Photo by Tudor Van Hampton for ENR The mood is optimistic in Las Vegas at World of Concrete 2013. Related Links: Tumult Grows Over LEED Rating System Update (ENR 7/23/12) World of Concrete Concrete contractors and suppliers face a decidedly improved construction market this year as new projects and cash flow back into their business pipelines. "The pent-up demand is huge by any standard," said Portland Cement Association's chief economist, Ed Sullivan, who anticipates an 8.1% growth in U.S. cement consumption in 2013 driven mostly by 950,000 new housing starts.Sullivan spoke on Feb. 5 at the annual World of Concrete
Photo by Charles Uniatowski Photography The $73.9-million high school provides a technology-rich learning environment for 1,496 students. Related Links: See all of the Best of the Best Projects 2012 Winners Entries for ENR's First Global Best Projects Competition Are Due Feb. 28 Completed 5% under budget and a year ahead of the original schedule, this $73.9-million high school in Salisbury, Md. provides a technology-rich learning environment for 1,496 students. Nautical details are carried through the structure, including an art room with a canted, offset roof that evokes the sails of a clipper ship. The architect's "Main Street" concept for the
Photo courtesy Waldrop+Nichols Studio The project was completed two months ahead of schedule. Related Links: See all of the Best of the Best Projects 2012 Winners Complex Coordination Delivers LEED-Gold Hotel Entries for ENR's First Global Best Projects Competition Are Due Feb. 28 With a tight time frame of just 28 months, the Balfour | Russell | Pegasus joint venture completed the $331.6-million Omni Dallas Convention Center in November 2011. Despite numerous challenges, the team was able to incorporate more than $10 million in additional scope, funded through project savings that were reinvested into the hotel. The team also completed
Photo Courtesy of Fred Golden The renovation and expansion had to harmonize with existing architecture. Related Links: See all of the Best of the Best Projects 2012 Winners Entries for ENR's First Global Best Projects Competition Are Due Feb. 28 The renovations and additions to the Delta Dental of Michigan headquarters harmonize with not only the existing architecture but also the surrounding environment of Okemos, Mich. To this end, Delta elected to expand an on-site retention basin that supports area drainage as well as a variety of wildlife, an undertaking that required safe removal of the wildlife prior to the
Photo by Aeon Preservation The project required restoration of the tower's cupola and ballroom, and the replacement of more than 350 windows. Related Links: See all of the Best of the Best Projects 2012 Winners Entries for ENR's First Global Best Projects Competition Are Due Feb. 28 Originally completed in 1925, Miami's Freedom Tower has been a community icon ever since the federal government used the 14-story building during the 1960s and 1970s to process, document and provide health-care services for Cuban immigrants. But it was only in 2010 that the structure underwent its first top-to-bottom exterior restoration.The renovation of
Photo by Nick Simonite Many of the old brewery's original features were recycled and re-used. Related Links: See all of the Best of the Best Projects 2012 Winners Historic Brewery Gets a Modern Transformation Entries for ENR's First Global Best Projects Competition Are Due Feb. 28 Originally built in 1883, the Pearl Brewery is one of San Antonio's most visited landmarks. Brewery owners Silver Ventures turned to Joeris General Contractors to update the property and its aging structures.The scope of work included renovations to the historic conveyor and removal of existing foundations and piers in the area. Many of the
Demonstrating industry benchmarks for safe practices, this project for a 1.27-mile-long elevated rail system at Miami International Airport achieved "world-class results," according to the experts who judged ENR's first-ever "Best of the Best" award for project safety.
The $7.5-million University of Texas at Dallas Visitor Center and University Bookstore was designed to be an open and flexible space for events and a new front door to the campus.
Photo Courtesy Gate Precast Co. The striking gray panels feature both concave and convex radii. Related Links: See all of the Best of the Best Projects 2012 Winners Precast Concrete Museum Challenges Project Team Entries for ENR's First Global Best Projects Competition Are Due Feb. 28 Occupying a 170-ft-tall building that sits on a 180,000-sq-ft site, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas features a facade that is made up of more than 700 unique precast-concrete panels that cover the museum's tower, atrium and plinth.Project team members faced multiple obstacles in the production, quality and installation of this
Photo by Ben Tanner Photography The baseball park received LEED Gold certification. Related Links: See all of the Best of the Best Projects 2012 Winners Marlins Park Wins Southeast Project of the Year Entries for ENR's First Global Best Projects Competition Are Due Feb. 28 Designers of the nation's first retractable-roof stadium engineered to withstand 146-mph winds achieved the feat with an innovative strategy: The roof was kept partially open. This move would minimize internal pressures in the event of a storm-induced breach of the structure. It also eliminated the need for an estimated 1,000 tons of steel, cutting project
