Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

MORRIS COUNTY A seven-mile section of I-287 in Morris County is getting a makeover, the state Department of Transportation announced today.

The $27.4 million project, funded by federal moneys, will also involve the resurfacing of seven bridge decks and the replacement of bridge decks over the Whippany River/Eden Lane in Hanover, according to a press release from the agency.

The entire project will span from just south of the South Street underpass in Morristown to the Littleton Road overpass in Parsippany. It is expected to last about two years, the DOT said.

All of the highways lanes are expected to stay open during peak-period travel, but single and double-lane closures will take place during other times, according to the release.

Interchange ramps will be repaved during off-peak closures, with detours in place.

The contractor, Tilcon, based in West Nyack, N.Y., will begin work on the highway's medians this week, necessitating traffic shifts in each direction, the DOT said. Major work will start this fall.

The project also involves the installation of message signs and traffic cameras.

The transportation agency says the heavily traveled artery has deteriorated over the years and repairs are expected to extend its life by more than 15 years and the new bridge decks by 50 years.

Related coverage:

Miracle on I-287: How crews put a blown-out highway back together in mere days

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7-mile stretch of Interstate 287 in Morris County to be rehabilitated

STANFORD A Boyle County woman has been arrested for the second time in as many weeks for stealing crafts and primitives off of porches in north Stanford.

Lisha Hampton, 51, has been charged with theft by unlawful taking, third-degree criminal trespassing, third-degree criminal mischief and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Stanford police arrested Hampton Monday night after "catching her in the act," Detective Joe Gilliland said.

Hampton was caught with stolen items in the vehicle she was driving along Lee Drive, Gilliland said.

About two weeks ago, Hampton was arrested for similar charges after taking a flag and other porch decorations from multiple Stanford locations.

Gilliland said Hampton has admitted to selling items she has stolen, which have come largely from homes on the north side of Stanford.

"She loves the area up around Hilltopper (Drive), that whole area everything north of the bypass," he said.

Hampton is currently being held on a $10,000 cash bond in the Lincoln County Regional Jail.

Gilliland said while Stanford police have returned some items stolen by Hampton, they still have more items that no one has claimed.

He encouraged anyone in the north Stanford area who has noticed items missing from outside their homes in the last two weeks to call the Stanford Police Department at (606) 365-4525.

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Boyle woman charged with stealing from Stanford porches

The Kauffman Centre in Kansas City.

ONE of the world's most respected architects has been lured to Melbourne to design an $80 million state-of-the-art school of music for Monash University.

Buildings by Boston-based ''starchitect'' Moshe Safdie look like radical visions of the future (by someone with a very earthly love of concrete). One of these distinctive sculptural spaceships is due to land in mid-2016 at the entrance to Monash's Clayton campus.

Construction is due to start in early 2014, and will include a 600-seat concert hall, atrium and outdoor amphitheatre, as well as a jazz club, recording studio and teaching facilities.

Funded by Monash, the state and federal governments and philanthropists including property developer Albert Dadon, the design is also a collaboration with local firm Fender Katsalidis.

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''Located at the gateway of Monash Clayton, it will also be a community facility - a great coup,'' says Mr Dadon, who is also a successful musician.

The design concept for the new Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music will not be revealed until October 23, but Mr Safdie describes it as an ''extroverted [complex that] affords a dramatic view into the life within the building''. Mr Dadon calls the design ''futuristic without being science fiction''.

The architect says lessons learnt from the Kansas City performing arts centre he designed, which opened last year, will be applied to the Monash building. These include handling the acoustic challenges of optimising natural and amplified sound, but may also hint at its outward appearance: the Kauffman Centre has a distinct resemblance to the Sydney Opera House, with the ''sails'' modified by Mr Safdie's signature stepped angles, and an extensive use of glass.

The announcement is evidence of a wider trend of high-profile international architects working on local university projects, says former Architecture Australia editor Justine Clark.

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Architecture stars align to bring music school to Monash

HARTSVILLE --

Hartsville City Council gave final approval to an amendment granting an exception to the citys new no smoking ordinance for outdoor patios, porches and decks at bars, but not before tweaking it one last time to extend the exception to patios, porches and decks at restaurants in the city as well.

Smoking inside the restaurants and bars as well as all other businesses and other institutions in the city will still be prohibited.

The amended ordinance also relaxes the so-called 10-foot rule for entrances leading to outdoor patios, porches and decks to prohibit smoking within five feet of those entrances. Smoking within 10 feet of all other business entrances is still prohibited under the ordinance.

