Mississippi Report

Building improves, but '05 highway funding in jeopardy

By Angelle Bergeron

George W. Bush is in his second term and the stock market has shown a healthy recovery, both strong indicators that the construction industry will enjoy a significant increase from last year, say industry sources.

Mississippi will be no exception to that trend.

"We expect to see a significant last three quarters in 2005," said C.J. "Buddy" Edens Jr., president/CEO of Mississippi Associated Builders and Contractors. "The architectural firms are loaded up with work and we anticipate those bids coming out and our contractors benefiting from them."

Dr. Bahram Allidaee, an economist and interim director for the Hearin Center for Enterprise Science at the University of Mississippi, agreed that the future looks bright.

Mississippi's lower-than-average labor and cost of living continue to appeal to industries looking for a new home or seeking to expand. And improved education levels in the state are helping attract information technology and pharmaceutical firms, Allidaee said.

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"Not only are these companies moving here, but some of the production plants are moving here, too," he added.

Although several large highway projects are currently underway in the state, the various roadway construction agencies find themselves fighting to hold on to their piece of the pie.

"We're fearful about our funding from the Legislature," said Dave Barton, executive director of the Mississippi Road Builders Association. Most of the state's highway funding is matched with federal funds and, since the federal transportation bill still hasn't been approved, the state is "operating on the short term," Barton said.

"Mississippi has a lot of financial problems right now and over the past two years we've lost a lot of funds though transfers to the general fund," he added.

Indeed, the largest task at hand is protecting the motor-fuel tax from being diverted from road repairs to other purposes, said Tone Garrett, director of the Mississippi Asphalt Pavement Association.

To compound the problem, gaming tax funds that were designated to pay the bond debt for road repairs have been diverted.

"Now those bonded repayment dollars have been diverted to pay for other general fund debts, mostly social services. It has really hurt the asphalt industry because maintenance is the biggest area of cuts."

MAPA is concentrating on "getting the Legislature to keep its promise to restore highway funding" and trying to get the state to return to a 10- to 12-year maintenance cycle, Garrett said.

"With funds being diverted, it further widens the time between maintenance intervals," he added. "You don't add a new room on your house with a hole in your existing roof."

Following are some of the top projects currently under way in Mississippi.

I-55 Reconstruction, DeSoto County. Memphis-based APAC Tennessee Inc. of Memphis won the contract for the $38.6 million widening of a 3-mi. section of Interstate-55.

The DeSoto County project, which straddles the state line between Mississippi and Tennessee, is being managed by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. APAC began work in March 2004 and the two-lane section will be widened to five lanes on the Tennessee side and four lanes on the Mississippi side when APAC completes the job in January 2007.

Despite excessive rainfall, work is on schedule, said John McDonald, project manager for APAC.

"Erosion control is a big problem with this job and all the mud," and retaining walls are being constructed to prevent run off into adjacent residential areas, he added.

Once installation of the retaining walls is complete, traffic will be moved to the northbound side while the southbound lanes are constructed. The project also includes construction of several bridges, soil stabilization, base work, asphalt and 13 in. of surface concrete on the lanes and 10 in. on the shoulders.

Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto, Southaven. Nashville-based Bovis Lend Lease is the construction manager for the largest project to break ground in the south central region in 2004. The $175 million construction of an 11-story patient tower addition to the system's Southaven facility began in spring 2004 and is scheduled for completion in Spring 2006.

The project will add 140 beds to the facility, almost doubling the current 199-bed capacity, said Ayoka Pond, senior public relations coordinator for the hospital. It will also include a new emergency department, more operating suites and space for future additions.

"The project has caused no relocation or interruption to hospital services and requires no special work schedules," Pond said.

Beau View Towers, Biloxi. Work just kicked off in Biloxi on the first phase of Beau View Towers, a $130 million to $140 million, four-tower condominium being built by Mobile-based Coastal Builders Inc.

"We are in the process of finalizing the contract," said Allan Gustin, project manager. Construction of the first tower was scheduled to begin in March and each ensuing building will have a staggered start date of 10 months, Gustin said.

"Sales are going well, so the developer will probably want to rush that schedule," he added.

The developer/owner is Florida-based Davis Heritage GP Holdings LLC.

Each tower will be about 110 to 112 ft. tall.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Biloxi. By August, the Gulfport division of Roy Anderson Corp. will wrap up the $85.6 million construction of Hard Rock Hotel, Casino and multi-purpose facility in Biloxi. Work began February 2004 on what proved to be an engineering spectacle.

Although RAC is no stranger to casino work - having constructed facilities along the coast, in Tunica and Louisiana - the Hard Rock boasts a proprietary barge structure design.

"It's most unique in that it is a clear span building," said Chuck Dudenhefer, project manager. "The 212-ft.-long steel trusses make it possible to eliminate any columns inside the casino and create basically a 400-ft.-long open hall with 85,000 sq. ft. of open space."

Each of the 38 trusses weighs about 40,000 lbs. and was assembled on site from three sections that were delivered by barge. Placing the trusses posed a challenge, but not as great as installing the floating floor, Dudenhefer added. The walls and roof are land-supported, but the floor floats inside of a fixed structure on a barge.

"According to gaming regulations, a casino is supposed to float," he said. "But instead of having ramps that fluctuate with the tide and a stationary floor this floor floats and is tied down to a series of pile caps that are in tension at all times. The water is trying to push it up, but we are restraining it by tying it down."

