Some 450 construction workers are converging on a site in Pardeeville, Wis., to convert the state's largest source of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and mercury pollution into a poster child for cleaner, greener emissions. Peak periods will push the number of workers on site past 600 as crews assemble an air-quality control system and the facilities required to house it at Columbia Energy Center, a coal-fired electrical station undergoing $627 million in upgrades, including construction of SO2 and mercury-reduction systems. Related Links: ADM Moves to Advance Carbon Storage Efforts Power Company Goes Lean to Build Clean "There isn't time to complete
The health care sector showed surprising strength in a year that held too few surprises for most Midwest builders. Image Courtesy of Indiana Dept. of Transportation Related Links: Midwest Top Project Starts for 2011 A Rocky Road Back To Regional Recovery In 2012, health care providers were said to have shelved large building initiatives until the full effects of health care reform were known. Instead, many in the Midwest broke ground on major projects."It's unusual and may be a sign that providers are working harder to attract privately insured patients, now that reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid are being squeezed,"
BoppDustin Bopp, principal with Bopp Architecture, has been named president of the American Institute of Architects' St. Louis chapter. He founded Bopp, based there, in 2008. Related Links: ENR Midwest's Top 20 Under 40 for 2013 Diane O'Keefe has been named vice president and Illinois area manager for global professional services firm Parsons Brinckerhoff. She is based in Chicago. O'Keefe joins the firm after a 30-year career with the Illinois Dept. of Transportation, most recently as a regional deputy director of highways. She was instrumental in overseeing projects such as the $975-million Dan Ryan Expressway reconstruction.
Illinois will break ground on $486 million in road and bridge projects this spring, one of the largest early-season construction programs in the state's history, Gov. Pat Quinn indicated on Monday. “When the private economy isn't going at full tilt, and it needs to get going, we've got to make sure we supplement that with our public investments,” Quinn said during an appearance in Chicago. “All of this puts people to work and lays the groundwork for future economic growth.”Quinn said the program, which includes nearly 200 projects, will help create thousands of jobs.The majority of projects will be funded
A bill to regulate horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in Illinois was delayed in House Committee Thursday after the bill's sponsor added an amendment that would require energy companies to hire state-licensed water-well contractors. The amendment also would require unionized well water contractors on job sites until contractors have received licensure. Bill sponsor Rep. John Bradley reportedly added the amendment at the behest of a labor management organization representing Countryside, Ill.-based Operating Engineers Local 150 union. A Local 150 spokesman told reporters Thursday the amendment is intended to ensure aquifiers aren't contaminated during fracking.While Bill HB2615, the Illinois Hydraulic Fracturing
Illinois logged more construction job losses in January than any state in the nation, according to new data compiled by Arlington, Va.-based Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). In year-over-year comparisons, Illinois lost 9,800 jobs in January, representing a 5% dip in the state's construction employment rate. Employment also sputtered in states that have shown improvement in recent months, including Ohio and Indiana, which lost 5,200 jobs and 4,600 jobs, respectively.By comparison, construction employment essentially remained flat in other Midwest states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Missouri.Texas added the most jobs (28,500) in year-over-year comparisons, followed by California (17,600), Washington (8,200),
The Illinois Tollway plans to invest $922 million in capital projects this year, doubling the amount it spent in 2012. In addition to maintenance and repairs, the Tollway will fund several projects included in Move Illinois, a 15-year, $12-billion program it says will create up to 10,000 construction jobs in northern Illinois.The program will ramp up this year as work begins on a $2.2-billion project to rebuild and widen the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90), a northwest-to-southeast artery extending from the Wisconsin state line near Rockford to the Indiana state line near Chicago. In all, the Tollway will invest $415
The Illinois Tollway on Wednesday indicated it is seeking firms to provide design, construction management and technical services for 23 new contracts associated with its 15-year, $12 billion capital program Move Illinois: The Illinois Tollway Driving the Future. According to Tollway officials, the contracts will provide an estimated $90 million in design and construction management for its Elgin O’Hare Western Access (EOWA) project and the rebuilding and widening of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90). Both projects are located in suburban Chicago.In all, the contracts account for nearly $750 million in construction over the next three to four years, says
After gaining ground earlier in the year, average construction backlogs remained stagnant in the final quarter of 2012, according to quarter-to-quarter data compiled by the Washington, D.C.-based Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). Nevertheless, backlogs are up 2.4% as compared to the same period last year. Fourth-quarter averages reflected a variety of conditions, including “fiscal cliff fears, highly constrained public capital budgets and lackluster macroeconomic growth,” says ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “However, backlogs did not decline, suggesting that nonresidential construction spending is likely to remain flat during the initial months of 2013 and then possibly trend higher during the latter
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