State Road 30 Completed / UDOT Holds Ribbon Cutting on State Street Project / Utah Museum of Natural History Underway

Big-D breaks ground on Northwest Tire facility; SME lands McCarran Airport steel contract; Granite awarded Riverdale Road project.

Ogden-based Staker Parson Companies recently completed the reconstruction of the $18 million State Road 30 that connects commuters from Box Elder to Cache County in Northern Utah. The project was completed nine days ahead of schedule on July 22.

“We did everything possible to finish the road ahead of time because we knew how important it was to commuters who work and live in that area,” said Randy Anderson, Staker Parson vice president. “We made a big push over the last three weeks with people working seven days a week to get the road to the point where we could open it.”

The UDOT SR 30 project included complete reconstruction of some sections, with wider shoulders, less-steep inclines, new passing lanes for greater safety and new drainage structures. The “Park and Ride” lot was built to reduce road congestion. Staker Parson provided multiple products and services to complete the project including excavating 350,000 cu yds to rebuild the road, placing 192,000 cu yds of granular borrow material and 60,000 cu yds of road base, and placing more than 72,000 tons of asphalt.

“We had nearly 60 people working at the height of the project including truck drivers, equipment operators and pavers,” said Anderson.

Franklin Road Interchange Completed

Concrete Placing Co. of Boise recently completed the new I-84 Franklin Road Interchange. The $24.8 million project was dedicated July 8 with a ribbon cutting ceremony, which included guest speakers Darrell Manning of Idaho Transportation Department, Caldwell mayor Garrett Nancolas and Idaho Senate Transportation Committee Chairman John McGee.

More than 16,209-cu-yds of concrete went into the new interchange, which took approximately a year and a half to construct. The old two-lane overpass, built in 1966, was replaced with a four-lane roadway that has dual left turn lanes. The new interchange ramps are longer and wider to accommodate more traffic at the busy intersection. Franklin Road also was widened from two to five lanes on both sides of the new overpass. The improved road has curb, gutter, sidewalk, bicycle lanes and shoulder.

"Safety and public convenience were big priorities for us during construction," said ITD project coordinator Kelley Lower. "We required the contractor to keep all four interchange ramps open throughout the project. With 17,700 vehicles coming through here every day, that helped us keep traffic moving."

The project included several safety updates, including new traffic signals at the Aviation Way/Franklin Road intersection, a 249-ft median barrier on Franklin Road, and new truck approaches near the Flying J and Sage Travel Plaza.

Big-D Breaks Ground on Northwest Tire Facility

Salt Lake-based Big-D Construction recently broke ground on the Northwest Tire Factory distribution center. The 110,000-sq-ft center is being built on a 10-acre parcel near the Salt Lake International Airport and will support the local retail shops by stocking one of the largest tire inventories in the Western United States. The site was selected because of its easy access to major freeways as well as its size, which will allow for building expansion in the near future.

“Our new distribution center in Salt Lake City positions us to provide service for our independent store owners, which in turn will allow consumers to reap the benefits of better pricing as well as improved customer care,” said Chris Cornelius, chairman of Northwest Tire Factory.

Founded in 1987, Northwest Tire Factory is a unique cooperative marketing group founded in the Pacific Northwest, with 200-plus independently owned and operated retail stores. The Tire Factory currently operates a distribution center in Portland and a 50,000-sq-ft distribution center in Salt Lake City. The group is directed by its owner members, and has more than 200 stores throughout 13 Western states.

R&O Begins North Ogden Project

North Ogden City hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Community Services Building August 1 in North Ogden. R&O Construction of Ogden is the general contractor on the project and Richards Bott Architects of Ogden is the project architect. The 8,800-sq-ft center will house city community services offices. The project is due to be completed early next year.

Granite Awarded Riverdale Road Project

Granite Construction Company of North Salt Lake was awarded a $26 million contract by the Utah Department of Transportation to reconstruct an existing one-mile section of Riverdale Road in Weber County. This is the fourth and final contract awarded to Granite for this project. The four awarded contracts totaled $40 million.

The one-mile project will include the addition of a new lane in both directions and the reconstruction of the bridge and Interstate 84 interchange. The majority of the bridge will be constructed off-site, limiting the impact to the traveling public. Scope of the project also includes the replacement of curbs, gutters and sidewalks, as well as new street lighting, signals and a storm drainage system. Work on the project is currently underway with an estimated completion date of May 2009.

