Photo by Nicholas Zeman for ENR Tenants await their fate after a judge revoked building permits for the 22-story Sunset Gordon Tower, even though the project was already completed and occupied. Related Links: Developers Find Fault as CGS Releases L.A. Seismic Maps Columbia Square Breaks Ground in Hollywood In Los Angeles, a half-finished Target Corp. retail project sits abandoned on Sunset Boulevard. A circuit court found the project's building permits to be illegal—because the project violated height restrictions—and construction was ordered stopped in November. Target has appealed the L.A. Superior Court decision and litigation is ongoing, says a company spokesman.The
Wikimedia Commons The 12-story addition to the Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton had been hailed for its advances in modular construction. Related Links: ENR's feature story on the Miami Valley Hospital addition An industry publication celebrates modular hospital construction A 12-story hospital addition in Dayton, Ohio that was hailed in 2010 as an advance in modular construction has turned into a major legal headache and source of costly losses to the construction team, its insurers and the project architect.The trouble emerged after an outbreak of Legionella in the addition at Miami Valley Hospital in 2011 led to several illnesses and
Photo Courtesy of First Solar Inc. First Solar workers install thin-film photovoltaic modules on a project similar to the proposed $848-million California Flats project, which will provide power for tech giant Apple. Related Links: Clouds Start To Lift From the Solar Sector Apple Repurposes Arizona Plant Left by Failed Supplier A flurry of power-supply deals between renewable-energy providers in California and private firms Apple, Google and Kaiser Permanente will mean billions in construction dollars for the state, which is already a U.S. leader in renewable-energy expansion. The deals signal that private, industrial-scale customers are playing an increasing role in wholesale
Related Links: CMAP Site Chicago Infrastructure Trust Passes First-Ever Financing Deal Chicago To Rehab Blue Line in 2014 The Chicago Metropolitan Agency of Planning (CMAP) this month launched a website that aims to help the public become more involved in identifying and prioritizing infrastructure investments.The CMAP site, allows taxpayers to "peek under the hood" of the Chicago transportation system, says CMAP spokesman Tom Garritano. Chicago loses $7 billion in fuel and productivity because of congestion, bad roads and missed transit connections. Old rail infrastructure causes about 7,800 hours of delay each weekday for more than 380,000 motorists, says CMAP.CMAP's criticism
Related Links: Big Pipe Plans-Developers Push Billions in Pipeline Work Despite Oil Price Slide, Keystone Veto CURT Construction Labor Market Analyzer website Vogtle Nuke Plant Builders Face Rising Cost Pressures NCCER-Welding Website CareersWelding and Burning Ironworkers Website United Association-Union of Plumbers, Pipefitters, Welders and Service TechsWelding Certifications Things are heating up at the plumbers and pipefitters' union local in Augusta, Ga., and it isn't just the members' welding tools. The union is running full tilt to train welders now in short supply to fuel the region's industrial and energy-sector construction boom.Apprenticeship training at Local 150—a key labor supplier to the
The factory in Mesa, Ariz., is supposed to be a symbol of Apple's commitment to bring manufacturing jobs back to America after years of building products in Asia, and that may happen in several more years. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) on Feb. 2 announced Apple will spend $2 billion to reconfigure and re-equip the site into a data command center for the company's global networks. The project represents "one of the company's largest investments in history," a statement from Ducey's office said. For a second try, it isn't bad.The first try has turned into a financial mess for many
Robert Trudell's Youtube Channel Image from local resident's video shows part of the Mesa, Ariz., plant whose furnaces must be sold to pay back creditors. After a bankruptcy judge in December approved a settlement with primary creditor Apple Inc., GT Advanced Technologies has started dismantling a Mesa, Ariz., factory that was once touted as a symbol of Apple’s commitment to bring manufacturing jobs back to America. The means of funding the settlement are unusual and have created skepticism. GTAT will give Apple $439 million through the sale of more than 2,000 furnaces it intended to use to make sapphire glass
Photo Courtesy of Prince Rupert Port Authority Canada balked at U.S. attempt to require American materials on B.C. ferry terminal. After a trade dispute escalated between the U.S. and Canada over "Buy American" procurement provisions, the Alaska Dept. of Transportation abruptly cancelled a construction bid for the Prince Rupert Ferry Terminal in British Columbia.On Jan. 21, Canada invoked an anti-sanctions law, the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act (FEMA), which exposes companies that agree to Buy American provisions in contracts for construction on Canadian soil to fines up to $1.5 million, said a spokesman with Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada.The previous
Photo Courtesy of BNSF Rep. Garamendi decries lack of public data concerning 5,000 railroad bridges. Related Links: Pipeline Advocates Question Crude-By-Rail Safety California lawmakers are pressuring railroads to share maintenance and construction data for infrastructure exposed to increased crude-oil traffic from North Dakota. There are 5,000 railroad bridges in California, but almost no public data exists on them, says U.S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.). "Are they safe?" he asks. "I don't know, but there should be some standard for determining their safety."Garamendi tells ENR that infrastructure upgrades and maintenance, especially to bridges, are crucial as more crude from North Dakota
AP Photo Ex-MWH Global engineer Matthew Huang and his wife, Grace, are suing his former employer related to a troubled deployment to Qatar. Related Links: Construction Industry Learning Goes Borderless: Adjusting Training to Differing Cultures Jan. 6 Practicing Law Institute seminar with Donald Dowling: Developing International Employee Handbooks, Global Codes of Conduct and Cross-Border HR Policies While construction-industry firms that deploy expatriates to far-flung and risky global jobsites have taken notice of the saga of one MWH Global Inc. engineer caught in a two-year legal wrangle in Qatar with new U.S. developments, employment experts say the situation is highly unusual.Matthew
