The federally-established regional planning commission for seven counties around Chicago has unveiled its 30-year plan for developing the region. Randall S. Blankenhorn, executive director of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, says it is �the first comprehensive plan for developing Chicago in the century since Daniel Burnham brought out his legendary Plan of Chicago.� The goal of CMAP�s GO TO 2040 plan is to guide development of seven counties in northeastern Illinois�Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will�with a coordinated regional effort. The region�s seven counties contain 284 municipalities in the metropolitan Chicago area. �The metropolitan area currently has
The 50-story, 215 W. Washington Street residential building in downtown Chicago is the first new high-rise residential building constructed in Chicago’s Loop in 15 years. Its owner, Jupiter Realty LLC, Chicago, says the building completed in July is also the first newly constructed high-rise in the Loop expected to receive LEED certification. The 675,000-sq-ft building houses a mix of retail space, parking, apartments and tenant amenities. It also features a 23,000-sq-ft outdoor garden and swimming pool atop the roof over part of the 14th floor. The design and structural construction team for the design-bid-build project included architect Solomon Cordwell Buenz;
The Christman Co. of Lansing, Mich., has been instrumental in converting an idled historic power plant on the Grand River in downtown Lansing, Mich., into the new national headquarters of Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America. Photo courtesy of Accident Fund Insurance Co. & The Christman Co.; Ike Lea, photographer. Lattice-boom crawler cranes were used to lift steel components in and out of the existing building through two 20- by 25-ft hatches in the ninth-floor roof. Photo courtesy of Accident Fund Insurance Co. & The Christman Co.; Ike Lea, photographer. A barge-mounted crane lifts materials to the Accident Fund jobsite.
It’s time again for Midwest Construction to rank the region’s top specialty contractors who work in trades ranging from mechanical, plumbing, HVAC and electrical, to excavating, concrete work, fire protection, demolition and glazing. Related Links: 2010 Top Specialty Contractors List This year, we’ll lead off with an overview of current conditions in the industry and thoughts from some of the ranked companies about how they continue to deal with the economic downturn. Ed Sullivan, vice president and chief economist for the Skokie, Ill.-based Portland Cement Association, expects little overall improvement in the economy anytime soon. Sullivan, who correctly predicted in
Officials in northeastern Iowa are cleaning up in the aftermath of a July 24 dam failure, and early analysis indicates an earthen berm next to a section with concrete spillways was overtopped and eroded away when the rain-swollen, 9-mile-long Lake Delhi overwhelmed it. Photo: AP/WideWorld Earthen berm by spillway was overtopped and eroded. “It appears at this point that there was just a lot more water than the dam was designed for,” says Lori McDaniel, supervisor of floodplain management and dam safety programs for the Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources. Further, she says the concrete spillway next to the berm
Concrete equipment manufacturer Schwing America, St. Paul, Minn., has come out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a federally approved reorganization plan, new lenders and the full support of its creditors. Photo: Courtesy Schwing America With a new line of credit in place, concrete equipment firm Schwing America sees a return to solid footing in 2011. The company cited assets of $130.6 million and debts of $90.9 million when it filed for protection last September in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in St. Paul. This July, the court approved Schwing’s reorganization plan under which 10 European banks that have relationships with Schwing
On July 14, the U.S. Navy celebrated the end of a 12-year construction program that built 22 new buildings for its recruit-training center at Naval Station Great Lakes just north of Chicago. Photo: U.S. Navy On July 14, the U.S. Navy celebrated the end of a 12-year construction program that built 22 new buildings for its recruit-training center at Naval Station Great Lakes just north of Chicago. The 14 new barracks, three drill halls and five other administrative and training buildings serve what is the Navy’s only recruit training center. Every new seaman recruit entering the Navy spends eight weeks
An American architecture professor at a university in the Middle East is developing an energy-saving way to make bricks using bacteria known for its ability to solidify sand.
German equipment manufacturer Liebherr is opening a new production facility in northern Mexico to manufacture wind-power components for the North American market. Photo Courtesy Liebherr Liebherr’s Mexico factory will serve North American wind power market. Scheduled to begin operation this summer, the newly built 269,000-sq-ft Liebherr Monterrey S. de R.L. de C.V. factory sits on 74 acres near Garcia in northern Mexico, about 85 miles southwest of McAllen, Texas. It will operate under two managing directors, one responsible for production and development, the other for business administration and finance. Liebherr expects to eventually have 180 employees working there. Initially, the
As asphalt is paved, aggregate can segregate, making weak spots in the pavement. Though hard to see, segregation can be detected by checking for differences in temperatures as the asphalt is laid. Mounted on the paving machine, the new Pave-IR system uses infrared sensors to continuously monitor and record the location and temperature of asphalt as it is laid. Pave-IR helps contractors identify segregation as it happens, so they can correct it. But its bigger benefit is giving them information that helps them improve the efficiency of their paving operations. System detects and records thermal segregation The Pave-IR system, manufactured