LafargeHolcim, ECOncrete turn tide on offshore wind turbine base scour

LafargeHolcim and specialty precast developer ECOncrete Tech Ltd. are teaming to design and fabricate scour protection units equal to offshore wind turbine foundations’ hydrodynamic loads, configured to facilitate marine organism growth, and meeting seabed stabilization standards. Their three-year research & development effort envisions a pilot project to evaluate units’ ecological performance in an offshore environment, ahead of full-scale installations.

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Economists bullish on commercial and industrial work

DBIA officials cite the inherent value design-build methods bring to projects across the construction sectors, including transportation. The Institute honored the Yadkin River Bridge—a 2,900-ft., twin structure along the Interstate 85, Charlotte–Greensboro, N.C., corridor—with a 2014 National Award of Merit. Flatiron Construction Corp. led the design-build team credited with delivering the North Carolina Department of Transportation project under its $136 million budget.

“A combination of low interest rates; wealth effects stemming from a booming stock market and rising home prices; surging energy production; and expanding industrial output has helped position the U.S. economy for more rapid growth during the next several quarters,” says Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “This will lead to more robust recovery in the U.S. nonresidential construction industry, which has also been aided by stable materials prices and improving commercial real estate fundamentals.”

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Construction economists bullish on commercial, industrial market

Sources: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C.

“A combination of low interest rates; wealth effects stemming from a booming stock market and rising home prices; surging energy production; and expanding industrial output has helped position the U.S. economy for more rapid growth during the next several quarters,” says ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “This will lead to more robust recovery in the U.S. nonresidential construction industry, which has also been aided by stable materials prices and improving commercial real estate fundamentals.”

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