September 4, 2009
Jacobs Engineering Group must face bridge collapse claims: judge
MINNEAPOLIS
A judge has rejected a California design company’s attempt to shield itself from lawsuits over the Interstate 35W bridge collapse.
HenneProjects
Lakehead University campus seeks LEED Platinum rating
PATRICIA WILLIAMS
staff writer
EllisDon is putting its experience in constructing buildings designed to meet stringent environmental guidelines to good use at Lakehead University’s new campus in Orillia, reportedly the first campus in North America designed to meet LEED Platinum standards.
The company, which has numerous LEED projects under its belt, has started work on the substructure of the estimated $31 million academic building, the first on site. The 80,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in September of next year.
“It’s a very aggressive schedule,” said David Nesbitt, director, health care and post-secondary specialist at MHPM Project Managers Inc., which was retained by Lakehead in 2007 to provide overall project management services for the initial phase of the campus development.
The project is being undertaken by a team that includes architects Moriyama & Teshima, structural engineers Halcrow Yolles, mechanical and electrical engineers Crossey Engineering Ltd. and civil engineers CC Tatham and Associates Ltd. Enermodal Engineering is providing LEED consulting and other services.
Nesbitt, who has a degree in architecture and is a LEED-accredited professional, said Platinum status is being achieved “entirely” through good design.
“We’re not buying any points,” he said.
In order to qualify for Platinum status, a minimum of 52 points out of 70 must be scored on a checklist which offers credits in five broad categories: sustainable site development; water efficiency; energy efficiency; materials selection; and indoor environmental quality.
The building will house classrooms, labs and a library/learning commons. The entire campus will be built to LEED Platinum standards.
“In my mind, sustainability is focused on energy savings, waste reduction and occupant comfort,” Nesbitt said.
At least nine credits out of a possible 10 are expected to be achieved in the energy efficiency realm. As well, rainwater will be harvested while steps will be taken to minimize stormwater runoff.
Superior indoor air quality will be achieved through use of low volatile organic compound-emitting paints, coatings, adhesives and sealants, “green label” carpet and urea formaldehyde-free composite wood.
Occupants will have control of lighting and temperature in both perimeter and non-perimeter spaces.
“When you are trying to achieve a minimum of 52 points, you pretty much go for everything that you can,” Nesbitt said.
The campus is being constructed on an 85-acre site at the western limits of the city.
Ground was officially broken in mid-June.
The academic building will house classrooms, labs and a library/learning commons. It will accommodate 1,200 students.
Plans for construction of a 250-bed residence and a food services building are on hold until the fall.
Ultimately, the campus could accommodate as many as 7,000 students.
Every building will be constructed to LEED Platinum standards.
Local governments are pitching in as well. The city of Orillia is donating $10 million in land, infrastructure and funding. Simcoe County is making an initial contribution of $500,000 to Lakehead’s capital campaign. pin County District Judge Deborah Hedlund ruled that Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. will remain a co-defendant in a series of lawsuits.
The Aug. 1, 2007, disaster killed 13 people and injured 145.
Federal investigators blamed the failure on connector plates that were too thin, although they said excessive weight also contributed.
Attorneys for Jacobs, which acquired the company that designed the 1960s-era bridge, claimed that too much time passed for it to be held liable. They argued in June that a state law put a 10-year limit on liability even for structures meant to last a century.
Hedlund said Minnesota lawmakers revised the law in May 2007, removing a look-back window and making the changes retroactive. That justified Jacobs’ inclusion in the case, she said.
“Here,” Hedlund wrote, “it is not unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious to remove the 10-year repose period for claims for contribution and indemnity in construction defect cases because it prevents defendants from being liable for others’ negligence in certain situations.”
More than 100 lawsuits have been filed by victims, the state and the companies themselves. A state compensation fund paid US$37 million to those affected by the collapse, and the state is trying to recover that money.
Two other defendants — engineering firm URS Corp. and paving company Progressive Contractors Inc. — opposed Jacobs’ claim of immunity. URS was under a state contract to inspect the bridge, and PCI was resurfacing it at the time of the collapse.
Attorneys for those companies said the bridge wouldn’t have fallen if it had been properly designed.
Kyle Hart, attorney for St. Michael, Minn.-based PCI, said the ruling is “good news for everybody but Jacobs.”
“Jacobs is a very large company,” Hart said. “With them at the table, recognizing they’re going to have to answer for what happened, it just increases the amount of money in the potential settlements.”
URS, a company with headquarters in San FrancisSeptember 4, 2009
Highway expansion underway in Prince Edward Island
CHARLOTTETOWN
Construction is under way on Phase 1 of the Charlottetown perimeter highway expansion, the largest stimulus infrastructure project on Prince Edward Island and also the first to get underway.
The $7.5 million project is being funded jointly by the governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island.
To date, about $5 million in tenders have been awarded to Chapman Brothers Construction Ltd. of Souris.The project will increase the capacity of the highway by increasing the number of lanes, creating additional turning lanes and realigning on/off ramps as required. Current drainage issues will be addressed through the replacement of a large culvert structure under the highway.
A berm will be constructed to reduce traffic noise in adjacent residential subdivisions. This project is expected to be completed by the end of July 2010.
The Charlottetown Perimeter Highway project is an important component of the provincial government’s capital budget, which will see more than half a billion dollars invested in island infrastructure over the next five years.
-DCN News Services co, had no immediate comment but planned to make one, a spokeswoman said.
The cases have a late 2010 trial date.
