We recently started a new project on 60 acres of formerly developed land that is now a long-abandoned industrial site. In the time the site has been vacant, foliage has grown, making it a potential nesting place for bats. Since some of these species might be endangered, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Alabama …
This morning, we were on a call with a relationship customer, discussing the cost of a project. Obviously, everyone involved, including us, wants the lowest possible cost. It got me to thinking about risk management in regards subcontract pricing. I have learned am important lesson. Most of the time, one can continue to work numbers …
For several years, Major League Baseball has been hosting a regular season game at the location of the movie Field of Dreams. Birmingham will be host for the MLB game this year at Rickwood Field, America’s Oldest Baseball Park. The St. Louis Cardinals play the San Francisco Giants on June 20th, to coincide with Juneteenth, …
If you drive near the east end Birmingham’s CBD, it’s hard to miss Sloss Furnaces, a designated National Historic Landmark. For almost 100 years, the site operated its blast furnaces. Today, the site is still in operation, but now as a historic park. The grounds are home to various artists in residence and to Slossfest, a …
I can think of two projects, one in Miami and one on the Gulf Coast, were we found ourselves with unusual quantities of moisture sitting on the slab, within in the top portions. The folks on both of these jobs were not familiar with atmospheric conditions inside buildings and were hell bent that it was moisture coming …
I’m fortunate to be a part of a solid initiative called Design Alabama. Every year we participate in a Mayors’ Summit, working with five different cities on their most challenging design problems. We just completed our 2015 Summit. A few interesting nuggets I learned about Millennials trends (people born 1979 to 1996) 31% of Millennials prefer …
In the CBD of Birmingham, we’ve been providing Construction Management services for a grand theatre that’s more than 100 years old. With structural analysis of The Lyric Theatre complete, we’ve moved ahead with the restoration of the theatre envelope, including tuck-pointing the exterior masonry and re-roofing the building structure to provide a weather-tight environment for …
Earlier this week, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, predicting 6 more weeks of cold weather. I don’t think I’m alone in saying no one wanted him to see his shadow. This winter has been the most brutal in the last 20 years, and we are all feeling it. It seems like we need a break. …
We have been in the preconstruction phase of a brownfield project for about 18 months. In the process, we have been using a relatively new and still evolving set of technology tools, called ground penetrating radar (GPR). This geophysical method uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. Knowing what is underground is particularly important for the job …
Where would we be without helicopters? This week we used a Sikorksy S-58t helicopter to set 17 RTUs on a new project scheduled for completion next year. It’s amazing how fast the process moved. From pick up to the roof , set time was less than 1 hour. While we have been using helicopters on …
For the past couple of years, we’ve started a blog for each of our large projects. The premise is simple: once a week, a designated person from the field office sends digital images and brief descriptions to our home office. We manage that information, and on Tuesdays post to each project’s page. So, why do …
On a couple of our projects recently, we needed retaining walls built in “cut earth sections” as opposed to “fill earth sections”. In these projects we needed top down construction and a method that afforded easy accessibility and we were dealing with earth that would only be “cut” and not “filled.” The alternative? What you …