Stakes are high for gaming giant MGM Mirage Inc.’s $8.5-billion CityCenter development on the Las Vegas Strip. The project’s turbulent history includes the death of six construction workers, a lawsuit between development partners over rising costs and funding woes brought on by the global credit crisis. Yet the 18-million-sq-ft complex of hotels, condos, casinos and entertainment space still is scheduled to open in phases, starting on Dec. 1. Photo: MGM MIRAGE CityCenter could be a big gamble for its owners and for Las Vegas city officials. Complex and its CEO, Bobby Brown, at its debut in 2007. The debut of
Southern Nevada has several energy-efficient, eco-conscious building projects under way. Photo courtesy of ACCIONA To support recent legislation requiring up to 20% of Nevada�s power to come from a renewable resource by 2015, ACCIONA�s Nevada Solar One underwent a $3.1-million addition. Photo courtesy of MGM Mirage The largest hotels to ever receive LEED gold certification, Aria and Vdara represent 70% of CityCenter�s square footage. Related Links: Green Building Chandler Green UNM Takes LEED Maricopa Court Tower State legislation passed in 2005 offers incentives through tax cuts and other financial benefits to sustainable developments that achieve LEED certification. It has since
Construction engineers finishing up the country’s longest cathedral-arch bridge in a tough, rocky patch of northern Nevada say they have found a new way to capitalize on the slow-and-steady power that strand jacks provide. Photo: Enerpac Rocky, rural terrain surrounds the Galena Creek Bridge, requiring special hoisting equipment. Photo: Enerpac Protecting the jacks are steel enclosures that bridge contractor C.C. Myers designed and fabricated. The boxes house a 15-hp, electrohydraulic supply and cable coiler, all powered by an on-site generator. C.C. Myers Inc., Rancho Cordova, Calif., is using a dozen of the 85-ton jacks fabricated by Milwaukee, Wis.-based Enerpac to
Lewis Equipment Co. Inc. on Sept. 18 filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Texas. The 24-year-old Grand Prairie, Texas.-based crane-and-lift supplier listed over $100 million in assets and liabilities. Calls to Lewis executives were not returned. The company is the exclusive North American dealer for China-made Yongmao SunCrane tower cranes, Zoomlion mobile- and-crawler cranes and Hercules elevators. Lewis bought Verticon’s New Zealand tower- crane and hoist division for $11.75 million in late 2007, as well as $33.9 million of Zoomlion truck cranes about 18 months ago. According to court records, the company has 200-plus creditors.
In the second-largest application ever of its kind, hundreds of truckloads of polystyrene block are helping expedite an expansion of Salt Lake City’s Transit Express (TRAX) light-rail system. The lightweight material, akin to styrofoam, is helping Utah Transit Authority save at least $20 million and eight months of time by avoiding soil settlement issues. Foam-filled foundations consist of polystyrene blocks used to prevent settlement along route of Utah light-rail system. The $370-million, four-station project extends the existing 19-mile, 28-station dual-line system five miles. A joint venture of Stacy and Witbeck Inc., Alameda, Calif., and Kiewit Western Co., Littleton, Colo., holds
A cathedral-arch bridge—the nation’s longest at 525 meters—is inching toward completion in a rural patch of northern Nevada three years after the original contractor left the project. The 90-m-tall structure, which spans Galena Creek, is part of the $600-million, 8.5-mile Interstate 580 extension between Reno and Carson City, now millions of dollars over budget and four years late. Photo: Massmedia Soaring crossing over Galena Creek is part of delayed I-580 extension. Photo: Massmedia New freeway will ease traffic on busy rural U.S 395. It is the most costly project in state transportation history, requiring pavement maintenance cuts to pay for
Labor Day will be a mixed blessing in U.S. construction this year. Many workers will enjoy the day off, with employment secured by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. But others will see the holiday as a reminder of a frustrating job search and economic worry in a battered industry market that billions in federal stimulus may not be able to save. Slide Show Pike Industries Inc. paving crew working on a New Hampshire ARRA-funded highway job; the state mobilized quickly to get projects ready. President Barack Obama’s massive $787-billion stimulus package set an ambitious goal when enacted earlier this
A California inspection and testing firm has agreed to a six-month ban imposed by Clark County, Nev., from seeking new work in the southern part of the state for submitting false inspection reports on the Harmon Hotel & Spa, one of six large building projects in Las Vegas’ $8.5-billion CityCenter development. Converse Consultants’ failure to disclose defects has prompted the owner to shrink the planned building to 28 stories from the 49 originally planned. Photo: MGM Mirage Inspection firm is temporarily banned from state work for reports on tower (front, right). Hired by owner MGM Mirage Inc. to inspect the
The stalled $3.1-billion Fontainebleau development on the Las Vegas Strip, which filed for bankruptcy protection in early June, is facing mounting challenges in reaching completion. On July 14, Turnberry West Construction LLC, the project’s general contractor, sued the owner and its lenders in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Miami on a hefty $675.3-million mechanic’s lien, including 15% interest. Photo: Luetta Callaway/ENR Complex developer-contractor court case is squeezing project subcontractors. The 737-ft-tall, 3.4-million-sq-ft hotel-casino-retail complex, which is about 70% completed, is being built by Fontainebleau Resorts LLC, an investment group led by Miami-based developer Jeffrey Soffer, who also owns Turnberry West Construction.
The airport terminal expansion project in Las Vegas had its second serious accident within four months when a rebar cage collapsed and trapped five ironworkers for half an hour. On June 23, the 70-ft-long cage collapsed on ironworkers at the Terminal 3 project at McCarran International Airport. The workers were attaching interior wire supports for the No. 11-sized rebar cage, lying on the ground lengthwise. The cage was to serve as a structural component of a subterranean roadway bridge in front of the new 1.87-million-sq-ft, $2.4-billion structure. An unidentified worker used a forklift to elevate the rebar until the Clark