Because the barge is supporting only the floor, the weight is significantly less than other structures that are wholly supported by a barge, Dudenhefer said.

"We had to install strain-gauge sensors on the 88 tie-down structures to prove to the state that the barge is buoyant," he added. The design eliminates the need for ramp structures that pose access problems, he said.

Braves Baseball Stadium, Pearl. Philadelphia, Miss.-based Yates Construction guaranteed owner Bloomfield Development that construction of the new $37.5 million Braves Baseball Stadium in Pearl would be completed in time for the new team's opening game in April.

In March, the project was on schedule.

Definitely the first of its kind in the area, the stadium is being built to the latest design standards and offers views of the playing field from any of the concession areas, said Mark Smith, project executive for Yates.

"It also has 22 elevated, luxury corporate suites, so views are unobstructed from any area on the concourse level," he added. The stadium is located near Interstate 20 and Highway 49 and will hold 8,900 people.

"Part of site was on wetlands so we had to get an abatement permit from the Corps of Engineers," Smith said. The contractor abated a small amount of wetlands and filled with select material to 6 or 7 ft. - about 300,000 yds. - over the entire site, he said.

The stadium is made of structural steel with a masonry and EIFS façade and a huge, recessed concrete seating bowl. About 10,000 cu. yds. of concrete is required for the project and 2,000 tons of structural steel.

"The fun part of the project is the demanding schedule," Smith said. "We're going to spend 6.5 months on a project that would normally take 10 to 11 months."

Southaven Towne Center. Chattanooga, Tenn.-based EMJ Corp., which renovates and builds malls and shopping centers all over the country, has a $30 million project to build the new Southaven Towne Center, which will open in October.

"Probably the most unique aspect of the project was that we had to relocate a creek that ran through the middle of it to the edge of the property," said Doug Martin, vice president of construction for EMJ. The site is larger than the shopping center and consists of wetlands that are being mitigated or left alone.

The center is designed to look like an 1800s village and has masonry load-bearing walls with structural steel framework and high-end exterior finishes.

Hwy. 63 from US 98 to Leakesville, George County. Eutaw Construction of Aberdeen, Miss., has almost completed construction of a segment of Mississippi's Highway 63 running from U. S. Highway 98 to Leakesville in George County.

The $28.6 million MDOT job that involves a lot of clearing, grading and drainage, but it will likely finish much earlier than the August 2006 deadline, said Alan Lyles, project manager at Eutaw's Jackson office.

Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport Terminal (addition & improvements). The Philadelphia office of Yates Construction is working on a $25.1 million contract to add a new baggage-handling area and renovate the interior of the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport Terminal.

"It involves a lot of facelift work and demolishing existing interiors, and the entire footprint is pretty much getting demolished on the exterior," said John Rollins, project manager. "The building is actually moving 30 ft. to the north."

The airport will remain functional at all times during the project, Rollins said.

"When we're doing demo work inside the building, we have to coordinate with the airport to make sure passengers still have easy access," he added. "We're in constant communication with airport representatives."

Baptist Memorial Hospital Golden Triangle, Columbus. Memphis-based Inman Construction Corp. is about 90 percent complete on construction of a $24.6 million addition to the Baptist Memorial Hospital system's facility in Columbus. The six-story addition will have 142 patient beds, 10 labor and delivery rooms and two operating rooms.

"The biggest challenge of the project was being in an area of Mississippi that is so far away from everything," said Richard Wanko, project manager. "Everything had to be shipped in from other areas, and there's just not that great a labor force in this area."

He added that concrete finishers were particularly scarce.

"The building is entirely cast-in-place concrete and we had finishers coming out of Mobile, Jackson and Memphis."

Wastewater Treatment Facilities Improvements, Tupelo. The $22.2 million contract, which comes with a cumbersome title in three parts, includes construction of a new wastewater treatment plant adjacent to the existing plant, demolition of the old plant, and upgrades to three offsite pump stations.

The Birmingham office of Mandeville, La.-based Max Foote Construction began work on the project in October and is scheduled to complete in July 2006.

"The project involves a lot of poured-in-place concrete, to the tune of close to 16,000 cu. yds., maybe a little more," said Mike Owen, project manager.

"At the time this job was bidding, the cost of reinforcing steel was extremely volatile and people were quoting prices for basically a week," Owen added. "Putting in escalation costs for reinforcing steel was largely a crap shoot, so we cut a deal with our reinforcing steel supplier that we would agree to take all the reinforced steel on the job by a certain date."

That arrangement has resulted in a host of logistical problems involving handling and storing the material.

"We have a lot of area that we would prefer to be open that is covered with reinforcing steel, and it will take us a few months before the reinforce steel is not in the way," Owen said.

Temple Baptist Church, Worship Center & Education Building, Hattiesburg. Mac's Construction Co. out of Hattiesburg is about six months into the $22 million construction of a new worship center and education building for Temple Baptist Church in Hattiesburg. The project almost doubles the footprint of the church. The project has been all "smooth sailing," said Steven Hatten, project manager.

The contractor hopes to complete the structural steel on the education building this month, and the studwork on the worship center should be well under way.

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For more information about the University of Mississippi's Hearin Center for Enterprise Science, go to: http://hces.bus.olemiss.edu/welcome.html