Related Links: AIA Contract Documents References to 'Cost of Work' Robert E. Crawford, owner of a Springdale, Pa., construction company, is set to be sentenced on Dec. 13 in federal district court in Pittsburgh, after pleading guilty last summer to mail fraud in a kickback scheme with a developer financed though overbilling so-called "cost of work" charges on two building projects worth $15 million.U.S. District Court Judge David Cercone has also set for next March 3 the sentencing for the developer, Mark M. Palombaro, former vice president of development for Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group.Palombaro pleaded guilty on Nov. 3 to
Courtesy suttonma.org Groundbreaking at the Sutton, Mass., school project in July, 2011. Attorney Wendy M. Mead has had many contractors as clients, so she understands some of the pitfalls of construction. But it wasn’t until she volunteered to manage a big school renovation and expansion project that she found out how difficult that part of construction could be. As chairwoman of the Sutton, Mass. School Building Committee, she’s learned tough lessons while dealing with a $59.9-million combined middle school-high school renovation and expansion (the cost is roughly split between the town and the state).Sutton’s Board of Selectmen voted recently to terminate
City of San Jose Planned environmental innovation center is the heart of San Jose's plan to create green jobs. Related Links: In the rush to win federal stimulus tax credits for an environmental innovation center, the city of San Jose handed the project to a poor performing contractor, Applegate Johnston, that submitted the low bid. Now the Modesto-based contractor is bankrupt and the city and contractor's surety, Liberty Mutual, must find a way to finish the job.The innovation center is to be the heart of the city's ambitious initiative to create a nucleus of environmental innovation and bring 25,000 "clean
The Ohio Ethics Commission recently reprimanded the former Trumbull County Engineer for violations related to his tenure as engineer.David DeChristofaro, who left office nearly two years ago and is self-employed as a civil engineer, approved a settlement agreement in which he is reprimanded for being involved as county engineer with matters related to a lawsuit between the county and BECDIR, a firm owned by a business partner with whom he shares joint ventures in oil and gas wells in West Virginia.DeChristofaro, who in addition to being an engineer has a PhD in public administration, won election to the job of
Without a detailed procedure for existing buildings, engineers inspecting damage from leaks over the years on the Elliot Lake mall in Ontario, whose roof section collapse killed two employees last year, were limited to following the owner’s dictates instead of a prescribed professional standard. And as the years wore on, the instructions from Robert Nazarian, owner of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, northwest of Toronto, depended on one consideration: his bottom line.That was a rough consensus that emerged from engineers and witnesses called to the long weeks of testimony before a commission of inquiry convened to investigate the
Photo courtesy of David Seibold Injury to onlooker may trigger new efforts to discourage live viewing at demo site. Related Links: A History of Explosive Demolition Man's Leg Amputated After Plant Implosion I n 1997, a 13-year-old girl and her family stopped to watch an explosive demolition of an abandoned hospital in Australia. She was killed by flying debris. "Almost overnight, implosions worldwide ceased being actively promoted as spectator events," wrote Brent L. Blanchard, operations manager for consultant Protec Documentation Services, Rancocas Woods, N.J., in his history of the demolition technique.Now there is a sad new chapter. California officials are
In 1997, a 13-year-old girl and her family stopped to watch an explosive demolition of an abandoned hospital in Australia. She was killed by flying debris. "Almost overnight, implosions worldwide ceased being actively promoted as spectator events," wrote Brent L. Blanchard, operations manager for consultant Protec Documentation Services, Rancocas Woods, N.J., in his history of the demolition technique. Photo courtesy of David Seibold Injury to onlooker may trigger new efforts to discourage live viewing at demo site. Related Links: A History of Explosive Demolition Bakersfield Power Plant Implosion Gone Wrong Results in Serious Injuries Now there is a sad new
The owner of a South Carolina paving contractor recently pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit money laundering through a scheme to hide assets from surety after he couldn’t finish work on a road project for the South Carolina Department of Transportation.Marlon Weaver, owner of Conway, S.C.-based Weaver Co. Inc., was awarded a contract in September 2008 for paving and asphalt on SCDOT Project I-95 Rehabilitation Dillon-Florence Counties. Safeco Insurance Co. of America provided performance and payment bonds and a general indemnity agreement for the job.Weaver’s company was hired to do concrete patching, asphalt work and bridge approach
Norr Engineering Testimony at a commission of inquiry shows mall owner's unusual approach to repairing the mall's leaky roof. Related Links: Elliot Lake Commission Inquiry Testimony Engineer Cited in Fatal Ontario Mall Rooftop-Garage Collapse Set to Plead Not Guilty Where once it looked like the entire blame for a fatal mall roof section collapse in northern Ontario last June would rest on the shoulders of a single engineer and his employer, testimony given in Toronto at a special provincial inquiry about the accident now shows a series of missteps and sloppy practices that may have contributed to the disaster.Testimony presented
