Rendering courtesy of EYP Amman embassy project, targeted for FY 2018 completion, includes new office annex, security upgrades to the existing chancery. Related Links: BL Harbert release on Amman project award State Dept. announcement of design firm selection for Colombo project State Dept. announcement of design firm selection for Ankara project The State Dept. has awarded BL Harbert International LLC, Birmingham, Ala., a $153.5-million design-build contract to renovate the U.S. embassy in Amman, Jordan.The State Dept.’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, or OBO, said it also has selected Skidmore, Owings & Merrill as design architect for a new U.S. embassy

Related Links: Commerce Dept. description of trade mission AIA release discussing trade mission U.S. Mideast Trade Mission Focuses on Infrastructure The Commerce Dept. is seeking applications from U.S. design firms for a planned mid-November trade mission to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which will focus on the potentially large opportunities for buildings projects in those countries.Commerce says a maximum of 20 firms can take part in the visit to Doha, Qatar, scheduled for Nov. 17-19. As many as 10 also can go to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where a visit is slated for Nov. 16-17.Applications are due by Sept. 15.Firms can send

Related Links: Fix VAs Building Woes, Too Project Delivery Spat Puts Hospital Job on Critical List The Dept. of Veterans Affairs is expected to overhaul operations under new legislation aimed to provide billions of dollars to improve the besieged agency's operations. Some of those funds could go for upgrades to VA's extensive network of health-care facilities.The measure, signed on Aug. 7 by President Obama after congressional approval in late July, also calls for sweeping studies of VA's programs, including its construction program.The agency has been under fire on Capitol Hill for problems that include veterans enduring long wait times before

Related Links: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association statement GaynorRichard D. Gaynor, a prominent researcher in the concrete industry since the 1950s and a former executive vice president of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, died in Maryland on July 16. He was 83.NRMCA said that Gaynor's wide-ranging achievements included work in developing standards for cement; strength and durability testing; reuse of returned concrete and wash water; characteristics of aggregates; mixing in truck mixers; and initiatives to improve ready-mix-concrete quality.The association said Gaynor was a prime mover in the revision, in 1985, of the American Society for Testing and Materials' C94

Related Links: Carper-Corker-Boxer release, with summary of Highway Trust Fund bill amendment House OKs $10.8B Highway Trust Fund 'Fix' (enr.com 7/15/2014) [subscription] Pushing right up to the verge of an Aug. 1 deadline, the Senate has agreed to a House-passed $10.8-billion rescue plan for the ailing Highway Trust Fund, sending the measure to President Obama for his expected signature.The Senate's 81-13 vote late on July 31 ended a struggle between the two chambers and averted a slowdown in federal road aid and, potentially, in highway and bridge projects.The $10.8-billion bill, which the House had approved on July 15, provides enough

Related Links: Bureau of Labor Statistics employment rate for July 2014, including data tables Comments and analysis from Associated General Contractors of America Chief Economist Ken Simonson Comments and analysis from Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu Construction’s employment trend stayed positive in July as the industry’s jobless rate declined to 7.5% from June’s 8.2% and the industry gained 22,000 jobs, the Labor Dept. has reported.The Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest monthly employment report, released on Aug. 1, also noted that construction’s rate was well below the July 2013 mark of 9.1%.Nearly all construction sectors picked up jobs

The Obama administration has announced the launch of a $10-billion loan fund—initially drawing on private capital—to help finance water, electric-power and other infrastructure projects in rural areas.Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters in a conference call, that the new U.S. Rural Infrastructure Opportunity Fund, which the White House Rural Council announced on July 24, “means that we can begin to address aggressively the infrastructure deficit that exists in the United States in the rural communities today.”CoBank, a cooperative bank based in Greenwood Village, Colo., is the fund’s “anchor” investor, providing $10 billion in capital, said CEO Robert Engel. The fund

Related Links: White House backgrounder on rural infrastructure fund CoBank release describing new infrastructure fund The Obama administration has announced the launch of a $10-billion loan fund that, initially, draws on private capital to help finance water, electric-power and other infrastructure projects in rural areas.Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters in a conference call that the new U.S. Rural Infrastructure Opportunity Fund, which the White House Rural Council announced on July 24, “means that we can begin to address aggressively the infrastructure deficit that exists in the United States in the rural communities today.”CoBank, a cooperative bank based in Greenwood

Related Links: EPA Study says Pebble Mine Could Destroy Salmons' Habitat Proposed Controversial Mine Loses Key Investor The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken a step toward curbing discharges associated with a planned open-pit gold and copper mine near Bristol Bay, Alaska.Proponents of the proposed $6-billion to $8-billion Pebble Mine project, which would be one of the world's largest of its type, say the action is just the latest in a series of EPA efforts to prevent the mine from being developed.An EPA regional office on July 18, citing the Clean Water Act, proposed restricting all mining-related discharges of dredged

Photo by AP Wideworld Focal point Initiative includes a new DOT "one-stop shop" to help remove barriers to the greater use of private dollars in infrastructure. Related Links: White House transcript of Obama July 17 speech on infrastructure White House summary of infrastructure-finance initiative President Obama is seeking to tap more private-sector dollars to help finance a wide range of U.S. infrastructure projects, but his new plan consists of modest, incremental actions and doesn't include any new federal spending.The Build America Investment Initiative, which Obama announced on July 17, includes what he calls a new U.S. Dept. of Transportation "one-stop