The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and California Prison Health Care Services (CPHCS) recently broke ground on a $906 million, 1,722-bed inmate medical facility in Stockton. The 1.2 million-sq-ft facility will include a central kitchen area, diagnostic and treatment center, warehouse and support areas. Security will include a 13-ft-high lethal electrified fence surrounding the facility and 11, 45-ft-tall guard towers. Sacramento-based URS-Bovis Lend Lease Joint Venture was awarded the construction management consultant contract as part of its ongoing work with CPHCS. Sacramento-based Kitchell CEM was the criteria architect. The RFQ for the $140-million bid package #1, which includes
The frustration given voice in the midterm elections also played out in how bond referenda and other initiatives fared. Other election news: Organizing Bill Faces Longer Odds of Passage Environmentalists Say Goodbye, Prepare to Work with New Congress Voters rejected some big-ticket state and local finance measures while others passed with smaller margins than in better times. Also enacted were new restrictions that could complicate public-works procurement. One key loss was a road construction funding measure in Alabama. Strong lobbying from construction groups was not enough to save a proposed constitutional amendment that would have earmarked $1 billion over a
California High Speed Rail Authority�s share of the latest round of stimulus funds came with specific directions: The $715 million had to be spent in the Central Valley, to either start construction on the Merced-Fresno or Fresno-Bakersfield leg of the 800-mi, $45-billion project. Authority board members stressed that despite the Federal Railway Administration suggestions of where to direct the funds, they would use a pre-established formal criteria to determine where to begin building the rail infrastructure based on land acquisition, progress on environmental work and other factors. �It is absolutely critical that we invest these funds where they will do
Thomas Enterprises’ default on the 240-acre Sacramento (Calif.) Railyards infill project in late October returned ownership to lender Inland American Real Estate Trust. The lender says it will keep the project on track and pay infrastructure contractors who have been waiting as long as six months. Oak Brook, Ill.-based Inland American initiated foreclosure proceedings against Atlanta-based Thomas Enterprises in June after the developer defaulted on $187 million in loans. When the property went to foreclosure auction on Oct. 22 with a minimum opening bid of $50 million, no one bid, effectively handing control over to the lender, which already manages
Two Indonesian tsunami warning buoys, put in place after a 2004 earthquake and tidal wave killed more than 230,000 people, failed to activate on Oct. 25 when a 7.7 magnitude temblor hit the country’s Mentawai Islands. This time, more than 400 died. Even if the buoys had been operational, islanders would not have had enough time to evacuate, since the earthquake that triggered the tidal wave occurred too close to shore, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. After the 2004 event, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration donated two Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoys to
An increasing number of California architects and contractors are employing building information modeling tools to enhance their use of green technology in new projects and renovations. A 2010 Green BIM SmartMarket report from McGraw-Hill Construction, the publisher of California Construction, showed that 78% of companies that use software to share digital models of buildings’ functions plan to incorporate BIM within the next three years to measure sustainability. The same report indicated 17% of green BIM practitioners believe they realize more than 50% of BIM’s potential to achieve green objectives. “The growth of green projects will drive the growth of BIM
The National Transportation Safety Board earlier this month released its preliminary report on the accident of the Sept. 9 gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno that killed eight people and damaged 55 homes. The report came a day after Pacific Gas and Electric Co. announced its new natural gas pipeline safety measures, known as Pipeline 2020. The explosion of a 30-in. diameter natural gas pipeline released 47.6 million standard cubic ft of natural gas, creating a crater 72 ft long by 26 ft wide and throwing a 28-ft segment of the pipe 100 ft away. Investigators are looking at the
On Oct. 13, the National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report on the Sept. 9 gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, Calif., that killed eight people and damaged 55 homes. The report came a day after Pacific Gas & Electric Co. announced its new natural-gas pipeline safety measures, known as Pipeline 2020. The explosion of a natural-gas pipeline released 47.6 million standard cubic feet of natural gas, creating a crater 72 ft long by 26 ft wide and throwing a 30-in.-dia, 28-ft segment of the pipe 100 ft. Investigators are looking at the sequence of events that led up
Like the London Bridge of the nursery rhyme, the Willamette Bridge is coming down. Under its $140-million general contract, Hamilton Construction Co., Springfield, Ore., orchestrated a complex and eco-friendly demolition for the Oregon Dept. of Transportation’s fair lady. The 2,000-ft-long box-girder bridge, built in 1962, was a key Interstate 5 link between Eugene and Springfield until shear cracks were found in 2002. Truck traffic had to be diverted by 200 miles until a temporary structure could be built in 2004. Eugene-based subcontractor Staton Cos. earlier this year completed demolition of the old bridge, starting with construction of a 120-ft-wide wood-and-steel