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2008 Forecast: Building
Activity sustained, but watch for slowdown
By Candy McCampbell
A group of financial executives from construction companies, recently learning that the Federal Reserve Board was cutting interest rates, returned to their offices to re-do their budgets for 2008.
That is one example of the state of the building market, says Bob Allsbrook, chief economist for Regions Financial Corp. in Birmingham, Ala.
He says activity will remain good this year, but that a slowdown could come later.
Long-term plans are being reviewed because some projects may have been decided on two years ago. Some are far enough along that stopping is no longer an option, he says.
“These cycles run several years and (recovery) takes several years,” Allsbrook says.
He forecasts that it will be 2010 before the industry will see a sustained upturn.
Heather Jones, economist at FMI Net in Raleigh, N.C., says the residential downturn is having only a “slight” impact on non-residential building.
“We're still positive for this year,” she says.
In fact, she projects a 5% increase in non-residential building for both 2008 and 2009.
Look for even stronger growth in health care, educational, public safety and transportation building, she says.
Building in Arkansas should be level with or down slightly from 2007, says Keith Wetsell, general manager of Razorback Concrete Co. in West Memphis, Ark.
There is plenty of work on the books but there has been dropoff in jobs available for bidding, he adds.
One potential big job, still in the planning stages, is the estimated $225 million expansion or replacement of Little Rock National Airport terminal.
A slowdown in non-residential building in Middle Tennessee is possible, but hard to see, says Pete Dickson, president of the Associated Builders and Contractors' Middle Tennessee Chapter in Nashville.
“Our members are still overwhelmed with work and the design side is loaded up, too,” he says.
Tennessee will continue to outpace the nation but will slow from its recent strength, Allsbrook says.
Alabama, though, “is the most impressive economic story in the whole country,” with new industries continuing to arrive. “That will make a big difference in the next few years,” he says.
Mississippi is benefiting from a pair of auto plants, as well as the strong snapback of its gambling industry, which will get another casino in Tunica.
Louisiana, he says, “is an energy story, a construction story,” as long as energy prices stay high.
Some of the major building projects currently under way around the area:
Toyota Manufacturing Plant, Blue Springs, Miss.Earth-moving and foundation and structural steel construction started in September on this $1.3 billion,>> 2.4-million-sq-ft manufacturing plant.
SSOE Inc. of Toledo, Ohio, is handling architecture and engineering services for the plant, which is to start operations in 2010, producing Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicles.
L&T Construction Inc. and M&H Construction Inc., both of DeSoto County, Mississippi, are in a joint venture to handle site preparation on the 1,700-acre tract. That includes moving 16 million cu yds of dirt -- enough to fill 25 average NFL stadiums to get it level enough to build. They also will work on soil erosion and storm water retention ponds.
Harrell Contracting Group of Ridgeland, Miss., and its partner Graycor Industrial Contractors Inc. of Homewood, Ill., will build the foundation for the stamping and paint buildings.
Midwest Steel Inc. of Detroit has the contract for steel erection for the stamping and paint buildings.
About 2,000 construction workers are expected by this summer.
Cameron Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Terminal, Hackberry, La.Tankers arriving at the $750 million Cameron LNG Terminal will pump the gas to one of three storage tanks, each with a capacity of more than 72 tons, or 160,000 cu meters.
The 260-ft diameter tanks stand 180 ft tall, with interior dimensions of 230 ft across and 160 ft deep. They are built as a dual container system, each independently capable of holding the LNG, says Albert Rajan, Aker Kvaerner chief field engineer. Houston-based Aker Kvaerner and IHI Inc. of Tokyo are joint venture contractor and engineer for the job for Sempra Energy.
The primary container is 9% nickel alloy steel, housed in a double-walled tank of carbon steel in a prestressed concrete shell and covered with a reinforced concrete domed roof that supports a suspended aluminum insulated deck over the primary container.
The tanks are supported by 18-in square precast concrete piles driven 95 ft to 110 ft.
Ships will unload the LNG at one of two berths at the marine basin that has been dredged to 45 ft deep to accommodate the vessels.
Started in September 2005, it will be completed in late 2008.
Marathon Petroleum Refinery Expansion, Garyville, La.A dozen rigs are in the process of driving 22,000 piles for the hydrocracker unit, the crude unit and the coker unit at this $1 billion project. It is part of a $3.2 billion expansion that will increase capacity at the refinery by 180,000 barrels per day to 425,000 bpd.
Shaw Stone & Webster has the contract for the 70,000 bpd heavy gas oil hydrocracker unit and the 47,000 bpd kerosene hydrotreater unit.
Steel erection is scheduled to start this month following a March 2007 start. Completion is December 2009.
The expansion on the 3,000-acre site also includes a 44,000 bpd delayed coker, a 65,000 bpd reformer and a new crude and vacuum distillation unit.
Construction employment will average 2,000 and peak at about 4,000.
