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Roadbuilding

September 3, 2010

Saskatoon bridge closed indefinitely over structural concerns

Saskatoon’s Traffic Bridge, opened in 1907, was closed indefinitely by the city on Aug. 24 after an inspection by city engineers revealed that corrosion to the bridge’s steel trusses threatened to bring the bridge down under its own weight.

September 2, 2010

Heavy rains wash away bridges to Nova Scotia fishing village

Nova Scotia’s Emergency Management Office says work is expected to begin today to re-establish a land link to the stranded community of Meat Cove.

September 1, 2010

Libya’s construction boom picks up slack from Dubai slowdown

In the outskirts of this city, Libya’s second largest, row after row of sand-colored concrete apartment blocks and villas are sprouting from the desert. Hundreds of kilometres away, construction cranes dot the Mediterranean skyline of the capital, Tripoli.

September 1, 2010

Empire State Building owner loses battle to scale down competing tower

The Empire State Building’s owner lost his bid to stop a new skyscraper from rising in the neighbourhood when the New York City Council approved zoning and land use changes that pave the way for the 1,190-foot (362.7-meter) tower.

September 1, 2010

Causeway collapse forces Saskatchewan highway closure

A section of causeway on a highway in Saskatchewan has collapsed into a lake, causing a crane that was being used for repairs to crash into the water.

August 30, 2010

Construction, engineering companies mergers increased in Q2: Report

Construction and engineering companies globally continued to grow through acquisition in the second quarter of 2010 but though there were more deals, their overall value declined, a PricewaterhouseCooper report says.

August 30, 2010

Delcan to provide enegineering services for Highway 407 extension

Consulting and technology firm Delcan Corp. has won a contract to provide owner’s engineering services for the east extension of Highway 407 in Durham.

August 26, 2010

Municipal Engineers Association seeks input on streamlining environmental assessments

The Municipal Engineers Association (MEA) would like construction industry input on how to best integrate the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (MCEA) with the planning process.

August 26, 2010

Tunnel dig unearths dinosaur bones in Edmonton

It’s not completely out of the ordinary to find a dinosaur bone out in the Alberta badlands where years of wind and rain have worn away the earth to uncover the evidence of a time long past.

August 25, 2010

British Columbia signs P3 deal to build Fraser River perimeter road

The B.C. government has signed a major public private partnership (P3) agreement to build a road south of the Fraser River in Delta and Surrey.

August 25, 2010

Michael Baker Corp. wins contract for Ohio highway construction inspection

Michael Baker Jr., Inc., an engineering unit of Michael Baker Corporation has been awarded a three-year contract by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) for construction support services on the new U.S. Route 33 Nelsonville Bypass in Hocking and Athens Counties, Ohio.

August 25, 2010

Stimulus boosts China Construction Bank profit

China’s state-owned China Construction Bank Ltd. reports that its first half profit rose 27 per cent due to its fee-based businesses and the country’s stimulus program.

August 24, 2010

Pennsylvania construction employment benefits from stimulus

The United States Department of Labor & Industry reports Pennsylvania construction employment rose by 2,400 in July.

August 19, 2010

Ontario creates stand-alone infrastructure ministry

Construction now has a stand-alone infrastructure ministry to deal with in Ontario following an August 18 Queen’s Park shuffle by Premier Dalton McGuinty. McGuinty has separated the former “super ministry” of infrastructure and energy into two separate entities.

August 19, 2010

Canadian Construction Association meets with U.S., Mexican counterparts

When senior officials from the Canadian Construction Association (CCA) met last week with their counterparts from the United States and Mexico, there was no formal agenda for the day and one-half event.

August 19, 2010

Construction begins on new railway at Port Metro Vancouver

Port Metro Vancouver has started construction of a new railway bridge and underpass to relieve a transportation bottleneck and upgrade infrastructure at port facilities in North Vancouver.

August 18, 2010

Bombed-out Gaza airport recycled for building materials

Scores of men swinging hammers and pickaxes attack the runway and terminal of Gaza’s bombed-out airport before dawn every day, scavenging gravel and metal bars to resell as construction material.

August 18, 2010

Work begins on new retractable roof for BC Place Stadium

The new roof on BC Place Stadium is taking shape on Vancouver’s skyline. Construction crews recently started erecting the 36 masts that will ring the stadium and keep the new retractable roof in place.

August 17, 2010

Nova Scotia completes Highway 101 widening

Motorists on one of Nova Scotia’s most-travelled highways are benefiting from a new four-lane section of twinned road between St. Croix and Three Mile Plains on Highway 101.

