Southwest Roundup: RTC Does Infrastructure Week; Drew Gets NYC Architect; Novus Corridor; Regional Firms Nab Awards

Starting Monday, May 13, in Las Vegas, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, local leaders and community partners will hold three special events in conjunction with the seventh annual National Infrastructure Week.

 

Under the theme of “Technology and Innovation: The New Infrastructure of Tomorrow,” the first event is being held at the Springs Preserve. Speakers include David Short, deputy assistant secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, U.S. Department of Transportation and Kristina Swallow, director of the Nevada Department of Transportation.

 

The second event, May 15, at the Texas Station casino, will involve finding “The Workers of Tomorrow,” with a panel featuring representatives from the College of Southern Nevada, Workforce Connections; Juan Mendez, president of M Con Inc.; and Mel Greene, principle at KME Architects.

 

The third event, May 17 at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino, will focus on clean energy. U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen and Ray Fakhoury of Advanced Energy Economy will speak. There will also be a panel on clean energy’s role in social and economic development featuring Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones, RTC Chief Engineering and Technology Officer David Swallow, and representatives from the NV Energy and the Nevada Conservation League.

 

Workers recently broke ground on a hotel project on the Arizona State Campus in Tempe. The hotel is the first building of the Tempe Novus Innovation Corridor, located in the ASU athletic district.

 

Once finished, the 350-acre corridor will include 3.9 million sq ft of office space, almost 4,000 homes and 300,000 sq ft of restaurant and retail space.

 

The project’s first phase, located near a light rail station, will include an office building and luxury apartment complex. Catellus Development Corp. and Mortenson Construction are working on the project, which is scheduled for completion next summer.

 

A local group of STEM students—most of them girls—visited the Maricopa Department of Transportation. While there, they learned about an engineer's day and how they contribute to resident transportation needs. Also, they loved the sign shop.

 

 

Albuquerque, N.M.-based JB Henderson Construction Inc. recently marked 60 years in business.

 

The company has a customer list including national laboratories, universities, hospitals, and microelectronic customers. According to company executives, it also has contracts in Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Virginia.

 

“Each customer requires a variety of skills and awareness, and all require a strict adherence to high quality, security and safety standards,” said Mark Henderson, JBH CEO.  

 

When the firm started in 1959, it served only as a general contractor, adding mechanical and piping capabilities 18 years later. Today, its services include general contracting, process-piping, mechanical, BIM, and pipe and sheet metal fabrication.

 

The American Society of Civil Engineers recently announced the 2019 New Faces of Civil Engineering in the Professional category. Of the 10 honorees, one was from the Southwest.

 

Jose Aguilar, of Psomas, was honored for work on the Ina Road and I-10 Traffic interchange project just north of Tucson, Ariz.

 

The other winners are: Madeley Arriola Guerrero, of Chen Moore and Associates; Salvador Bentolila, of AECOM; Andrea DuMont, of Jacobs Engineering; Paul Lee, of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; Monica Morales, Jacobs Engineering Group; Ashley Morales-Cartagena, head of the civil engineering school at Pontificia Universidad Catόlica Madre y Maestrac; Mariah Peart, a graduate assistant at Georgia Southern University; Garit Poire, of Turner Construction Company; and Siddhartha Roy, of the U.S. Water Study research team at Virginia Tech.

 

Real estate firm Witkoff has selected Diller Scofidio + Renfro as the design architect for Drew Las Vegas, with projected opening date in 2022. The Drew Las Vegas shell was mostly completed in 2009 before the original developers filed for bankruptcy. The building, then known as the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, is the tallest in the city and has been shuttered for about a decade. The building was originally designed by Carlos Zapata Studio with Bergman Walls Associates as the architect of record. The new Drew Las Vegas will feature 3,780 rooms and suites as well as more than 550,000 sq ft of convention and meeting space.

 

The 67-story Drew will be the architecture firm’s first Las Vegas concept and among its first hospitality-related project. Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s international portfolio of work includes the High Line; the redesign of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Campus; The Shed in New York City; and The Broad contemporary art museum in Los Angeles.

 

The Arizona Department of Transportation recently awarded four construction firms for work on various projects throughout the state. One of them was Fann Contracting for its work on 10 miles of Interstate 40 west of Williams, Ariz., near Devil Dog Road.

 

Another recipient of the Arizona Transportation Partnering Excellence Awards include Ames Construction for work on the Interstate-19 and Ajo Way traffic interchange. Nesbitt Contracting Co. Inc. was awarded in the projects between $5 million and $25 million for its work on state Route 88 improvements between Apache Junction and Tortilla Flat. Fann Contracting was also awarded in the projects under $5 million category for its work on the Interstate 40 Twin Arrows traffic interchange.

 

Arizona State University’s Health Futures Center is now under construction adjacent to the Mayo Clinic campus in northeast Phoenix.

 

Designed by Los Angeles-based CO Architects, in collaboration with architecture firm DFDG, the facility will supports interdepartmental research and collaborative programs between ASU and the Mayo Clinic.

 

According to developers, the three-floor, 145,200-sq-ft and $80-million health sciences facility will, “establish a nexus of interdisciplinary research, innovation and medical simulation.”

 

In April, ground was broken on the project, the first on a new ASU campus. Completion is expected in late 2020.

 

Sundt Construction was recently honored for its work on the city of Chandler’s Ocotillo Water Reclamation Facility expansion project. The AZ Water Association presented Sundt with 2019 Wastewater Treatment Plant Project of the Year. The $120-million expansion project included upgrades to the existing wastewater treatment plant.

 

The firm also received the 23rd Associated General Contractors of America Build America Award for its work on the APS Four Corners Selective Catalytic Reduction Retrofits. The generating station, which provided 1,570 MW of energy for 50 years, is powered by coal from a nearby mine and cooled by Morgan Lake. Upgraded equipment will enable the plant to meet stricter environmental standards by reducing emissions by 80%.