Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

OKLAHOMA CITY On a sun-soaked morning in Oklahoma City, construction workers were busy working on a new six-story office building for Boeing as the company expands its presence into a second building.

While crews worked, planes took off from the sprawling Tinker Air Force Base just across the street.

Boeings expansion in Oklahoma will make room for the Boeing B-1 Lancer and C-130 Hercules programs moving from Long Beach, Calif.

Its also needed as Boeing closes its historic Wichita facilities and moves engineering and program management work to the site. The move will bring 800 to 900 jobs to Oklahoma City and boost employment to 2,000.

Wichitas military maintenance and modification work will move to San Antonio.

And work on Boeings Air Force tanker program slated for Wichita will now go to Puget Sound in Washington state instead.

Boeing announced in January that it will close its Wichita facilities in 2013. It cited high overhead costs, waning work and, facing looming defense budget cuts, little hope of bringing more work in, officials said.

This wasnt about labor costs, said Boeing spokesman Forrest Gossett. This was about this massive structure we have (in Wichita).

The transfer of work to Oklahoma City is scheduled to begin this fall.

It will be the end of 2013 before the Wichita site, which employs 2,160 people, will close completely.

Here is the original post:
Wichita’s Boeing loss is Oklahoma City’s gain

A model of the new 45-story River Point office tower, to be built at Lake and Canal streets, at the head of the Chicago River. (Credit: CBS)

CHICAGO (CBS) On his first anniversary as Chicagos Mayor, Rahm Emanuel and developers have announced a new office building to be built in the West Loop, the first in several years.

Chicagos economic recovery is the reason I want to emphasize it the reason we are here today, said Kevin Shannahan, CEO of Hines Interests LP, the developer of the new skyscraper.

WBBM Newsradio Political editor Craig Dellimore reports Hines and Ivanhoe Cambridge will build a new sleek 45-story office tower at Lake and Canal Streets, where the Chicago River splits into its north and south branches.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports

The mayor said the new River Point tower will create 1,000 construction jobs, followed by 3,400 permanent jobs inside the skyscraper once its completed.

While its on my one-year anniversary, I think its actually an anniversary for the city, in a sense of the vote of confidence, and the jobs that will be created, the economic opportunity that will be created, and I think the growth that will become from this investment, the mayor said.

The city is providing a $29 million tax subsidy to assist in construction of a 1.5 acre riverfront sculpture park that Emanuel said will be open to the public, and built over the Metra tracks just east of the tower.

This is just for the park, and the riverfront property. The building is separate. Thats their investment, Emanuel said. This property will pay, over 15 years, $175 million in taxes.

Kevin Shannahan, CEO of Hines Interests LP, said the citys economic recovery under Emanuel is the reason this long-planned project is going forward now.

Here is the original post:
Mayor Announces New Riverfront Office Tower

GUNTERSVILLE The Marshall County Commission agreed to add a sunroom porch at the rear of the new Douglas Senior Center, currently under construction.

The addition adds an estimated $66,600 to the project and pushes the total cost to nearly $335,000.

The original budget for the project was $372,500, which included $250,000 of community development block grant funding from the state and $122,500 in matching funds from the county.

Even with the addition of the sunroom, were still under budget, said County Engineer Bob Pirando.

The center is under budget because of three factors, outlined in a project summary distributed at a public hearing Monday.

No. 1, officials anticipated higher construction bids when they started the grant application in 2009.

Secondly, the original application included the cost of the buildings concrete pad, but the county ended up doing the work.

Finally, the original project design included a sunroom porch, but officials inadvertently left it off the 2011 bid drawings.

The new center on Stadium Circle is four times larger than the old facility and should be completed later this year.

The Commission had to hold a public hearing on the proposed amendment Monday because the state requires one if the change costs more than 10 percent of the projects budget.

Read the original here:
Douglas Senior Center gets sunroom

Sunday, May 13, 2012

THE Office of the Building Official (OBO) faced major challenges recently with the collapse of a retaining wall in a condominium building last month and the collapse of a subdivision riprap last Tuesday.

With the number of problems OBO is addressing, the lack of engineers or manpower continues to haunt the office, but maybe not for long.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

It was only recently that OBO officer-in-charge Josefa Ylanan learned that the Cebu City Council passed an ordinance that would make the office a separate department.

Currently, it is a division under the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW). This is why Ylanan was never conferred the position of a department head.

This, as some residents affected by the collapse of the wall of Horizon 101 are reported to have returned to their homes without OBOs permission.

They were told by the City Government to evacuate after the wall collapsed last month.

But when Sun.Star Superbalita visited the area yesterday, it saw some of the residents back in their homes.

Damaged

See original here:
Council makes OBO a department

Credit: Laura Hettiger

A fatal motorcycle accident shuts down several lanes of I-26 Friday night.