August 17, 2010

ATCO Structures & Logistics to build units for Alaska oil camp

ATCO Structures & Logistics is presently manufacturing a 50-person work camp for Eni Petroleum, to be erected on Alaska’s oil-rich North Slope.

August 17, 2010

Construction continues on Dufferin Street jog elimination in Toronto

Concrete work continues on the Dufferin Street jog elimination project at Dufferin and Queen Streets in Toronto. Dufferin Construction Ltd./Holcim Canada have completion of the project scheduled for this summer.

August 16, 2010

Ontario Ministry of Transportation maintenance contracts shift to performance focus

Six area maintenance contracts have been awarded by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) under a performance-based specifications model — a radical departure from the province’s long-standing method-based delivery system.

August 13, 2010

U.S. sustainable roadbuilding program takes cues from LEED

There’s a roadbuilding project under way in central Oregon that looks like so many others in recent years — creating a four-lane separated highway with a grassy median and wildlife underpasses from a four-lane road without separation.

August 13, 2010

Raised roundabout nears completion in London, Ontario

By the end of the year, London will have solved a longtime bottleneck and accident-prone intersection east of downtown with a raised roundabout, billed as the first of its kind in Canada.

August 13, 2010

Car speeding through Metro Vancouver construction zone kills driver, two passengers

The RCMP are investigating a high-speed car crash in a construction zone on the Highway 1 project east of Vancouver which caused the death of three people.

August 12, 2010

Cooper Construction continues work on University of Waterloo expansion

Work continues on the University of Waterloo Environment 3 Building in Waterloo, Ont. General contractor Cooper Construction Ltd. began the four-storey expansion to the existing building in December 2009. The project, which is aiming to achieve LEED Platinum certification, includes a two-storey bridge over the existing facility.

August 11, 2010

Inefficient Chinese steel, cement mills to be closed

China’s government has ordered 2,087 steel and cement mills and other factories with poor energy efficiency to close as it struggles to cut waste and improve the country’s battered environment.

August 11, 2010

Conestoga College seeks construction industry support for pre-apprenticeship program

Conestoga College is looking for industry support to help secure a pre-apprenticeship program for heavy equipment operators for tractor-loader-backhoe.

August 11, 2010

Aecon continues construction on new engineering building at University of Waterloo

Work has reached the top floor on the University of Waterloo’s Engineering 6 Building in Waterloo, Ont. Aecon Buildings is constructing the five-storey, 115,000 square-foot concrete structure on an existing campus parking lot.

August 11, 2010

Western Canada looks to older worker program to help with future labour needs

A new program is training older workers and retirees to help fill the gap in Saskatchewan’s tight construction labour market. The president of the Saskatchewan Construction Association said he sees the value of the initiative.

August 10, 2010

Falling beam kills Builtcon Contracting worker in Vaughan, Ontario

A falling steel lintel beam has claimed the life of a 36-year-old construction worker at a Vaughan-area hotel project site. The accident victim was employed by Builtcon Contracting and was working on a six-storey hotel project site on 610 Applewood Crescent near Hwy. 400 and Regional Road 7 in Vaughan.

August 9, 2010

Work continues on Highway 97 near Oliver, British Columbia

Excavation and embankment work is well underway on 2.84 kilometres of new passing lanes for Highway 97 between Osoyoos and Oliver B.C. Construction started in March. The gravel processing (crushing) contract was awarded to Cantex-Okanagan Construction Ltd.

August 9, 2010

Diamond + Schmitt Architects starts second New Mexico job

New Mexico Highlands University has broken ground at its Las Vegas, N.M. campus on a new student union building designed by Diamond + Schmitt Architects of Toronto in joint venture with Studio Southwest of Albuquerque.

August 6, 2010

Calgary asphalt plant goes up in flames

Forensic and structural engineers are investigating the cause of an asphalt plant fire in northwest Calgary, as the process of rebuilding the facility begins.

August 5, 2010

Work resumes on Regina interchange job

Work is underway once again at the intersection of Highway 1 and Lewvan Drive on the $34-million interchange in southwest Regina.

August 5, 2010

Aecon continues work on Quantum-Nano Centre in Waterloo, Ontario

Construction continues on the University of Waterloo’s Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre in Waterloo, Ont.

August 4, 2010

Pine beetle devastation spurs infrastructure construction in British Columbia

The spread of the mountain pine beetle epidemic in B.C. and the decline of the forest industry is stimulating investment in the construction of infrastructure to support the expansion of the mining, energy and transportation industries.