West End Summit, Office/Condos/Retail/Hotel, Nashville, Tenn.This 1.7 million-sq-ft mixed use complex includes a 550,000-sq-ft, 25-story office tower, a 445,000-sq-ft residential high-rise, nine floors of luxury condos atop a 287-room Intercontinental Hotel, and a 12-story parking structure.
The $205 million hotel and office towers are joined by a mid-rise building with retail space and the hotel ballrooms and meeting rooms, says Mike Large, project executive with Bovis Lend Lease of Nashville, construction manager for owner Alex S. Palmer & Co of Nashville.
Both towers are poured-in-place concrete buildings with exteriors of glass and metal curtain wall systems. The hotel has post-tensioned slabs, while the office has post-tensioned beams and reinforced poured slabs.
The 1,800-space parking deck, with seven levels below ground, is precast concrete on spread footing foundation, smaller than usual since the structure sits on bedrock, he says. The site sits on solid rock that is being blasted out and removed to other sites as part of the Silver LEED certification.
Started in June 2007, it will be complete in 2010.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Tennessee Headquarters, Chattanooga, Tenn.Atop a hillside overlooking downtown Chattanooga, this five-building, $216 million complex is a green project, targeted for Silver LEED certification.
Skanska USA of Atlanta, EMJ Corp. of Chattanooga and H.J. Russell & Co. of Atlanta, the contractors, are scheduled for a spring 2009 completion.
The structures contain a total of 950,000 sq ft., but stand only four and five stories. An above-ground parking garage, with 4,100 spaces on seven levels, is being stair-stepped, or terraced, down the hill.
The structures - four office buildings and a fifth for the cafeteria and meeting areas - and the parking garage will sit on more than 62,000 ft of auger cast piles.
Foundations and building frames will consume more than 71,000 cu yds of concrete. Exteriors are masonry and glass curtain walls.
The HVAC system for the buildings will be run from a central plant with cooling towers in the parking structure and the mechanical room below grade.
Employment will peak at more than 600.
Montgomery Hotel and Convention Center Expansion, Montgomery, Ala.The Montgomery Convention Center will reopen next month after closing for a major expansion an 1,800-seat theater, a 12-story hotel, a 101,000-sq-ft exhibit hall and a 615-car parking deck.
The hotel tower is 204,000 sq ft and the common area covers 198,000 sq ft, says David Simpson, director of special projects for Doster Construction Co. Inc. of Birmingham, joint venture construction manager with A.G. Gaston Construction Co. Inc. of Birmingham on this $170 million job.
A two-story concourse connects the convention center and theater to the hotel, spa and parking deck.
The buildings sit on auger cast piles and drill piers. The hotel tower has a cast in place post-tensioned concrete frame and the ballroom/restaurant/kitchen area, plus the theater and convention center exhibit hall expansion are structural steel and concrete slab on metal deck.
The exterior is a combination of precast concrete, composite metal panels, manufactured stone, granite, EIFS and glazed curtain wall.
The precast concrete parking deck's eighth level houses a 7,000-sq-ft spa, fitness center, indoor and outdoor whirlpools and swimming pool.
Military Construction, Naval Construction Battalion Center, Gulfport, Miss.In the largest contract under the Hurricane Katrina Recapitalization Program, W. G. Yates and Sons Construction Co. of Philadelphia, Miss., won the $92.8 million design-build job with seven projects, totaling 282,528 sq ft, at the Gulfport base.
Included are a fitness center, Bachelor Enlisted Quarters, Navy Exchange complex and cold storage facility, security complex, command and control building, training hall with 600-seat auditorium/theater and storm drainage improvements, says Teresa Pass, Yates marketing information manager.
The multi-purpose 58,000-sq-ft fitness center includes basketball/volleyball courts and a heated outdoor pool.
A 41,700-sq-ft retail center will be part of the NEX complex, built on the site of an existing theater and commissary.
The five-story BEQ will have housing for more than 300 people in 82 four-person living-sleeping-bath units. It also will have laundry, TV, classrooms and conference space and a cyber cafe.
The storm drainage system will be modified to handle more rainfall after a tropical storm or hurricane.
Started in July 2007, completion is early 2010.
Welspun Manufacturing Plant, Little Rock, Ark.This $110 million fast-track project, scheduled for a production start this summer, includes five buildings covering more than 500,000 sq ft for steel pipe manufacturing.
May Construction Co. of Little Rock is developing 133 of more than 700 acres on the site and is a special granite-based product for some of the fill operations so work can resume quicker in bad weather, says Ron Craig, project manager-Industrial/Distribution Division at May.
The pre-engineered steel structures, from Nucor Building Systems of Terrell, Texas, are for the 328,000-sq-ft, 36-ft spiral pipe mill; the 136,000-sq-ft, 27-ft coating mill; the 26,000-sq-ft, 20-ft pipe jointing building, the 1,650-sq-ft, 16-ft compressor building and the 8,700-sq-ft, 17-ft storage building.
The spiral mill plant, with a 50-ton bridge crane and two 10-ton bridge cranes, will have two 90-ft interior bay clear spans to accommodate them, he says.
The plant also will have its own rail system.
Employment currently averages 80 and will hit 200 at peak.
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