WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. construction spending rose 0.6 percent in September to the highest level since March 2008, pushed up by a surge in apartment building.
The Commerce Department said Monday that spending on construction rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.09 trillion. Construction of apartments and condominiums jumped 4.9 percent in September from August, while construction of single-family homes rose 1.3 percent. Overall, private residential construction rose to the highest level since January 2008.
The housing market has proven relatively resilient this year amid economic weakness overseas that has hurt American manufacturers and limited hiring. Commerce reported last week that private investment in housing grew at an annual pace of 6.1 percent from July through September — four times the 1.5 percent growth registered by the overall economy.
Spending on nonresidential construction slipped 0.1 percent in September, Commerce said. But spending on construction of churches and other religious buildings rose 5.6 percent.
Public construction grew 0.7 percent from August. Spending on schools and other educational buildings rose 2.4 percent, and spending on water supply facilities was up 4.8 percent.
Federal construction spending fell 1 percent, the biggest decline since a 4.4 percent drop in June.
"On the surface, today's data net out to be somewhat reassuring, if not perfect," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. "Friday's employment report will be the primary focus of the Federal Reserve, where the threshold for liftoff is low." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Several new home communities are underway in Simsbury, a unique construction trend not seen in most of Connecticut. Nelson Construction and Landworks Development are actively building and selling at two new Farmington Valley neighborhoods: Carson Way, a 74-unit single-family community, and Mill Pond Crossing, a 20-unit townhome enclave. Also, opening next spring will be Highcroft, a community of 224 luxury apartments, lofts and 48 townhomes set on a beautiful ridge.
Steady market activity has spurred the second phase of development at Carson Way, which features three and four bedroom homes for all ages, in nine different floor plans. The Opening of Phase II will be held Nov. 7 and 8 from 1 to 4 pm; the public is invited to walk the new homesites for the first time.
Since Carson Way started in 2014, 15 homes have sold; each one has been personally tailored to the consumer’s specifications. Built to be energy efficient with customizable floor plans and the option of first-floor living, Carson Way offers many elements buyers are seeking today. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Without doubt, the construction industry is increasingly adopting new technology. Projects can be managed from a tablet computer, machines governed through GPS signals, and workers can clock in and out via text messages. Today, the way in which construction contractors perform work is being transformed by new technological devices and innovations. Here are five to keep an eye on:
1. Wearable Technology — Think of the possibilities for technology like Google Glass with its optical head-mounted display (OHMD) — in other words eye glasses that have the capability of reflecting projected images as well as allowing the user to see an augmented reality through it. The real world is augmented or supplemented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. So, a construction worker or manager could use an OHMD in the field to easily view a site plan and work instructions, monitor workers’ health and well-being, take photographs and video and communicate with off-site coworkers.
The Apple Watch is another wearable with potential. Apps for the device are being developed for project management, productivity and communication. Construction apps are surely on the way. There are project estimating and invoicing apps already, so more specific construction contractor apps will follow. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Bethel water projects make state’s priority list
BETHEL — State officials plan to help the town fund two major water projects next year.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health has placed those projects on its 2016 priority list, meaning the town will receive grants and/or low-interest loans to fund the nearly $700,000 refurbishment of two well fields and the $1.1 million replacement of an aging pump station.
The Maple Avenue wells were installed in the late 1960s and have not been producing as much water as they once did. “These two wells are so old that they’re losing their ability to pump water,” First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker said. “It’s one of those things that should have been replaced years ago.”
The pump station, which is on Hoyt’s Hill, was built in 1959 and its capacity has also deteriorated in recent years, according to Public Works Director Douglas Arndt.
“It’s all critical infrastructure and definitely well overdue,” he said.
Although the state’s priority designation does not guarantee grants, the town is already eligible for low-interest loans, which officials said will help offset costs that would otherwise be covered by water department customers.
“The priority list makes it very probable” the town will get a grant, Knickerbocker said.
