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May 14, 2008

ZAS Architects and Dubai affiliate design $1.2 billion residential, retail development

Toronto’s ZAS Architects and its affiliate office in Dubai are designing a $1.2 billion CDN project on a prominent site on the Dubai waterfront.

May 13, 2008

Burst pipes prove need for infrastructure investment, OSWCA says

Two watermain pipe failures in two days in downtown Ottawa are just another example of aging infrastructure meeting a lack of maintenance, says the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association (OSWCA).

May 13, 2008

New Orleans’ post-Katrina rebuilding efforts remain in neutral

In March 2007, city officials finally unveiled their plan to redevelop New Orleans and begin to move out of the post-Hurricane Katrina morass.

May 13, 2008

Resolve truckers’ problems at the negotiating table, AEMO says

Solutions to the Ontario Dump Truck Association’ concerns about rising fuel costs and overloading are more likely to be found while sitting at the negotiating table, rather than rolling along the highway in protest, says the Associated Earth Movers of Ontario (AEMO).

May 13, 2008

Miller Paving wins contract to upgrade portion of Highway 35

Construction work is planned on Highway 35 in the Townships of Algonquin Highlands and Minden Hills this summer to improve road safety and driving conditions.

May 12, 2008

Construction alliance cautions against plans to expand Ontario’s greenbelt

Ontario should not consider expanding its Greenbelt until it has lived and learned from it for a decade, says the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario.

May 8, 2008

H & R Construction Management nears completion of Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre project

H & R Construction Management nears completion of Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre in Etobicoke, Ontario.

May 8, 2008

Rolling dump truck protest takes to the highway

The Ontario Dump Truck Association (ODTA) organized the rolling protest, which started at Derry and Dixie roads on Thursday, May 8. The ODTA wants to send a message to contractors, excavators, road builders and pavers that they cannot continue to face financial hardships and strain.

May 7, 2008

Crew pours superflat floor at McKay-Cocker’s Tepperman project

McKay-Cocker Construction Ltd. began the single-storey, design-build Tepperman project in July 2007. Completion is scheduled for June 2008.

May 7, 2008

Lyons says criticism of planned Windsor-Essex Parkway misses the point

Criticism of the recently unveiled Windsor-Essex Parkway plan misses the point — this new transportation link will address a critical need, says Jim Lyons, executive director of the Windsor Construction Association (WCA).

May 6, 2008

China opens world’s longest sea-crossing structure, Hangzhou Bay Bridge

China has opened what it says is the world’s longest sea-crossing structure, a 36-kilometre bridge spanning a bay just south of the eastern business hub of Shanghai. The Hangzhou Bay Bridge links Shanghai to the industrial city of Ningbo across Hangzhou Bay, cutting the driving distance between them by 120 kilometres.

May 6, 2008

Seven workers killed in India landslide, others still missing

The landslide happened about 160 kilometres southeast of Srinagar, the summer capital of India’s Jammu-Kashmir state. The landslide was apparently triggered by the construction work, when part of the mountain was sliced off to make way for the new road.

May 6, 2008

Construction industry lobbies for study of housing affordability factors

A study of the housing affordability problem would not only benefit society as whole but also the construction industry’s functionality, says the Residential Construction Council of Central Ontario (RESCON). RESCON has approached the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing with the call for the audit. The amount of regulations the construction industry, both ICI and residential, has to deal with is staggering and that cost transfers to the end user and purchaser, notes Richard Lyall, president of RESCON.

May 5, 2008

Alberta budget injects billions into infrastructure development

The Alberta Budget 2008 unveiled by Ed Stelmach’s government includes plans to inject a massive multi-billion dollar investment into infrastructure development in the next three years.

May 5, 2008

Da Rocha Construction & Paving fined in worker death

A Hamilton-area construction company and one of its supervisors have been fined $75,000 and $7,000 respectively in connection with the death of a worker.

May 2, 2008

Unstable Alberta mountain slope leads to building bylaw restrictions

Exactly 105 years after the top of Turtle Mountain came thundering down upon the valley below in Alberta’s worst natural disaster, provincial officials fully expect history will repeat itself.

May 1, 2008

Government announces plans for $1.6-billion Windsor-Essex Parkway

The new Windsor-Essex Parkway will include two kilometres of tunnel sections, while the rest will be built below-grade to minimize traffic noise and exhaust in neighbourhoods. It will be five times more expensive per kilometre than any highway previously built in Ontario.

