Related Links: Perpall Take sHelm at Dallas Design-Builder Best of Times for Well-Managed Contractors Peter Beck recently walked one of his firm's jobsites and asked a veteran project engineer what the job would have been like 10 years ago. The engineer said it probably would have needed three project engineers instead of one and the work wouldn't have been as accurate, among other things."He took me through all the innovations that have evolved over the last 10 years, in the field and in the office," says Beck, executive chairman and managing director of The Beck Group, Dallas. "It's quite extraordinary."Founded
Courtesy of Southland Industries Southland's design for the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center features 100% outdoor air plus technology to precondition incoming air. Shawn Henry Photography Southland executives, from left: Chuck Allen, COO; Natasha Shah, vice president; Ted Lynch, CEO; ; Mike McLaughlin VP, Preconstruction; and Joseph Cvetas, CBDO. Related Links: Top Specialty Contractors of 2012 BIM Adoption by Subcontractors Growing Southland Industries of Garden Grove, Calif., has evolved since the late 1940s into one of this country's largest, most innovative mechanical contractors, and a big part of its strategy is making sure new ideas and processes are
The new $135-million Energy Systems Integration Facility includes 15 labs that will do cutting-edge energy research and explore how to add renewable resources to the power grid. ESIF, part of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory campus in Golden, Colo., will perform tasks ranging from fuel-cell development to smart-power testing. But the entire facility is also a sustainability laboratory. Related Links: NREL Facility Earns Perfect Green Marks Golden Road Upgrades Improve NREL Access Even its construction is an experiment in how far contractors could take green building practices. Instead of building concrete retaining walls outside, for example, general contractor JE Dunn
Denver's landmark Union Station forms the core of a massive regional transit redevelopment project, and when the interior of the 1881 building is refurbished in a separate $50-million job, it will also become the heart of a new neighborhood. Related Links: ENR Mountain States: Alta City House Apts. The 150,000-sq-ft, three-story stone structure is being converted into a 112-room boutique hotel. The station's Great Hall, with its 67-ft-high ceiling and white marble walls, will become "Denver's new living room," according to developers. A granite plaza in front of the station, connecting it to the street, will include extensive landscaping. Work
Construction is well along on the third and final phase of the sprawling $500-million effort to transform Denver Union Station into a multimodal transportation hub for the Mountain West region. Contractors expect to finish the project in about a year. Related Links: ENR Mountain States: Kiewit & I-225 Light Rail The Union Station design-build project, which stretches over 40 acres in downtown Denver's Central Platte Valley, is being done under the aegis of the Denver Union Station Project Authority as owner. The redevelopment is part of metro Denver's multibillion-dollar FasTracks transit project, one of the largest and most complex U.S.
Related Links: ENR: Jobsite Safety ENR: No Compromising on Safety Savvy contractors have significantly cut jobsite injuries in the past few decades by transforming safety practices into a science. Recent innovations include using more statistics as well as the latest technology. Some firms are taking a cue from psychology and employing behavior-modification techniques.Companies use statistical data from outside resources such as OSHA and the Construction Industry Institute (CII) at the University of Texas at Austin, but many also compile their own. They track recordable injuries, medical treatments, near misses and lost-time cases using tools such as job-safety analysis. Then they
Photo courtesy of sundt construction The new 67,000-sq-ft, LEED-NC Platinum Mediated Learning Center at De Anza Community College in California exemplifies the latest in sustainable buildings. Related Links: ENR: Green Risks ENR: Obstacles to Sustainability More owners of green projects, especially governments, are demanding long-term performance guarantees, and contractors and designers are trying to figure out how to defray the risks of such commitments. Among the biggest problems posed by guarantees for contractors is being held accountable for work they didn't do and the operation of delivered buildings they no longer control.Most insurance companies don't cover guarantees, and attorneys often
Photo courtesy of Mortenson Construction Mortenson has used computer-automated, virtual-environment technology at the Pegula Ice Arena at Penn State to catch and fix problems early. Photo courtesy of JE Dunn Construction Co. BIM technology, including virtual images of mechanical systems like those pictured here, is used by JE Dunn to prevent mistakes that require rework. Related Links: ENR: Integrated Project Delivery ENR: BIM Rework plagues U.S. commercial construction projects, causing problems ranging from longer construction schedules and late delivery to worker injuries and billions a year in lost revenue. In the long term, rework can also affect a construction company's
Photo Courtesy of PCL Construction Enterprises Inc. PCL, an early adopter of ethics compliance programs, built the USAF training facility in Colorado Springs. Photo Courtesy of PCL Construction Enterprises Inc. Granite Construction is building a $126-million spillway at Folsom Dam in Northern California for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Related Links: Univ. of Ill. Voids Design Contract After Ethics Review Terminated, Then Penalized? What Federal Agencies Can and Can't Do Widespread use of internal compliance and ethics programs by contractors is in its infancy, but many industry insiders believe that, like safety programs, they're here to stay. These programs