September 25, 2013

CT Construction Digest September 25, 2013

Project proceeds without eminent domain

BRIDGEPORT -- Unable to reach an agreement over property needed to begin the $8.8 million Black Rock School expansion, city and school officials are dropping plans to take the site by eminent domain and moving forward with the project anyway.

High Tensile Strength Fiber Reinforcement for Asphalt

Grove City, PA (PRWEB) September 24, 2013
http://www.forta-fi.com FORTA-FI® is a high tensile strength fiber reinforcement for asphalt. Tested by today’s tough standards, FORTA-FI® offers dramatic cost savings by significantly reducing rutting and cracking.

UCONN Stamford looks at building dorms

STAMFORD -- The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees will vote Wednesday on whether to spend $500,000 to study whether its downtown Stamford parking garage can be turned into housing.

Some skeptical about transit project

STAMFORD -- State officials and the private developer behind the proposed $500 million plan to revamp Stamford's downtown Transportation Center pitched the project Tuesday as a state-of-the-art facility that would improve the commuting experience for Stamford residents.

CT to approve funds for new Sandy Hook school

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut is prepared to approve the first round of funding for construction of a new Sandy Hook Elementary School building, the governor said Tuesday.
State lawmakers have set aside $50 million to help Newtown build a new school to replace the one where a gunman killed 26 people last December.
 
 
NEW BRITAIN — A bright future was forecast for the Pinnacle Heights section as federal and local officials toured manufacturing and school construction sites there Tuesday.U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, visited the construction sites on Slater Road to discuss the development of a new plant for Polamer Precision, an aerospace manufacturing firm, and construction of the Medical Professions and Teacher Preparation Magnet School. She was joined by officials from the Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency and Capitol Region Educational Council along with Mayor Timothy O’Brien, all of whom donned hardhats before beginning the tour.
 
 
MERIDEN — The School Building Committee unanimously approved a $93.6 million guaranteed maximum price for construction for the Platt High School renovation project and set the groundbreaking for the much anticipated project for Oct. 15.
 
 
Laura Cruikshank, master planner and chief university architect at the University of Connecticut, will be the keynote speaker Oct. 8 for the Connecticut Building Congress program "UConn, Where to Next?"The program, which runs from 5:30 until 8:30 p.m., will be held at The Hartford Club, 46 Prospect St., Hartford.

 Glastonbury intersections improvements progressing

The realignment of the town's most troublesome intersection is moving closer to reality.
Daniel A. Pennington, director of physical services and the town engineer, in a presentation to the town council Tuesday night, said the preliminary design is nearing the halfway point on the $1.6 million project to align House, Harris and Griswold streets.
Pennington said the project will scale back the waiting time at the traffic lights "significantly."

Manchester moving ahead with Broad Street redevelopment

MANCHESTER — Town leaders are moving forward with the planned transformation of the Broad Street commercial district.
At a joint meeting of the board of directors and the redevelopment agency Tuesday morning, officials discussed the imminent demolition of blighted buildings and a formal request for developers' qualifications to revive the town-owned, "dark side" of the Manchester Parkade.

PURA cuts Aquarion's rate increase in half

NEW britain >> State utility regulators issued a ruling Tuesday that cuts the 17 percent rate increase requested by the Aquarion Water Co. in half.
Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority approved an 8.6 percent rate increase for the Bridgeport-based company, a move that cuts almost $13 million from the $26.9 million that Aquarion had originally requested.