The ordinance also still prohibits smoking on public sidewalks in front of restaurants and bars and other businesses.

Councilman Johnny Andrews, who had previously expressed concerns about exposing underage workers in restaurants and bars to second-hand smoke, cast the only vote against the changes.

Council also gave final approval to an ordinance repealing previous city ordinances that banned smoking in city-owned buildings, parks and vehicles, since those are all now covered by the new ordinance.

The new ordinance goes into effect on Oct. 10.

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Hartsville amends no smoking ordinance

Last month, workers began the demolition of an apartment building at 424 N. Queen St. to make way for a planned parking garage.

But the construction of that garage could be delayed as planners go back and attempt to lower the cost.

Earlier this month, construction bids for the 265-space garage came in $2 million over the anticipated $8.8 million estimate.

Randy Patterson, Lancaster city's Economic Development & Neighborhood Revitalization director, said Tuesday that he would soon meet with representatives of the low bidders on the project.

He will seek ways to "value-engineer" aspects of the project to come closer to that $8.8 million figure, he told members of the city Redevelopment Authority, which is constructing the garage.

The garage, with a total development cost expected to be $10.5 million, is planned for the site of an existing surface parking lot along North Market Street.

It is intended to provide parking for the $16 million redevelopment of the former Lancaster Press building into condominiums. It also will serve the restaurants and shops in the 300 and 400 blocks of North Queen Street, the 400 block of North Prince Street and the first block of West Lemon Street.

Patterson said plans could be altered to remove an extensive canopy over the ramp onto North Queen Street. One of three stair towers to the structure also could be altered or eliminated, he said.

Some items in the plans cannot be changed, he said. Parking equipment specified in the plans is compatible with that used in other garages of the Lancaster Parking Authority, which will operate the garage on behalf of the Redevelopment Authority, he said.

Major changes needed to bring the project under budget may require portions to be redesigned, Patterson said.

Originally posted here:
Garage plan may change to cut costs

By Bonnie James/Deputy News Editor Utilising daylight to the maximum for indoor lighting, changing room colours to brighter and lighter shades and replacing halogen spotlights with LED lamps are key to low energy lighting solutions, an expert has said. Any reduction in energy used for lighting is a reduction on the cooling load, explained Mohamed Jaber, head of electrical engineering at KEO International Consultants. He was giving a presentation on Low energy lighting for hotels, at the launch event on Monday for the Green Hotel Interest Group by Qatar Green Building Council. Lighting requirements have come down to 9W per sq m from 25W per sq m. LED lights are more frequently used in projects and prices have come down, Jaber said. LED spotlights of 10W could be used to replace 50W halogen spotlights. Any reduction in the lighting levels, bring down the usage of watts per hour and in turn lowers the cooling loads, especially considering that halogen lamps emit a lot of heat. If halogen lamps have a lifespan of 2,000 hours, LED lamps could last between 35,000 to 50,000 hours, providing several years of life at some initial extra cost. The disposal of LED lights is also environment friendly as they do not contain mercury or any other hazardous metals or chemicals. The use of daylight sensors indoors reduce indoor lighting energy load depending on the intensity of the available light. Jaber also referred to light pollution caused by the common practice of lighting up the exterior of buildings with powerful lamps. Each of those conventional lamps, which use at least 1000W, could be replaced with LED lights of adequate power and deployed in a more focused manner so as to maximise the illumination, he observed. Replacing house lamps with LED lights is also a viable option, Jaber added, citing his own experience.

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Expert: utilise daylight to maximum

COLUMBIA, Md., Sept. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ --During a time when unemployment is in double digits, families are filing bankruptcy, and corporate america is downsizing, ASAP Contracting and Roofing has doubled its sales for the last 3 years in a row. They have outgrown their old office, moved into a new office twice the size, and now they're looking to expand again.

ASAP's President of Operations claims they have a product that they believe in, their representatives believe in, and their customers love. "We help homeowners in a time of need. They have just been through a catastrophic event and they need help now. Sure there are other companies that claim to do what we do, but the simple fact is...they don't or they're unable to."

