Shreve Land’s new multifamily contractors

In September, Shreve Land Constructors LLC of Shreveport, La., was successful in obtaining two new contracts for construction of a student housing facility at Southern University in Shreveport and a luxury apartment community in League City, Texas.

The student housing facility at Southern University Shreveport will be the first located on the campus. The garden style apartments will house 240 students. The project includes two three-story apartment buildings and a clubhouse located in a gated community.

The two- or four-bedroom apartments are fully furnished. The clubhouse features a computer laboratory, a lounge, a game room and laundry facilities. Outdoor amenities include a half-court basketball court, park-like gathering space and parking. The project is scheduled to complete in time for the 2008 school year.

Group wins Motiva expansion contract

GROUP Industries, a Baton Rouge, La.-based industrial and commercial contracting company, was recently awarded a $14 million contract to perform piling services for a crude oil expansion project for Motiva Port Arthur Refinery in Port Arthur, Texas.

The project, which requires the installation of 12,000 piles, began in August. GROUP expects to complete the work by June.

GROUP has also set up a satellite office in the region to facilitate the job and other industrial work in the area. The new office is located at 808 B Hwy 69, Nederland, Texas.

GROUP Industries is headquartered in Baton Rouge, La.

J. Ray McDermott’s Morgan City fabrication facility bids farewell to jacket bound for India

J. Ray McDermott project staff at the Morgan City, La., fabrication facility successfully completed the load-out of a 9,015-short ton jacket built for Reliance Industries Limited as part of an engineering, procurement, construction and installation contract/purchase order undertaken at J. Ray company facilities worldwide.

The load-out, which took a little more than 23-hours from start to finish, was the culmination of just more than 12 months of hard work fabricating the jacket for the KG-D6 field on the east coast of India.

Before embarking on its 13,375-nautical mi journey around the world, the jacket’s first stop was Pascagoula, Miss., where it rendezvoused with a Fast Transport Vessel (FTV). The jacket and cargo barge were loaded onto the FTV for a 46-day journey to the J. Ray marine and fabrication base on Batam Island, Indonesia, via the Suez Canal. After being offloaded from the FTV, the jacket and cargo barge will be towed for approximately 12 days to the East Coast of India.

“This is the first structure we have built here at Morgan City for export to India,” said Bob Deason, president and chief executive officer of J. Ray. “The Reliance KG-D6 field development contract was a fast-track project and we were able to use our company’s worldwide resources to ensure we met our customer’s delivery deadline for first gas from the field by June 2008.”

The jacket was built at J. Ray’s Morgan City fabrication facility.

I-10 project gets $4.6 million boost through new program

Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) Secretary Johnny B. Bradberry announced recently that an Interstate 10 widening project in Baton Rouge will receive a $4.6 million boost through a new federal program.

The grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s “Corridors of the Future” program, a new initiative in which states submitted proposals to relieve interstate congestion. I-10 was selected as one of six federal “Corridors of the Future,” a designation that gives Louisiana priority funding and a competitive edge in financing projects on I-10. The $4.6 million will help pay to widen I-10 from I-12 to Siegen Lane.

The four-lane segment of I-10 from I-12 to Siegen Lane handles nearly 80,000 vehicles per day and traffic often comes to a stop during peak times. The $4.6 million will help pay for the $50-$60 million project. DOTD will take bids on the project in May.

A future Louisiana route, Interstate 69 in north Louisiana, also was named as a “Corridor of the Future.” I-69 is in the planning stages in Louisiana.

Ascension Group completes work on Bossier City hospital

Arlington, Texas-based Ascension Group Architects LLP recently completed work on Promise Hospital of Louisiana-Bossier City Campus, a more than $15 million long-term acute care hospital in the Louisiana city.

The hospital is owned and managed by Promise Healthcare Inc., one the largest and leading long-term acute care hospital companies in the country.

The 40,635-sq-ft hospital officially opened this month and features 50 beds with 32 private rooms and six intensive care unit rooms. There are eight high observation beds, four designated for patients receiving renal dialysis treatments. The hospital also boasts a full-service radiology department, a respiratory therapy department and a pharmacy.

“The centralized nurse station is situated in a way that allows nursing staff complete visual control of each of the three patient wings,” says Casey Carlton of Ascension, project manager. “This design improves their response time to patient needs and the security of the building.”

The building and systems are designed to meet or exceed industry standards and code requirements for thermal insulation, air quality and efficiency providing Promise with a low-maintenance facility and its caregivers and patients with a safe, comfortable environment, Carlton says.