based Kitchell CEM was the criteria architect. The RFQ for the $140-million bid package #1, which includes
With Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and local officials in attendance, the YWCA Greater Los Angeles held a topping out last week for its new downtown Job Corps Urban Campus. The seven-story, 154,000-sq-ft, mixed-use Urban Campus will feature a state-of-the-art library, residential units, modernized health facilities, indoor lounges, computer and study rooms, campus-wide green spaces, kitchen, serving and dining facilities, classrooms, amphitheatre and executive offices for the YWCA GLA. PCL Construction Services is the general contractor on the $73 million project while Jenkins/Gales & Martinez is the architect. Redstone Project Management is serving as construction manager. The YWCA GLA Job Corps Urban
While voters in California passed Proposition 25, which allows for a simple majority vote to pass the state budget rather than the two-thirds requirement that has caused lengthy delays in the past (and delayed payments to contractors on public projects), other results from last Tuesday will also have an impact on A/E/C businesses. Voters in San Diego County overwhelmingly approved a ban on project labor agreements at the county government level. Close to 76% of the voters approved Measure A, the Fair-Open Competition amendment to the county's charter. It�s the third win in a row for the local chapter of
Even though the �Great Recession� of 2008-09 is now behind us, McGraw-Hill Construction�s new report, �2010 Special Sector Study: Education Construction in Hard Times,� reveals that it will continue to haunt the halls of schools and colleges across the country for some time to come. The construction of publicly-funded schools and colleges will continue to be weighed down by mushrooming state and local budget deficits, while the construction of privately-funded schools and colleges will suffer from a slump in alumni donations and the tumultuous movement of the stock market (where endowments are typically invested). Exacerbating this situation, the ongoing crisis
Watsonville�s Granite Construction Inc. announced continued actions to reduce its cost structure, enhance operating efficiencies and strengthen the business to achieve long-term profitable growth. As part of its Enterprise Improvement Plan, the company says it is initiating a reduction in force of approximately 227 employees, or approximately 13% of its salaried workforce. Actions associated with the reduction in force are expected to reduce the company�s cost structure by approximately $20 million to $24 million annually. Granite will record a pre-tax charge in the fourth quarter of approximately $10 million to $12 million associated with severance and benefits-related costs. As part
California High Speed Rail Authority�s share of the latest round of stimulus funds came with specific directions: The $715 million had to be spent in the Central Valley, to either start construction on the Merced-Fresno or Fresno-Bakersfield leg of the 800-mi, $45-billion project. Authority board members stressed that despite the Federal Railway Administration suggestions of where to direct the funds, they would use a pre-established formal criteria to determine where to begin building the rail infrastructure based on land acquisition, progress on environmental work and other factors. �It is absolutely critical that we invest these funds where they will do
Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, a privately held consulting firm with 500 employees in 14 offices around the world, has acquired Treadwell & Rollo, a premier geotechnical and environmental engineering firm based in San Francisco. The acquisition, the first in Langan�s 40-year history, firmly establishes a nationwide footprint for the company by adding 70 high-caliber professionals from Treadwell & Rollo�s California offices in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and Sacramento. �This is momentous news for Langan and Treadwell & Rollo, not to mention the engineering and environmental design industry,� says David T. Gockel, president/CEO of Langan. �Two elite firms with
The State of California, Department of Transportation and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority issued a notice of intent to award a public-private partnership project worth $1 billion to a consortium around Essen, Germany-based HOCHTIEF Concessions for the design, construction, finance, operation and maintenance for 33 years of San Francisco�s Presidio Parkway project. HOCHTIEF�s 50% partner on the Golden Gate Bridge southern access project is Meridiam Infrastructure, based in Luxemburg. The consortium�s construction team is led by HOCHTIEF subsidiary Flatiron. The German firm set up HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions North America in 2009 to bid on PPP projects in Canada. It
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