May 1, 2008

As copper prices rise, theft problem grows, police say

With copper now trading at record highs, police across Canada say tracking the commodity is one way to help crack down on metal thieves aiming to cash in on rising prices.

April 29, 2008

Spiralling construction costs drive up budget for Tenke copper mine

Lundin Mining Corp. said expected costs to build the Tenke copper-cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of Congo have nearly doubled due to spiralling construction and infrastructure expenses.

April 29, 2008

Ottawa’s new transit plan should avoid promoting suburban sprawl

“I find myself hoping that the city proceeds quickly with light rail within the green belt, but with great caution on the transitway proposals that might simply end up feeding suburbs where few people want to live,” writes Daily Commercial News columnist Korky Koroluk.

April 28, 2008

Rebar fall won’t delay Pitt River bridge job

Workers building the new Pitt River Bridge are assessing the damage and developing a plan for repairing the structure after a rebar column toppled.

April 25, 2008

Seattle project team copes with settling of Viaduct

Work to reinforce part of Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct may have contributed to the latest settling of the structure, but officials think that once the project is done, the settling will stop, according to a recent newspaper report.

April 25, 2008

Beijing ‘Bird's Nest’ awaits final touches

The 91,000-seat stadium may be the architectural jewel of the Beijing Olympics but for Franco Destefanis, it’s just another venue.

April 25, 2008

Engineering firm calls for shoring up bolts on Boston’s Big Dig

The engineering firm about to complete the Big Dig’s stem-to-stern safety review says that the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority should implement a few more repairs to ensure all the tunnels are safe to the traveling public.

April 25, 2008

Management contract for Spadina subway extension in Toronto is worth $100 million

Spadina Link Project Managers Team, a joint venture of Hatch Mott MacDonald, Delcan and MMM Group, has been awarded a $100 million project management services contract for the Spadina Subway Extension. The $100 million contract spans seven years for the project which is expected to begin this year and end in 2015.

April 24, 2008

Canadian Construction Association praises infrastructure plan for First Nations communities

The federal government’s planned $330 million investment in a First Nations water and wastewater action plan has been applauded by the Canadian Construction Association (CCA).

April 24, 2008

Ottawa eyes $4-billion, 25-year transit plan

A new mass transit plan that includes east-west and north-south light rail lines, a tunnel under the downtown core, and as much as 60 kilometres of new bus-only transitway, has been recommended to Ottawa city councillors. Popularly known simply as Option 4, the plan would take perhaps 25 years to build at a cost of about $4 billion in 2008 dollars.

April 22, 2008

Suncor agrees to pay $55 million for Highway 63 interchange

Suncor Energy has agreed to build and pay for a $55-million interchange on Highway 63 about 25 kilometres north of Fort McMurray.

April 18, 2008

Massachusetts governor unveils $3.8-billion bond proposal for repair of more than 400 bridges

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick plans to unveil a US$3.8 billion bond proposal to repair 411 deteriorating bridges throughout the state over the next eight years, a project he will argue not only improves road safety but also pumps cash into the economy to buffer Massachusetts from a recession.

April 18, 2008

RFIDs offer another step toward sustainability

According to a new report from the Renewable Energy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), renewable energy generating capacity has doubled since 2004 and accounts for 2.4 million jobs.

April 17, 2008

Concrete support column topples at Pitt River Bridge project

A concrete support column for the Vancouver-area Pitt River Bridge toppled over in the early morning hours of April 14.

April 16, 2008

Kiewit builds iron constitution into Pitt River Bridge

Ironworkers tie-in rebar on one of the concrete support columns that will help carry the load of the new eight-lane Pitt River Bridge just outside Vancouver.

April 16, 2008

Mahoney attempts to defuse furor over WSIB rebate

The recent public furor over Workplace Safety and Insurance Board rebates paid to companies that have experienced workplace fatalities went beyond a rational discussion, says WSIB board chairman Steve Mahoney.

April 14, 2008

TRIP Canada cheers record highway spending by provinces

Provinces are spending more on highways this year than ever before and six of them are setting record highs, according to TRIP Canada’s annual provincial highways budget report.

April 14, 2008

Leaking infrastructure exacts costly toll across United States

Two hours north of New York City, a mile-long stream and a marsh the size of a football field have mysteriously formed along a country road. They are such a marvel that people come from miles around to drink the crystal-clear water, believing it is bubbling up from a hidden natural spring. The truth is far less romantic...