“One way or the other, there’s a guarantee we’ll have loans to cover it,” he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
NPU asks city to bond $12M for reservoir work
NORWICH - Norwich Public Utilities is asking the city to put its credit behind more than $12 million worth of bonds to pay for improvements to its water delivery systems On Monday, aldermen set a Nov. 16 public hearing and action date for a pair of multi-million dollar projects whose costs will be paid solely through future water revenues: $6 million for improvements to the Deep River reservoir and $6.1 million to finance the installation of a transmission main from just behind the Norwich Wal-Mart to NPU’s Stony Brook reservoir in Montville. The price tag for Deep River’s work is a $500,000 increase from 2014, when bonds to finance the upgrades were first approved by the council, requiring the adoption of a new ordinance. The Deep River component was broken into three phases, two of which have already been completed. In late 2014, officials completed work on a $1.6 million water tank located off Camp Moween Road, along with a line that links it to the plant. Getting that done first was essential to the final portion of the Deep River venture, because the facility will have to be taken offline to put in pumps and drives that replace ones from the 1970s, NPU Assistant General Manager Chris LaRose said. “This is water people drink, so we want to make sure we are mitigating as much risk out of this as we can,” he said. “Before we touch the pumps and drives, we wanted to make sure we had the tank there.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
$500M tunnel project aims to preserve CT River
Construction is expected to begin next year on a tunnel about four miles long, 18 feet in diameter and 200 feet deep underground that will carry stormwater and sewer overflows to the Hartford sewage facility and help keep untreated water out of the Connecticut River.
The $500 million South Hartford Conveyance and Storage Tunnel will run from West Hartford to the Hartford Water Pollution Control Facility on Brainard Road, and is a key piece of The Metropolitan District's 20-year Clean Water Project that aims to safeguard the future of the Connecticut River by cleaning up discharges to streams and reducing oxygen-depleting nitrogen in the river, which ultimately flows to Long Island Sound.
The tunnel's designer, Rocky Hill-based AECOM, called the project one of North America's largest wastewater storage and conveyance projects after it was awarded the design contract in 2011.
"There's nothing else like it in Connecticut," said Nick Salemi, a spokesman at MDC.
MDC has prequalified eight construction firms to bid on the project, Salemi said.
A tunnel-boring machine will chew through shale, siltstone and basalt and travel through several inactive fault zones 175 to 250 feet below ground, according to MDC and a report on the project in Water Practice & Technology from IWA Publishing Online. As it moves along, the machine will simultaneously lay sections of pipe to line the tunnel while moving extracted material out of the tunnel via a conveyor belt. It's up to the contractor to determine where the excavated material will be trucked, Salemi said.
The tunnel-boring machine will start at the Hartford treatment plant and cut slightly uphill to allow gravity to move the wastewater to the plant. The tunnel will end in a private West Hartford industrial area off Talcott Road, between Quaker Lane and New Park Avenue. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Construction Employment Rises in 35 States, D.C.
Construction employment expanded in 35 states and the District of Columbia between September 2014 and September 2015 yet only 23 states added jobs between August and September, according to an analysis released Oct. 20 of Labor Department data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said the fact as many states lost construction jobs as added them last month was likely due to a combination of labor shortages and uncertainty about a host of federal investment programs.
“Depending on the kind of work they perform, many contractors either can’t find enough workers, or they can’t find enough work,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, chief executive officer of the association. “While overall demand for construction continues to grow and sap the pool of available labor, firms that work on federally-funded projects are dealing with a lot of uncertainty.”
California added the most new construction jobs (43,900 jobs, 6.4 percent) between September 2014 and September 2015. Other states adding a high number of new construction jobs for the past 12 months include Florida (26,700 jobs, 6.6 percent), Washington (11,400 jobs, 7.1 percent) and Pennsylvania (11,300 jobs, 4.9 percent). Arkansas (16.1 percent, 7,400 jobs) added the highest percentage of new construction jobs during the past year, followed by Alaska (11.2 percent, 1,900 jobs), Kansas (9.5 percent, 5,600 jobs) and South Carolina (9.0 percent, 7,400 jobs). CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Repairs to New Haven breakwaters damaged by Sandy, Irene close to being finished
NEW HAVEN >> Major repairs on the three breakwaters in New Haven Harbor, damaged in two major storms to hit Connecticut, are close to being done.