David and Jennifer Morrison tragically lost their lives when their Chopper motorcycle hit a retaining wall on Interstate 26, launching the married couple to the ground 30 feet below.

It is a double death that shakes Charleston's biking community.

"Something like this is an eyeopener and at least for the next few weeks, people will be paying more attention when on a bike," Marc Kimbell, sales manager at American Biker, said.

The Morrisons visited the Ladson motorcycle store six days before their accident. Kimbell said the Chopper-riding enthusiasts bought new motorcycle t-shirts and other bike accessories.

It was in 2004 when the husband and wife bought the same bike they lost their lives on, the 2004 Big Dog Chopper.

"They have had that bike for awhile and they are experienced riders," Kimbell said. "Sometimes it doesn't matter how much experience you have if the cars on the road aren't paying attention."

Some attorneys who represent motorcyclists agree with Kimbell.

"In my experience with motorcycle collisions, it never is the motorcycle driver doing something irresponsible or careless," attorney Mark Joye said."It's the car driver, but rarely does he get hurt.The motorcycle driver always gets seriously hurt."

More here:
Biker community remembers the Morrisons

St. Augustine police: Alcohol involved in pickup truck's crash into Castillo de San Marcos

A St. Augustine man is hospitalized in serious condition after slamming his pickup truck into a retaining wall of the Castillo de San Marcos this morning, police said.

Michael Harrison Bridges, 27, was driving west on East Castillo Drive about 2:40 a.m. when he veered off the roadway, struck a fence and a tree before heading through the parking lot. The vehicle then crashed through some shrubbery and went into the fort's Covered Way retaining wall, said Gordie Wilson, superintendent of the federal property.

Bridges was taken to Flagler Hospital and then flown to Orange Park Medical Center, one of two trauma centers in the region.

Officer Mark Samson of the St. Augustine Police Department said the crash report states that Bridges had been drinking. The investigation is continuing.

Samson said the truck was heavily damaged. Wilson said the crash took out small chunks of the wall and did other damage, but he had no cost estimate. He said the wall, standing just before the fort's moat, was likely built in the 1700s. The fort remains open.

Originally posted here:
St. Augustine police: Alcohol involved in pickup truck's crash into Castillo de San Marcos

HUNTSVILLE All that stands in the way of building wastewater lines to serve residents who were annexed as long as 18 years ago is a campsite where American Indians once stopped to sharpen their arrowheads.

Federal law protects the site, where early Texas Indians left flint flakes on the dirt floor of what is now the Sam Houston National Forest, according to Randy Prewitt of the U.S. Forest Service.

This single use campsite is in the path of the last leg of project to install two sewer lines that would complete infrastructure on the east side and serve about 40 homes near Old Colony Road still without service, said the citys project manager Tom Weger.

The city annexed part of the Old Colony Road property in 1994 and another parcel in 2002. City residents who live in these areas use septic tanks.

This (project) will not only enhance our system but will provide service on the east side of the city, Mayor Mac Woodward said.

But the two lines, an 8-inch and an 18-inch major trunk line, are still in the engineering phase because of federal permit issues, a key hurdle, Jeff Cannon, vice president of Schaumburg and Polk, Inc., told Huntsville City Council at its last meeting.

The lines, part of the citys master plan, would tie into lines that are already within the national forest. Work has been ongoing for two years delayed by changing federal regulations as well wildfires.

Cannon said the forest service rejected an earlier set of plans after the agencys archeological site requirements changed. Schaumburg and Polk has since redrawn the plans to route the sewer line in question around the Indian campsite.

There will be additional value in completing the nearly $2 million project, Weger told City Council it will save money by eliminating five sewage lift stations and the power they consume.

The city also saved money in the pre-engineering phase, Cannon told council.

Go here to read the rest:
City awaits OK on Old Colony sewer line work

A proposal to extend the towns sewer line to parts of Misquamicut is being reviewed by town officials, including the Town Council and the Public Works Committee. What follows are 10 questions on the proposal. The answers are based on information provided by Town Manager Steven Hartford and other advocates of the project:

What is the catalyst/motive for the proposed project?

This is the third attempt to extend the sewer line to Misquamicut in recent memory. A similar effort was voted town during a town-wide referendum in 2000. Plans for sewers at Misquamicut were also rejected in 1984.

Officials say the current proposal comes in response to state environmental policies and a state Department of Environmental Management rule requiring owners of property within 200 feet of a coastal shoreline feature, including salt ponds, to install denitrification septic systems to replace cesspools. Nitrogen, a by-product of human and other animal waste, is thought to harm water bodies by causing fish disease, algae blooms and low dissolved oxygen levels.

