Related Links: ENR Texas & Louisiana: Army Training Center ENR Texas & Louisiana: Green San Antonio School Satterfield and Pontikes Construction Website Whatever the next "big thing" in construction might be, chances are George Pontikes will be a part of it. After all, the CEO of Houston-based Satterfield and Pontikes Construction Inc. (S&P) has a 30-plus-year track record of keeping his firm on the cutting edge of innovation. First exposed to building information modeling more than a decade ago, Pontikes quickly grasped the potential value of 3-D technology in helping contractors plan and track costs of project elements and sharing
Photo courtesy of Balfour Beatty Continual evaluation by the entire project team can lead to ongoing solutions that achieve the owner's goals. Photo courtesy of DPR Construction DPR Construction used target value design during construction of the $320-million Sutter Medical Center in Castro Valley, Calif. Related Links: ENR: UCSF Adopts Lean Construction ENR: IPD Boosters Ignore Many Flashing Red Lights Every contractor has seen it happen: a project design that, for whatever reason, exceeds the owner's budget. If there's no leeway to spend more—and these days, there usually isn't—the contractor has little choice but to value engineer the design down
Two and a half years after beginning work on a $300-million first phase to replace two 50-year-old freeway bridges across the Anacostia River, the District of Columbia Dept. of Transportation has authorized a $90.7-million add-on to the project.
North Carolina's sprawling upgrade of the Interstate 85/485 interchange near Charlotte, N.C., is proving that a bigger design can actually deliver significant cost savings. Image courtesy of STV A rare 'turbine' configuration features sweeping ramps that should be easier to build and maintain than those in standard stacked interchanges. Related Links: Owner of the Year: North Carolina DOT 2011's Southeast Top Starts Ranking Part of the North Carolina Dept. of Transportation's (NCDOT) program to fill the last six-mile gap in the 65-mile I-485 outer loop around Charlotte, the interchange uses a two-level "turbine" configuration rarely found in the U.S. Also
A rare 'turbine' configuration features sweeping ramps that should be easier to build and maintain than those in standard stacked interchanges. Related Links: More ENR Transportation News The upgrade of the existing Interstate 85/485 interchange near Charlotte, N.C., is proof that a bigger design can actually mean bigger savings.Part of the North Carolina Dept. of Transportation's (NCDOT) program to fill the last six-mile gap in the 65-mile I-485 outer loop around Charlotte, the interchange uses a two-level "turbine" configuration rarely found in the U.S.
Image courtesy of gm/nasa Get A Grip General Motors and NASA teamed up to produce the so-called Robo-Glove, which helps workers hold tools for long periods without tiring. Construction workers of the future may be able to manipulate their heavy hand tools with a high-tech assist from a new robotic glove being developed jointly by General Motors and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).Officially called the Human Grasp Assist device (a.k.a., the "Robo-Glove" or "K-glove"), the device is designed to help alleviate the hand-muscle fatigue that astronauts and factory workers often experience from continuously gripping a tool for extended
Faced with mounting opposition over the immediate use of tolls to begin financing the $2.1-billion Midtown Tunnel P3 project, the Virginia Dept. of Transportation has negotiated an amendment to its comprehensive agreement with Elizabeth River Crossings LLC, or ERC, potentially delaying tolls for two years until construction of the parallel tube is substantially complete.The delay is contingent upon Virginia's ability to find an alternative funding source for the approximately $125 million in revenue expected to be generated if the existing Midtown and Downtown tunnels between Norfolk and Portsmouth begin collecting tolls as scheduled this summer. Construction of the four-year project
The world's first known seawater district cooling, or SDC, system will be utilized on the $3.5-billion Baha Mar Resort project, currently under construction in Nassau, Bahamas. The $100-million, 12,000-ton system, developed by Ocean Thermal Energy Corp., Lancaster, Pa., will service the 3.5-million-sq-ft resort’s chilled-water needs with 40º F seawater drawn from a depth of more than 3,600 ft in the open Atlantic Ocean, off the New Providence Island Oceanic Shelf. Image courtesy DCO Energy LLC The underwater pipe will be routed in a naturally occurring trench. The above 3D image presents an "up-slope" view. DCO Energy LLC, Mays Landing, N.J.,
Proponents are hopeful that Maryland will expand public-private partnerships on state infrastructure and facilities, with the state House of Delegates' March 26 vote to approve a bill authorizing use of private financing.The bill now goes to the state Senate. Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) , who supports infrastructure privatization, will likely sign the measure if it clears the legislature, which is set to adjourn on April 9. Separate legislation authorizing development of an offshore wind farm also is set for a House vote by week's end.The P3 bill would authorize the Maryland Dept. of General Services to use P3s for design,