A barge with a crane used to move granite into place can be seen from Lighthouse Park as employees at Mohawk Construction finish up work on the East Breakwater off Morgan Point.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers combined the work in New Haven Harbor and Bridgeport Harbor for the breakwater repairs into one bid, for a project cost of $7.4 million.
Superstorm Sandy left $360 million in damages in Connecticut, with some properties still recovering after it swept ashore in October 2012. One year before that, Hurricane Irene caused $7 billion to $10 billion in damage across the country and $281 million in Connecticut.
Dan Stenstream, project manager for the breakwater repairs, said they expect to wrap up in New Haven by the end of December.
The other breakwaters in New Haven Harbor are the West Breakwater and the Middle Breakwater at Luddington Rock.
The pieces of granite that were moved to the three sites weighed 3 tons to 5 tons each with an estimated 32,000 tons needed for the New Haven repairs, according to the Army Corps. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
1. Wearable Technology — Think of the possibilities for technology like Google Glass with its optical head-mounted display (OHMD) — in other words eye glasses that have the capability of reflecting projected images as well as allowing the user to see an augmented reality through it. The real world is augmented or supplemented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. So, a construction worker or manager could use an OHMD in the field to easily view a site plan and work instructions, monitor workers’ health and well-being, take photographs and video and communicate with off-site coworkers.
The Apple Watch is another wearable with potential. Apps for the device are being developed for project management, productivity and communication. Construction apps are surely on the way. There are project estimating and invoicing apps already, so more specific construction contractor apps will follow. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Bethel water projects make state’s priority list
BETHEL — State officials plan to help the town fund two major water projects next year.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health has placed those projects on its 2016 priority list, meaning the town will receive grants and/or low-interest loans to fund the nearly $700,000 refurbishment of two well fields and the $1.1 million replacement of an aging pump station.
The Maple Avenue wells were installed in the late 1960s and have not been producing as much water as they once did. “These two wells are so old that they’re losing their ability to pump water,” First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker said. “It’s one of those things that should have been replaced years ago.”
The pump station, which is on Hoyt’s Hill, was built in 1959 and its capacity has also deteriorated in recent years, according to Public Works Director Douglas Arndt.
“It’s all critical infrastructure and definitely well overdue,” he said.
Although the state’s priority designation does not guarantee grants, the town is already eligible for low-interest loans, which officials said will help offset costs that would otherwise be covered by water department customers.
“The priority list makes it very probable” the town will get a grant, Knickerbocker said.
“One way or the other, there’s a guarantee we’ll have loans to cover it,” he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
NPU asks city to bond $12M for reservoir work
NORWICH - Norwich Public Utilities is asking the city to put its credit behind more than $12 million worth of bonds to pay for improvements to its water delivery systems On Monday, aldermen set a Nov. 16 public hearing and action date for a pair of multi-million dollar projects whose costs will be paid solely through future water revenues: $6 million for improvements to the Deep River reservoir and $6.1 million to finance the installation of a transmission main from just behind the Norwich Wal-Mart to NPU’s Stony Brook reservoir in Montville. The price tag for Deep River’s work is a $500,000 increase from 2014, when bonds to finance the upgrades were first approved by the council, requiring the adoption of a new ordinance. The Deep River component was broken into three phases, two of which have already been completed. In late 2014, officials completed work on a $1.6 million water tank located off Camp Moween Road, along with a line that links it to the plant. Getting that done first was essential to the final portion of the Deep River venture, because the facility will have to be taken offline to put in pumps and drives that replace ones from the 1970s, NPU Assistant General Manager Chris LaRose said. “This is water people drink, so we want to make sure we are mitigating as much risk out of this as we can,” he said. “Before we touch the pumps and drives, we wanted to make sure we had the tank there.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
$500M tunnel project aims to preserve CT River
Construction is expected to begin next year on a tunnel about four miles long, 18 feet in diameter and 200 feet deep underground that will carry stormwater and sewer overflows to the Hartford sewage facility and help keep untreated water out of the Connecticut River.