After a meeting with Misquamicut Fire District residents in July, town officials set about looking for a long-term solution to prevent the proliferation of the costly denitrification systems, many of which require above ground sand filters that take up space in yards and many consider to be unsightly. The systems, which range in price from about $30,000 to $45,000, require maintenance and eventual replacement, and remove only about half of the nitrogen produced by a residence or commercial building. The solution developed by officials is the current sewer extension proposal.

Extending the sewer line, advocates and state environmental officials say, is the best environmental practice for the sensitive area and anticipates the implementation of stricter state regulations.

How was the project area determined? Why not extend the sewer line farther down Atlantic Avenue?

The proposal currently calls for two phases, both in what officials say is an environmentally critical area. The first phase of the project is a section of Atlantic Avenue, Maplewood Avenue to Winnapaug Road. Phase II is most of the rest of southwestern Misquamicut.

To extend the sewer line further down Atlantic Avenue, past Winnapaug Road, would risk disturbing the barrier beach and is prohibited by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC), officials have said.

Is hooking into the sewer system optional?

See the original post:
Q&A: The proposed Misquamicut sewers

After hiring a new project engineer and approving a proposal that will allow them to borrow up to $2 million more to cover the remaining cost of the project, both the Scott Twp. Sewer Authority and board of supervisors are now looking to find out what went wrong.

The Scott Twp. sewer project has come with a series of setbacks, change orders and surprise costs that have put the project about 38 percent over budget, said Supervisor Chairman Dave Makala.

Mr. Makala said that if there were errors, someone must be held accountable. He and the supervisors are waiting for a report from an independent engineer from Harrisburg that reviewed the project.

"We need to get the independent study done; at that point we'll decide as supervisors if there will be any action taken against the sewer authority or any other party," Mr. Makala said.

About 1,350 homes and businesses in Scott Twp. will hook up to the $18.4 million sewer system, which has been under construction since October 2009. The system is part of a plan to address the state Department of Environmental Protection's concerns about malfunctioning septic tanks polluting Griffin Pond and Chapman Lake.

Meanwhile, the township will foot the bill for the uncompleted work, including paying to install about 20 laterals, or sewer hookups for homes and businesses, that were missed or skipped during the course of the design and construction.

One of the missing laterals leads to a trailer park that should serve 27 equivalent dwelling units, a standard measurement of sewer usage, sewer authority member Michael Giannetta said. A single-family home usually counts as a single EDU, and apartment complexes, schools and large businesses count as more.

"We need to get them in now because we're missing out on revenue from all the homes and businesses" that cannot hook into the system, Mr. Giannetta said.

Because of the missed laterals and change orders, the money budgeted for road repair was eaten up. There are not enough funds to complete the repairs to roads damaged during the project, officials said.

Former sewer authority member Bill White said he voted "no" on many of the change orders presented by contractors and engineers. Now the township is paying for those project changes in the form of the possible $2 million loan, he added.

Link:
Scott Twp. officials hoping to find out what went wrong on sewer project

The stink of bacteria-filled sewage that has plagued Eagleville for years could dissipate sooner than expected.

In a significant change of plans, officials with the city and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation are pursuing a cheaper sewer system than proposed in January and last month, the city traded for a piece of land where it plans to install it.

Its prime real estate for what we want to do, said City Administrator William Haston.

Various efforts to install Eaglevilles first sewer system have failed in recent years, leaving some residents to rely on shoddy septic tanks that allow sewage to puddle in yards and streets and to flow into creeks that feed the Harpeth River. Officials lay out dire scenarios if nothing is done deadly sickness, lawsuits or regulatory penalties but have met with resistance to sewer bill hikes that would come with a new system.

The latest proposal tries to address the cost concern, Haston said, without cutting significant corners on quality. The biggest difference is that the sewage wouldnt be treated to the point that it could be poured directly into the creeks. Instead of a price tag of $4.2 million and a completion date of 2014 for the cutting-edge system proposed before, officials now estimate their cost at about $2 million, with groundbreaking possible by the end of the year.

State officials found problems with the citys earlier proposal, which would have pumped treated sewage into a small creek that couldnt handle the flow. It also could have pushed homeowner sewer bills to about $100 a month.

The city recently traded 20 acres off Main Street for 26 acres off Allisona Road, where officials propose building a septic tank effluent pump (STEP) system that includes tanks at individual properties connected to a treatment system that cleans the sewage and discharges it into a field.

The plan has the support of state environmental officials. If all goes as planned, the citys project should be permitted, approved and constructed before the end of this year, said TDEC spokeswoman Meg Lockhart.

Officials are still trying to secure funding and have pursued grants and loans, including from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and federal Community Development Block Grants.

Haston said the funding should be secured and construction started before the end of the year. He said the city is closer than ever to getting a system and that it has been a long time coming.

Read more:
Sewage in Harpeth River worries Eagleville but new sewer system in sight