Construction: November 2008 Archives

During a recent hearing before the Public Utilities Commission an expert witness questioned the need for the significant power line upgrade between Saco and Old Orchard Beach requested by Central Maine Power.  KeepMeCurrent writes:

According to Saco Development Director Peter Morelli, a utility construction expert hired by the Public Utilities Commission to review the power company’s proposal testified that staff had overestimated the base electricity load demand, the peak load demand and the amount of growth in demand when looking at the upgrade from 45-kilovolt lines to 115-kilovolt lines

The project has been controversial in Saco because of the proposed route for the high-powered transmission lines. In fact, residents of the Jenkins Road-Chelsea Circle-Saco Middle School neighborhoods – with help from city officials – have been fighting the proposal since 2006.

Global warming fears have influenced builders in Palm Beach County to turn to green building.  PalmBeachPost.com reports that West Palm Beach-based Hedrick Brothers has hired a sustainable construction expert at its 125-employee company. Dale Hedrick acknowledges that building green isn't always as efficient as he'd like.

Finding responsibly harvested wood paneling for one project took two months longer than he'd hoped.  Still, Hedrick says, green building boosts the cost of a structure such as EcoPlex by only 2 percent to 5 percent, and that outlay is quickly recovered from lower operating costs.

"To me, it's a stewardship issue, and it's the right thing to do," Hedrick says. "If it pays for itself, why wouldn't people want to do that?"

The Denver Post reports:

Denver Water has hired a forensic auditing firm and independent construction expert to review the $48 million in contracts and construction for three major projects.

Former utility employees have said that contract payments for work at the Foothills Water Treatment Plant and the Roxborough and Capitol Hill pump stations were improperly handled.

Denver Water officials said there were issues with some of the invoices filed, such as a $16,000 bill for a contractor's Christmas party and $525 for a golf tournament fee. In another case, utility managers negotiated a $238,000 reduction in a concrete bill.

"Denver Water reviewed every issue that arose and we made changes when problems were identified," said Denver Water manager Chips Barry.