-Associated Press
Jacobs Engineering Group must face bridge collapse claims: judge
MINNEAPOLIS
A judge has rejected a California design company’s attempt to shield itself from lawsuits over the Interstate 35W bridge collapse.
HenneProjects
Lakehead University campus seeks LEED Platinum rating
PATRICIA WILLIAMS
staff writer
EllisDon is putting its experience in constructing buildings designed to meet stringent environmental guidelines to good use at Lakehead University’s new campus in Orillia, reportedly the first campus in North America designed to meet LEED Platinum standards.
The company, which has numerous LEED projects under its belt, has started work on the substructure of the estimated $31 million academic building, the first on site. The 80,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in September of next year.
“It’s a very aggressive schedule,” said David Nesbitt, director, health care and post-secondary specialist at MHPM Project Managers Inc., which was retained by Lakehead in 2007 to provide overall project management services for the initial phase of the campus development.
The project is being undertaken by a team that includes architects Moriyama & Teshima, structural engineers Halcrow Yolles, mechanical and electrical engineers Crossey Engineering Ltd. and civil engineers CC Tatham and Associates Ltd. Enermodal Engineering is providing LEED consulting and other services.
Nesbitt, who has a degree in architecture and is a LEED-accredited professional, said Platinum status is being achieved “entirely” through good design.
“We’re not buying any points,” he said.
In order to qualify for Platinum status, a minimum of 52 points out of 70 must be scored on a checklist which offers credits in five broad categories: sustainable site development; water efficiency; energy efficiency; materials selection; and indoor environmental quality.
The building will house classrooms, labs and a library/learning commons. The entire campus will be built to LEED Platinum standards.
“In my mind, sustainability is focused on energy savings, waste reduction and occupant comfort,” Nesbitt said.
At least nine credits out of a possible 10 are expected to be achieved in the energy efficiency realm. As well, rainwater will be harvested while steps will be taken to minimize stormwater runoff.
Superior indoor air quality will be achieved through use of low volatile organic compound-emitting paints, coatings, adhesives and sealants, “green label” carpet and urea formaldehyde-free composite wood.
Occupants will have control of lighting and temperature in both perimeter and non-perimeter spaces.
“When you are trying to achieve a minimum of 52 points, you pretty much go for everything that you can,” Nesbitt said.
The campus is being constructed on an 85-acre site at the western limits of the city.
Ground was officially broken in mid-June.
The academic building will house classrooms, labs and a library/learning commons. It will accommodate 1,200 students.
Plans for construction of a 250-bed residence and a food services building are on hold until the fall.
Ultimately, the campus could accommodate as many as 7,000 students.
Every building will be constructed to LEED Platinum standards.
Local governments are pitching in as well. The city of Orillia is donating $10 million in land, infrastructure and funding. Simcoe County is making an initial contribution of $500,000 to Lakehead’s capital campaign. pin County District Judge Deborah Hedlund ruled that Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. will remain a co-defendant in a series of lawsuits.
The Aug. 1, 2007, disaster killed 13 people and injured 145.
Federal investigators blamed the failure on connector plates that were too thin, although they said excessive weight also contributed.
Attorneys for Jacobs, which acquired the company that designed the 1960s-era bridge, claimed that too much time passed for it to be held liable. They argued in June that a state law put a 10-year limit on liability even for structures meant to last a century.
Hedlund said Minnesota lawmakers revised the law in May 2007, removing a look-back window and making the changes retroactive. That justified Jacobs’ inclusion in the case, she said.
“Here,” Hedlund wrote, “it is not unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious to remove the 10-year repose period for claims for contribution and indemnity in construction defect cases because it prevents defendants from being liable for others’ negligence in certain situations.”
More than 100 lawsuits have been filed by victims, the state and the companies themselves. A state compensation fund paid US$37 million to those affected by the collapse, and the state is trying to recover that money.
Two other defendants — engineering firm URS Corp. and paving company Progressive Contractors Inc. — opposed Jacobs’ claim of immunity. URS was under a state contract to inspect the bridge, and PCI was resurfacing it at the time of the collapse.
Attorneys for those companies said the bridge wouldn’t have fallen if it had been properly designed.
Kyle Hart, attorney for St. Michael, Minn.-based PCI, said the ruling is “good news for everybody but Jacobs.”
“Jacobs is a very large company,” Hart said. “With them at the table, recognizing they’re going to have to answer for what happened, it just increases the amount of money in the potential settlements.”
URS, a company with headquarters in San FrancisSeptember 4, 2009
Highway expansion underway in Prince Edward Island
CHARLOTTETOWN
Construction is under way on Phase 1 of the Charlottetown perimeter highway expansion, the largest stimulus infrastructure project on Prince Edward Island and also the first to get underway.
The $7.5 million project is being funded jointly by the governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island.
To date, about $5 million in tenders have been awarded to Chapman Brothers Construction Ltd. of Souris.The project will increase the capacity of the highway by increasing the number of lanes, creating additional turning lanes and realigning on/off ramps as required. Current drainage issues will be addressed through the replacement of a large culvert structure under the highway.
A berm will be constructed to reduce traffic noise in adjacent residential subdivisions. This project is expected to be completed by the end of July 2010.
The Charlottetown Perimeter Highway project is an important component of the provincial government’s capital budget, which will see more than half a billion dollars invested in island infrastructure over the next five years.
-DCN News Services co, had no immediate comment but planned to make one, a spokeswoman said.
The cases have a late 2010 trial date.
-Associated Press
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