Mark Shaw is the former editor-in-chief of ENR Mountain States, co-editor of ENR Southwest, and the senior editor in charge of ENR's Contractor Business Strategy. He serves as ENR's Rocky Mountain bureau chief in Denver.
Transportation, medical facilities and university upgrades dominated this year's ranking of the biggest projects in the Mountain States, although a handful of commercial and office projects made the list, good news for an area in need of a private-sector boost. Related Links: Design-Build Team Selected for Phase 2 of U.S. 36 Project Denver Union Station to Become a New Regional Hub To be ranked, projects had to be located in any of five states that comprise the Mountain States region. They could be any type of construction, from energy, heavy-highway and infrastructure work to new buildings and renovations. The list
Photo courtesy of DPR Construction The laybot system uses robotic-total-station technology to speed up drywall layouts before installation. The project team has set a goal for the robot to draw 1,000 linear ft per hour. Related Links: DPR's Laybot Demo (YouTube) Subs, Engineers Clamor for Collaboration at FutureTech ENR FutureTech Conference Turns Heads With Process Innovation A unique industry collaboration has produced a new robot that could increase the speed and accuracy of layouts with the help of virtual design and construction technology.Called Project Lion, the technology is the brainchild of Redwood City, Calif.-based DPR Construction and Westminster, Colo.-based Trimble.
The Colorado Dept. of Transportation and the High-Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE) selected Plenary Roads Denver in early April as the concessionaire for the second phase of the U.S. 36 Express Lanes/Bus Rapid Transit project between 88th Street and Table Mesa Drive. It will complete improvements to the entire U.S. 36 corridor between Denver and Boulder. Corridor map courtesy of CDOT The second phase of the U.S. 36 Express Lanes project is expected to begin construction late this year. The project is CDOT’s first public-private partnership, where the public and private sectors team to provide transportation improvements and services to the
After 28 months of construction, the U.S. General Services Administration rededicated the César E. Chávez Memorial Building in Denver on March 7. The GSA says the goal of the $37-million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act project is to achieve LEED-Silver certification. Photo by Fred Fuhrmeister, Time Frame Photography The project created a new state-of-the-art building exterior featuring an aluminum-and-glass curtain wall system that reduces the buildings energy consumption by 30%. The highlight of the modernization project is a state-of-the-art building exterior consisting of an aluminum-and-glass curtain wall system that reduces the building’s energy consumption by 30% and produces 5% of
We are pleased to introduce this year’s Top 20 Under 40 winners. They are architects, engineers, constructors, planners and project managers, but also green gurus, virtual building technology experts and company presidents.
Denver's Regional Transportation District General Manager Phil Washington announced Jan. 22 that RTD has identified another item for the FasTracks Internal Savings Account that may allow it to take advantage of favorable debt interest savings. Refinancing a portion of the transit agency’s debt could offer RTD an opportunity to build the North Metro Rail Line to 72nd in Commerce City sooner than expected. Map courtesy of RTD The new debt restructuring plan may allow Denver's RTD to issue a request for proposal to build the North Metro rail line to 72nd Avenue within the next 10 months. Washington said RTD
The residents of the Denver Rescue Mission now have warm showers, energy-efficient dormitories and upgraded lighting, thanks to volunteer help from the local chapter of an international engineering association. The work of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) will save the mission about a third of its annual energy costs. The project is part of the society’s 2013 Annual Conference that will take place in Denver June 22-26. Some 1,800 members are expected to attend.The chapter overhauled the Denver Rescue Mission’s aged and deteriorating systems and replaced them with systems to
In 2007, when DPR Construction Inc. entered into a commitment agreement with Sutter Health for a $320-million hospital in Castro Valley, Calif., an integrated project delivery contract with 11 signatories was uncharted territory.
Design-build firms that work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies got a much-needed boost in 2012. Lisa Washington, executive director of the Design-Build Institute of America, led the formation of a coalition of industry groups that succeeded in getting the Corps to issue a new procurement directive.
The Utah Dept. of Transportation has completed the Utah County I-15 Corridor Expansion project. Construction was finished in an unprecedented 35 months, making I-15 CORE the fastest billion-dollar public highway project ever built in the United States. I-15 CORE reconstructed 24 miles of freeway from Lehi to Spanish Fork. Photo courtesy of HDR I-15 CORE reconstructed 24 miles of freeway from Lehi to Spanish Fork and widened the freeway by two lanes in each direction. The project widened the freeway by two lanes in each direction; replaced the original asphalt with new 40-year concrete pavement, extended the Express Lane from Lehi’s
