Architectural firm HKS Inc., Dallas, will join Germany-based Tilke Engineers and Architects in the design and construction of a $250-million Formula One racing complex in Austin, Texas. Tilke is leading the project; HKS will serve as architect of record. Austin Commercial, Dallas, a subsidiary of Austin Industries, will serve as the general contractor for the racetrack venue. Photo courtesy Formula 1 United States/Austin American-Statesman. Nick Craw, senate president FIA; Tavo Hellmund, chairman, Formula 1 United States; Peter Wahl, managing partner, Tilke GmbH. The 3.4-mile track, with its 133 ft of elevation change and 20 turns, is slated to host the
In a boom defying the national bust, Oklahoma City is witnessing approximately $2 billion worth of public and private development. The state capital�s major weapon against the Great Recession is its 17-year-old Metropolitan Area Projects program, designed to put the city back on the map through civic renewal that attracts private investment. Designed to be 850 ft tall, the Devon World Headquarters Tower is on course to become the tallest building in Oklahoma. Last December, voters approved the $777-million third phase of the capital improvement program, called MAPS 3. In three votes since 1993, voters have committed $1.8 billion to
In a boom defying the national bust, Oklahoma City is witnessing approximately $2 billion worth of public and private development. The state capital’s major weapon against the Great Recession is its 17-year-old Metropolitan Area Projects program, designed to put the city back on the map through civic renewal that attracts private investment. Designed to be 850 ft tall, the Devon World Headquarters Tower is on course to become the tallest building in Oklahoma. Last December, voters approved the $777-million third phase of the capital improvement program, called MAPS 3. In three votes since 1993, voters have committed $1.8 billion to
Texas developers unveiled an ambitious plan for a $2-billion combined green-technology business park and regional airport project near Austin. Supported by a generous tax rebate scheme, the project is aimed at attracting international anchor tenants and designed to demonstrate the best way to build a commercial development based on green principles. Rendering: Courtesy of Eco-Merge Green Corporate Centers Eco-Merge Green Corporate Centers project already has signed four international tenants, says the developer. Rendering: Courtesy of Eco-Merge Green Corporate Centers Complex covers 1,500 acres east of Austin. Developers of the planned Eco-Merge Green Corporate Centers, a 1,500-plus-acre project about 15 minutes
After more than a year’s halt prompted by the economic slowdown, Valero Energy Corp., the country’s largest independent oil refiner, is reviving refinery expansions in Port Arthur, Texas, and St. Charles, La., that will cost nearly $3 billion combined. The San Antonio-based company announced last month restarts of hydrocracker construction projects at the two facilities that will help it remove sulfur and produce more diesel. Valero stopped both projects in mid-2009, citing weak demand and poor refinery margins, says Bill Day, a company spokesman. The estimated $1.5-billion Texas project is expected to generate up to 1,500 new construction jobs and
The Federal Highway Administration has given the Texas Dept. of Transportation a green light to proceed with construction of the West Rail project in Brownsville, an estimated $85-million effort to relocate a Union Pacific Railroad line out of the heart of the city and away from downtown Matamoros, Mexico. The project is a cooperative effort involving officials in both cities, the state agency, Cameron County and the Mexican government. On the U.S. side, improvements would relocate the existing railway from the U.S. 77-83 rail junction to a switching yard farther west, routing it south to the Rio Grande River just
The Federal Highway Administration has given the Texas Dept. of Transportation a green light to proceed with construction of the West Rail project in Brownsville, an estimated $85-million effort to relocate a Union Pacific Railroad line out of the heart of the city and away from downtown Matamoros, Mexico. The project is a cooperative effort involving officials in both cities, the state agency, Cameron County and the Mexican government. On the U.S. side, improvements would relocate the existing railway from the U.S. 77-83 rail junction to a switching yard farther west, routing it south to the Rio Grande River just
After more than a year’s halt prompted by the economic slowdown, Valero Energy Corp., the country’s largest independent oil refiner, is reviving refinery expansions in Port Arthur, Texas, and St. Charles, La., that will cost nearly $3 billion combined. The San Antonio-based company announced last month restarts of hydrocracker construction projects at the two facilities that will help it remove sulfur and produce more diesel. Valero stopped both projects in mid-2009, citing weak demand and poor refinery margins, says Bill Day, a company spokesman. The estimated $1.5-billion Texas project is expected to generate up to 1,500 new construction jobs and
A $503-million replacement hospital project at Fort Hood was awarded to Balfour-Beatty/McCarthy, Dallas, on September 10 by the Fort Worth District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Image: USACE, Fort Worth. An aerial rendering shows a northwest view of the new Fort Hood replacement hospital designed by HKS, Dallas, and Wingler & Sharp, Wichita Falls. The contract was a two-step full and open design-build procurement process, says Denisha Braxton, spokeswoman for USACE, Fort Worth. The two other short-listed teams were Hensel Phelps (Austin) & Robins Morton (Birmingham, Ala.) and Turner-Zachry Fort Hood Healthcare of San Antonio. The Corps selected
A construction worker was killed at the Gilcrease Expressway expansion site in Tulsa, Okla., on August 16 when a piece of heavy equipment rolled down a steep hill and crushed him. Noe Mendoza, 45, an employee of Plains Bridge Contracting of Yukon, Okla., was found by emergency responders. Mendoza was hit by a 120,000-lb road spreader, with a big diesel-driven scraper to pick up pavement, and declared dead at the scene, says Bill French, spokesman for the Tulsa Fire Dept. Tulsa Police Dept. public information officer Leland Ashley said the machine that killed Medoza was a Caterpillar 621G wheel tractor-scraper.