When a catastrophe occurs like a devastating tornado, hurricane, or Major Hail Storm, ASAP Contracting dispatches Field Representatives, and Crews within 24 to 48 hours to help local communities mitigate damages. They are helping homeowners by putting plywood over windows, tarps over skylights or whole roofs, pretty much whatever it takes to prevent more damage from occurring. But it doesn't stop there. They inspect the damage that has occurred and works with homeowners and insurance companies to get repairs completed. Any repairs we complete are in strict accordance to local, state, and federal codes. "Anytime we do repairs we research the applicable codes and those become the minimums we will use when completing repairs. In most cases we are way beyond local code requirements. We use Owens Corning synthetic underlayment on roofs, we use premium house wrap on siding projects, and never use the minimum amount of fasteners on anything. Our work would make Miami Dade County Proud." (For those of you who do not know what that means, Miami Dade County one of the strictest building code requirements in the country.)

ASAP Contracting & Roofing is an insurance restoration company. We work with homeowners and insurance companies after catastrophic events to complete restorations quick and painless.

Media Contact: William Wilson ASAP Contracting & Roofing, LLC, 6824656151, william@asapcontractingusa.com

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

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ASAP Contracting and Roofing to hire 50 new Sales Representatives

Channel One

State-run Channel One broadcast images of the collapsed retaining wall in Vladivostok's Pervomaisky district.

Primorye police closed astretch ofhighway built forthis month's Asia-Pacific Cooperation Summit after aretaining wall supporting theroad collapsed, news reports said Monday.

Theroad closure, which occurred late Sunday inVladivostok's Pervomaisky district, followed alandslide that caused bedrock underlying thewall tomove, RIA-Novosti reported, citing asource inthe regional administration.

Igor Peterimov, acting head ofthe Primorye region's road maintenance department, told RBC that thecontractor responsible forthe affected section ofthe Novy-Patrokl road would finish reconstruction work within aweek.

Authorities closed asection ofthe same road inJune after heavy rains damaged aseparate retaining wall andswamped several private garages. Atthe time, officials blamed thedamage onbuilding contractors' failure toinstall adequate drainage after Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered those responsible tobe punished.

Unlike inJune, however, theroad surface was not damaged Sunday, anda nearby gas pipeline remained intact, according tothe news agency.

Thesource added that police were redirecting traffic andthat emergency workers andadministration officials quickly arrived onthe scene tomonitor thesituation. Prosecutors are running acheck intothe incident, inwhich there were no casualties.

Sunday's road closure is thelatest embarrassment forPrimorye region officials, who have been accused ofmisspending billions ofrubles offederal money inthe buildup tothe APEC summit, which finished Sep. 9.

Theentire Novy-Patrokl road was constructed ata cost of29 billion rubles ($950 million), RBC reported, 21 billion rubles ofwhich came fromfederal coffers.

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APEC Road Closed Again After Wall Collapses

NEWPORT BEACH A 81-year-old man died after apparently passing out behind the wheel and crashing into a retaining wall Monday morning.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, said Sgt. Kirk Jacobi of the Newport Beach Police Department.

A Newport Beach Police traffic officer takes measurements by a retaining wall just west of Prospect Street on West Coast Highway in Newport Beach, after a man died after apparently passing out behind the wheel.

RICHARD KOEHLER, FOR THE ORANGE REGISTER

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Orange County Coroner's Office officials Monday night identified the man as John Shattuck of Newport Beach.

The crash was reported about 8:40 a.m. near the intersection of West Coast Highway and Prospect Street, Jacobi said. All but one of the eastbound lanes along West Coast Highway was blocked as police investigated the crash.

The crash is under investigation, but police believe the driver passed out before crashing into the wall. He is believed to have died of natural causes, Coroner's Office officials said.

"A driver behind him saw him slumped toward the steering wheel," Jacobi said.

No other vehicles were involved in the crash.

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Man whose car hit retaining wall in Newport Beach dies

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) -

Cincinnati is announcing a design competition, "Connect the Blocks," to establish a vision for the decks over Fort Washington Way between Main Street and Elm Street.

The goal of the project is to connect the Central Business District to the Banks.

The space could potentially be used as a park, commercial development, or entertainment district but is not limited to those uses.

The pile foundations for the decks were originally constructed during the improvements made to Fort Washington Way in the early 2000's.

Now, the city seeks to develop on those foundations.

The city will conduct a call for entries in a national design competition for design, architectural, and engineering experts to create design concepts and cost estimates.

Local professionals will act as judges in the competition.

The public is invited to share ideas and opinions through an online survey.

There are also two scheduled public meetings:

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Cincy looking for good ideas for Ft. Washington way deck