The Nevada Department of Transportation has awarded a $64.6 million contract to a Las Vegas company to widen and upgrade a six-mile-long stretch of U.S. Highway 95 northwest Las Vegas.
 
Las Vegas Paving will work on an area between Ann and Kyle Canyon roads, NDOT spokesman Tony Illia says.
 
“This project will relieve congestion, improve efficiency and enhance safety in fast growing northwest Las Vegas, while providing capacity for future growth and development,” Illa added.
The state said about 52,000 vehicles daily travel through the corridor, but the figure is expected to grow during over the next 20 years.
 
According to NDOT, upgrades will require “moving enough dirt to fill 7,000 average sized swimming pools, placing enough concrete to pave 2,000 driveways and using enough steel to build 100 Sherman tanks.” Work will begin in January, with completion expected in fall 2019.
 
ABA Discusses AIA Contracts
A forum on the changes to American Institute of Architects contracts will be held on Dec. 5 in Phoenix. The Arizona Builders Alliance is hosting a panel who will discuss topics including insurance, termination for convenience, notice, warranties and BIM protocols.
 
Participating will be Scott Holcomb, of Dickinson Wright; Steve Jackson, of Warner Angle Hallam Jackson & Formanek PLC; Eric Pach, of Minard-Ames Insurance Services; David Tierney, of Sacks Tierney P.A.; and Barry Willits, of Holden Willits PLC.
 
The event will be held from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at Kitchell, 1707 E. Highland, suite 135, in Phoenix. Admission for ABA members is $35, $70 for non-members and includes a continental breakfast.
 
To learn more, call (602) 274-8222 or visit https://www.azbuilders.org/events/new-aia-documents/
 
Caterpillar Gets OK From Tucson-Area Board
The Rio Nuevo board has agreed to advance the Caterpillar Tucson Mining Center project, along with a new restaurant, in Tucson, Ariz.
 
The board this past week unanimously approved $19 million to start construction of Caterpillar’s Tucson building.
 
Sundt Construction informed the board that site work is done, while the project “is on time and on budget, targeting a March 2019 completion,” according to a news release.
 
In related action, the board authorized the city of Tucson to utilize the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District’s existing agreement with Sundt to remediate the landfill on city-owned parcels adjacent to the Caterpillar center’s southern and western boundaries.
 
This contract is valued at $43 million and being financed with private money, according to Rio Nuevo.
 
The board also unanimously agreed to a sale/leaseback incentive program in order to assist developers in activating property, at 35 E. Toole in the city’s Warehouse District, as a new restaurant and beverage establishment.
 
Sky Harbor Runway Construction Forces Closure
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport will close its north runway for repairs starting Jan. 8, according to a spokesperson.
 
Runway 8/26 will remain closed through Feb. 21, 2018, as a crew removes and replaces a portion of the pavement on the north runway, said Heather Lissner, public information manager.
The time period of Jan. 8 through Feb. 21 was chosen as the most acceptable option, and also allows for airlines to plan for decreased field capacity, Lissner said.
 
The north runway is one of three at Phoenix Sky Harbor. Arrival and departure delays of up to 30 minutes are possible during peak travel times: 7:30 to 10 a.m. and 5 to 8 p.m.
 
Lissner suggested that passengers should contact their airline if they are concerned about having enough time to transfer between flights.
 
Phoenix Rail Ops Center To Expand
Arizona’s Valley Metro Rail Inc. is soliciting statements of qualifications for design-build services related to an expansion of its Operations and Maintenance Center.
 
The facility expansion will support a planned build-out of the regional rail system. The OMC facility is comprised of buildings for equipment building and way maintenance, a service and cleaning area, a vehicle washer and a rail storage yard.
 
The existing rail vehicle fleet is 50 vehicles; an expansion will accommodate the full fleet size of approximately 90 rail vehicles, including ones for light rail and streetcars by 2023.
 
However, due to vehicle delivery schedules, portions of the project shall require completion by November, 2019. Interested parties should contact Barbara Hummell at bhummell@valleymetro.org.
 
New Phoenix High-Rise To Be Among City’s Tallest
Shepley Bulfinch, a national architecture firm, has broken ground on a residential and retail building in a downtown Phoenix neighborhood.
 
Shepley is working with Diamond Realty Investments on LINK PHX, a 30-story, 375,000 sq ft project on Third and Pierce streets.
 
This marks the first of a three-phase project in Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row neighborhood, spokesperson Susan Shelby says.
 
Shepley is providing planning and architectural design services for The LINK PHX, which will be one of the tallest buildings in Phoenix when finished in August 2019, Shelby said.
 
The project will deliver a total of 612 residential rental units, 646 parking spaces and nearly 25,000 sq ft of retail and mixed-use space on 1.3 acres, Shelby said.
 
Bilingual Construction Dictionary Aims To Increase English To Spanish Dialog
A publishing house has released a bilingual (English and Spanish) construction dictionary.
 
<I>Bilingual Dictionary of the Building Trades</I>, from Aliform Publishing, is available at Amazon.com and on Kindle.
 
The book “has a potentially big audience in both the U.S. and Mexico, which has a huge expat community, English speakers who frequently have work done on their homes,” said Jay Miskowiec, director of Aliform Publishing. “It's not just for contractors or construction workers, it's for the layperson too.”
 
Miskowiec said the project began informally started in late 2015, when he began “jotting down terms and questions on the architectural plans or making lists of materials and tools needed with the construction workers.” In summer 2016, Miskowiec said he started working more seriously on it.