Nancy D. Fitzroy, a pioneer in heat-transfer and fluid-flow research for gas turbines, nuclear-reactor cores and other systems in a 37-year career at General Electric Co., could only access mens' rooms as an engineering student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the late 1940s.
Related Links: Opus Group Website: Gerald Rauenhorst obituary Saga of Opus East, a Failed Rockville-based Real Estate Titan, Continues in Court Gerald A. “Gerry” Rauenhorst, 86, a design-build pioneer and founder of The Opus Group, which became one of the largest U.S. builder-developers before being hit by financial troubles in the recession, died on April 24 in Edina, Minn., after a long illness.Rauenhorst, a civil engineer, launched an eponymous construction company in 1953 that later become The Opus Group, a Minneapolis-based commercial real estate developer that provides turnkey A/E/C services through three subsidiaries in nine U.S. offices.Opus has completed 2,300
Related Links: OSHA Proposes Tougher Rules for Silica Dust Exposure OSHA Studies Frac Sand Rules Construction is a risky business full of jobsite hazards, from life-threatening falls to blunt-trauma injuries, but more insidious dangers exist, such as crystalline silica inhalation, which can lead to a type of cancer known as pneumoconiosis. It's what coal miners call black lung disease, where tiny airborne particles cause lesions and scarring on the lungs, gradually leaving workers unable to breathe.Silicosis, its equally harmful cousin, currently affects 1.7 million workers annually, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is caused by breathing
Photo Courtesy of the Golden State Warriors Arena's new site, nearly two miles south of the first location, is near San Francisco Bay but does not sit on its piers. Related Links: Golden State Warriors Snøhetta San Francisco's Golden State Warriors basketball team recently abandoned a 13-acre bayfront site along the Embarcadero at city-owned Piers 30-32 for the team's future arena. Instead, the team revealed, on April 22, a purchase deal for a privately held, 12-acre vacant parcel, 1.7-miles south in Mission Bay. The site is near but not over the bay.The move followed two years of development that was
Costruction is a risky business full of jobsite hazards, from life-threatening falls to blunt trauma injuries, but more insidious dangers exist, like crystalline silica inhalation, which can lead to a type of cancer known as pneumoconiosis. It’s what coal miners call “black lung” disease, where tiny airborne particles cause lesions and scarring on the lungs, gradually leaving workers unable to breathe. Courtesy of National Association of Home Builders Silica becomes a corrosive airborne inhalant during most construction tasks and can lead to a disease known as silicosis or grinders asthma. Silicosis, its equally harmful cousin, currently affects 1.7 million workers
Photo by Tony Illia An LVI unit is set to demolish the unfinished 28-story Harmon Hotel in Las Vegas. The $279-million tower received court approval in late April to be leveled prior to a September jury trial between owner MGM Resorts International and contractor Tutor Perini Building Corp. over building defects. The consolidation trend has hit the demolition and remediation construction sector in a big way, with major players LVI Services Inc., New York City, and NCM Group Holdings Inc., Brea, Calif., announcing on April 24 an agreement to merge.The new combined firm, to be called NorthStar Group Holdings LLC,
Courtesy Southern Nevada Water Authority A view of the Lake Mead intake tunnel for which the owner held a builder's risk policy. Six re-insurers will pay out most of an additional $35 million under a claim by the Southern Nevada Water Authority on a builders’ risk policy covering damage suffered in 2010 and 2011 to a water tunnel project where flooding and fractured rock caused major delays, the water authority announced.“We don't typically purchase insurance policies for construction projects,” says Erika P. Moonin, the water authority’s engineering project manager for its $817-million third intake project at Lake Mead. “But this
It’s smart to hedge high-risk bets, especially in Las Vegas. The Southern Nevada Water Authority did just that by buying a builder’s risk policy prior for the $817 million third intake project at Lake Mead. Backed by a half dozen reinsurers, the policy offers up to $650 million in loss coverage on a $10 million premium. The water authority bought it from Lloyd’s of London through Marsh LLC, New York City, after a year of discussion and research.Insurance proved a prudent bet as the project has grappled with flooding delays, cost overruns and a worker fatality. The agency last month
Photo courtesy of Lafarge; Chart by ENR Art Dept. Firms' all-share merger is valued at $60 billion, but the megadeal could take years to close because of antitrust concerns. Related Links: Lafarge merger site Lafarge 2013 Annual Report Holcim Merger Site Holcim 2013 Annual Report Sherwin-Williams ends its pursuit of Consorcio Comex's Mexican division Two of the world's largest cement makers, Lafarge and Holcim, on April 7 announced an all-share merger valued at $60 billion, although the megadeal could take years to close because of antitrust concerns.The combined company, to be called LafargeHolcim, would have a 427-million-tonne cement capacity, or
Photo courtesy of BASF BASF microspheres are contained in a liquid form for ease of dispensing and mixing. Related Links: World of Concrete 2014 Sees Smaller Crowds But Cautious Optimism Concrete Goes To College BASF Corp., Cleveland, recently previewed a new liquid admixture it claims eliminates the need for air-entrained concrete, a material used in regions exposed to freeze-thaw cycles.Touted as breakthrough technology, the still-unnamed chemical product has been in development for eight years and will be available in 2015. The additive uses millions of microspheres coated with tough but flexible polymeric shells, "similar to very tiny tennis balls," explains