The $500 million South Hartford Conveyance and Storage Tunnel will run from West Hartford to the Hartford Water Pollution Control Facility on Brainard Road, and is a key piece of The Metropolitan District's 20-year Clean Water Project that aims to safeguard the future of the Connecticut River by cleaning up discharges to streams and reducing oxygen-depleting nitrogen in the river, which ultimately flows to Long Island Sound.
The tunnel's designer, Rocky Hill-based AECOM, called the project one of North America's largest wastewater storage and conveyance projects after it was awarded the design contract in 2011.
"There's nothing else like it in Connecticut," said Nick Salemi, a spokesman at MDC.
MDC has prequalified eight construction firms to bid on the project, Salemi said.
A tunnel-boring machine will chew through shale, siltstone and basalt and travel through several inactive fault zones 175 to 250 feet below ground, according to MDC and a report on the project in Water Practice & Technology from IWA Publishing Online. As it moves along, the machine will simultaneously lay sections of pipe to line the tunnel while moving extracted material out of the tunnel via a conveyor belt. It's up to the contractor to determine where the excavated material will be trucked, Salemi said.
The tunnel-boring machine will start at the Hartford treatment plant and cut slightly uphill to allow gravity to move the wastewater to the plant. The tunnel will end in a private West Hartford industrial area off Talcott Road, between Quaker Lane and New Park Avenue. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Construction Employment Rises in 35 States, D.C.
Construction employment expanded in 35 states and the District of Columbia between September 2014 and September 2015 yet only 23 states added jobs between August and September, according to an analysis released Oct. 20 of Labor Department data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said the fact as many states lost construction jobs as added them last month was likely due to a combination of labor shortages and uncertainty about a host of federal investment programs.
“Depending on the kind of work they perform, many contractors either can’t find enough workers, or they can’t find enough work,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, chief executive officer of the association. “While overall demand for construction continues to grow and sap the pool of available labor, firms that work on federally-funded projects are dealing with a lot of uncertainty.”
California added the most new construction jobs (43,900 jobs, 6.4 percent) between September 2014 and September 2015. Other states adding a high number of new construction jobs for the past 12 months include Florida (26,700 jobs, 6.6 percent), Washington (11,400 jobs, 7.1 percent) and Pennsylvania (11,300 jobs, 4.9 percent). Arkansas (16.1 percent, 7,400 jobs) added the highest percentage of new construction jobs during the past year, followed by Alaska (11.2 percent, 1,900 jobs), Kansas (9.5 percent, 5,600 jobs) and South Carolina (9.0 percent, 7,400 jobs). CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Repairs to New Haven breakwaters damaged by Sandy, Irene close to being finished
NEW HAVEN >> Major repairs on the three breakwaters in New Haven Harbor, damaged in two major storms to hit Connecticut, are close to being done.
A barge with a crane used to move granite into place can be seen from Lighthouse Park as employees at Mohawk Construction finish up work on the East Breakwater off Morgan Point.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers combined the work in New Haven Harbor and Bridgeport Harbor for the breakwater repairs into one bid, for a project cost of $7.4 million.
Superstorm Sandy left $360 million in damages in Connecticut, with some properties still recovering after it swept ashore in October 2012. One year before that, Hurricane Irene caused $7 billion to $10 billion in damage across the country and $281 million in Connecticut.
Dan Stenstream, project manager for the breakwater repairs, said they expect to wrap up in New Haven by the end of December.
The other breakwaters in New Haven Harbor are the West Breakwater and the Middle Breakwater at Luddington Rock.
The pieces of granite that were moved to the three sites weighed 3 tons to 5 tons each with an estimated 32,000 tons needed for the New Haven repairs, according to the Army Corps. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE