The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s One World Trade Center reached 1,271 ft on April 30th after ironworkers from DCM Erectors installed two, 26-ft steel interior columns on the top. The columns have surpassed the architectural top of the Empire State Building, which stands 1,250 ft above grade and 1,454 ft to the top of its spire. Photo by Luke Abaffy Steel will continue to be erected on the tower until it tops out and reaches its 104th floor at 1,368 ft this summer. CM Tishman Construction says that when completed in fall 2013, the tower will
As the economy began a slow recovery last year, design firms held on for a long ride. Construction budgets and jobs were still being slashed and projects delayed, although not to the same degree as in 2010. While the ride ahead appears to be a lot less bumpy, design professionals say they are hanging on and are preparing for a long gradual recovery until activity returns to pre-recession levels. Related Links: Public Projects Helped Firms Stay Stable In 2010 "The positive thing about 2011 was stability as compared with 2010, but, even so, there was no major growth," says Ira
Owner and developer SL Green Realty and its construction manager Tishman Construction have announced the topping out of 180 Broadway, which will be the new home for some 600 Pace University students. The $60-million, 24-story residence hall topped out after a bucket carried concrete to the top of the structure on April 24. The new dormitory will be open to students in 2013. The first three levels of the tower will be used for retail and are available for leasing. SL Green, Tishman and university officials attended the celebration. Photo Courtesy of Tishman Construction Pictured from left: Tishman Constructions Rob
An audit that was triggered by three anonymous letters revealed that fake bids were made for construction contracts at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, says New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. According to the audit, Brooklyn-based Eagle Two Construction and its affiliated fake companies were paid $1.2 million by SUNY between January 1996 and October 2010. The affiliated companies, which are all located at the same address, had submitted competing bids in six separate procurements, some of which were forged, according to the findings made by DiNapoli’s auditors and investigators. Eagle Two won $92,090 in
New York University has reduced its plan to expand in Greenwich Village by 19%, or 337,000 sq ft, of the proposed 2 million sq ft under the university’s 30-year plan. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer approved the changed plan April 11. Rendering Courtesy of NYU Greenwich Village residents and Community Board No. 2 had opposed the plan since its inception in 2007, fearing that the expansion would take away from neighborhood esthetics. So the university changed the plan to ensure that the public-strips surrounding Washington Square Village are preserved by eliminating a proposed 183,000-sq-ft below-grade space and a 20,7000 gymnasium.
Dept. of Buildings’ engineers have found defects in the hoisting system of the crane that collapsed at the No. 7 subway line expansion site in Manhattan April 3, said Robert LiMandri, DOB commissioner, in a statement. The accident, which occurred shortly before 7:30 p.m. at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority project located between 33rd and 34th Streets on 11th Avenue, killed 30-year-old Michael Simermeyer, a worker for crane owner and operator J&E Industries LLC, Far Rockaway, N.Y. The crane is a Manitowoc 4100 model. “The maintenance and operation of the crane in the days and weeks prior to this tragic accident
After three years of construction, computer chip-maker GlobalFoundries’ new $4.6-billion plant in Malta, N.Y. is nearing completion. Construction of the interior is currently under way, with full plant start up set for year-end. Photo Courtesy of GlobalFoundries The 1.2-million-sq-ft “Fab 8” will be one of the most technologically advanced fabs worldwide, with capacity to process about 60,000, 32/28 nm wafers a month, the company says. It will serve 160 companies including IBM, which worked with GlobalFoundries last December on an initial production of advanced chips at the site.“The project is currently transitioning into the operations phase,” says a spokesperson for
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says it has suspended construction at the No. 7 subway line extension project and ordered inspection of all cranes at every MTA Capital Construction work site, following the April 3 crane collapse at the No. 7 project. The collapse took place around 7:20 p.m., killing one worker from subcontractor J&E Industries LLC, Far Rockaway, N.Y. and injuring the leg of another from Yonkers Contracting Co., the agency says. Yonkers Contracting is the owner and operator of the Manitowoc 4100 model crane that collapsed at the site, located between 33rd and 34th Streets on 11th Avenue in
New York state and city officials have big plans brewing, including sprawling developments like the $2-billion planned applied science campus on Roosevelt Island, controversial proposals like a new $4-billion convention center in Queens, and billion-dollar infrastructure upgrades like those planned for the George Washington Bridge. But industry watchers say that while such complex multi-year projects bode well for the A/E/C industry, there are likely to be speed bumps along the way. Photo Courtesy of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey In suspense: Work on the planned $1B-$1.2B George Washington Bridge includes the replacement of suspension cables and
Manhattan contractors are used to building in small spaces. But when an owner-developer joint venture team offered to custom-design a 24-story tower for Pace University housing at 180 Broadway, the idea of "small spaces" took on a new dimension. The $60-million project is in a particularly congested part of the city—and within two blocks of five other major construction jobs, including the World Trade Center redevelopment and the Fulton Street Transit Center, which is across the street.The 156,000-sq-ft structure on the 7,000-sq-ft site is also across the street from the historic Corbin Building, which is undergoing construction at 192