Missouri, Illinois Design-Build Projects

Road Contractors Head
Down a New Highway
Amid a growing need for infrastructure improvements and ever-intensifying scrutiny of return on limited funding, two Midwestern states are testing new value-engineering approaches to highway construction. The Missouri Department of Transportation is using design-build to fast-track the three-year reconstruction of Interstate 64 through St. Louis within a $535 million spending limit. The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority is using a performance specification contract to fast-track construction of a $125 million, 1.3-mi-long bridge on an extension of Interstate 355 while addressing environmental challenges in rapidly growing Will County southwest of Chicago.
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A Midwest View

Contractors, Agencies
Make Highway Safety First
Nationwide, 100 to 130 construction workers die annually in roadway construction zones, according to the American Road & Transportation Association. But since October 2004, there has been one death of a worker in a construction zone on the Illinois Tollway.
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Innovative Material

Bridge’s Arms of Steel Contain Copper, Nickel
Located on Illinois Route 83 above the Canadian National Railroad tracks, the North Milwaukee Avenue Bridge in Lake Villa, Ill., is only the second bridge worldwide to use a groundbreaking, high-performance ASTM A710 Grade B steel and the first bridge to use this particular steel for main load-carrying members.
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Design-Build

A Vessel that Carries
Industry Innovations
Design-build fits neatly with new measures in construction, such as maximizing the power of building information modeling, gaining LEED status or creating a successful public private partnership. “The essence of design-build is all about collaboration, cooperation and teamwork,” says Walker Lee Evey, president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Design-Build Institute of America.
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National Outlook

Mastering the Safety Message
The construction industry employs nearly 8% of the nation’s workforce and generates nearly 5% of the Gross Domestic Product, but it can be hazardous. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1,186 fatalities were recorded at private construction sites in 2005, the latest year for which figures are available. Despite a 4% drop from 2004’s total, the figure remains the highest of any industry, according to the BLS.
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St. Louis Market

Gateway City Cruises
At Steady Pace
Mirroring river pilots on the Mississippi, the St. Louis construction market is on a steady roll. “Is it booming? No,” says Jeff Cook, chief executive officer of St. Louis-based Arco Construction Co. Inc. “But it’s steady.” Starts in the Gateway City during the first-quarter 2007, the latest data available, were down 23%, to $1.2 billion, compared with the same period in 2006, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of Midwest Construction.
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Lumière Place Casino

Buoyant St. Louis Project
Cruises Toward Completion
The architects and contractors behind a new casino and hotel project along the Mississippi River in downtown St. Louis have water to deal with-but the river is not the concern. The water that comes into play in the Lumière Place Casino Resort development fills a manmade basin in which the casino portion of the project floats.
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