ONYX Begins Copper Leaf Development

ONYX Construction of West Jordan, Utah was awarded the contract to build a 50,000-sq-ft Class A office building on a 3-acre parcel located in the Copper Leaf mixed-use development in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

According to developer Weston Lunsford, Copper Leaf has more than 70 acres parceled out for business, retail and residential construction. Salt Lake-based Beecher Walker Architects is designing the office building with glass and stucco finishes. It is the first of two identical office buildings in the development.

ONYX Construction broke ground in August 2008, with an estimated completion date of March 2009.

The North Face to Open ‘Green’ Store in Boise

Chicago-based Baum Realty Group (BRG announced that The North Face will open its first green retail store in the heart of downtown Boise in the historic Mode Building. The store will be built according to LEED Commercial Interiors (CI) standards and will occupy two stories spread over 8,665-sq-ft. The store will offer The North Face product line, including equipment, apparel and footwear.

“We identified The North Face as an ideal tenant for the Mode Building some time ago,” says Adam Secher of BRG, who represented the landlord in this transaction. “They are a highly sought after national brand and highly selective when it comes to retail site locations. Their decision to open a store in Boise further enhances this town’s reputation as a vibrant retail destination.”

Sahara To Break Ground on Milford Hospital

A groundbreaking ceremony was held July 30 for the new Milford Memorial Hospital in Milford, Utah. Sahara, Inc. of Bountiful, Utah is the design/build contractor for the new

facility, scheduled to be completed in Summer 2009. The 33,139-sq-ft critical access hospital, designed by Salt Lake-based GSBS Architects, will serve the Milford Valley.

“This is an exciting project for the Milford community,” D.J. Potter, Sahara project manager, said. “Their existing hospital is currently the oldest in the state, and soon they will have a nice new facility.”

SME Awarded $110 M Contract at Vegas Airport

West Jordan, Utah-based SME Steel was recently awarded a $110 million steel construction contract to fabricate and erect the steel for Terminal 3 at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

The project, which is expected to begin in August 2008, includes a new terminal building with an elevated roadway structure fronting the facility, over roadway pedestrian bridges, underground automated transit system infrastructure and an aircraft ramp.

The 1.9 million-sq-ft steel-framed terminal will include approximately 21,000 tons of steel, which includes a basement, three stories and roof-level penthouses. The steel portion of the project is slated to begin in March 2009 with a projected completion date of November 2009.

UDOT Holds Ribbon Cutting for State Street Project

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) held a ribbon cutting celebration for the State Street, 9000 to 10600 south project July 31 at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, Utah.

“This is a vital corridor in our transportation system, both from an economic and mobility perspective,” said John Njord, UDOT executive director. “The improvements to State Street along this stretch will make our system work better by keeping residents and consumers moving more efficiently and safely.”

The project has widened and improved State Street from 9000 South to 10600 South, including improvement to both 9000 South and 10600 South.

Speakers at the ribbon-cutting event included Utah State Speaker of the House Greg Curtis, Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan and Njord.

Ground Broken on Utah Museum of Natural History

More than 600 guests, including Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr., were on hand at the Rio Tinto Center July 29 for the ground breaking of the new Utah Museum of Natural History project. The ceremony took place at the new site, located southeast of Red Butte Garden and Arboretum on the University of Utah campus.

The Utah Museum of Natural History at The Rio Tinto Center is slated to open to the public in winter 2010-2011, and is expected to earn a LEED Gold certification. The new 161,000-sq-ft project, designed by Polshek Partnership Architects of New York City along with Salt Lake-based Gillies Stranksy Brems Smith Architects, will double the size of its current facility. The new building offers future visitors an uncommon indoor/outdoor experience with spectacular views of Utah’s landscapes.

The new building will provide much needed space to exhibit, interpret and study an extraordinary collection of artifacts as well as explore and articulate, for the general public, the delicate balance of life on earth and its natural history. More than 1.2 million objects will be displayed and housed in the new facility. It will also provide advanced research facilities and establish a venue for undergraduate and graduate education at the University of Utah.

“We have designed a building in which the architecture is a metaphor for the landscape and the rich culture of Utah,” said design partner Todd Schliemann of Polshek Partnership.

Conceived as an abstract extension and transformation of the land, the building rests on a series of terraces that lay along the contours of the site. Its materials – concrete, stone, copper – reinforce the role of the architecture in illuminating Utah’s rich geological and mineralogical history.

Camco Begins Mountain America Building

Salt Lake-based Camco Construction, Inc. started construction on a new 155,750-sq-ft, 4-story Mountain America Credit Union Corporate Office Building in West Jordan, Utah. The project consists of structural steel and precast concrete panels and is scheduled for completion in winter 2008.

Bodell Awarded Hess Corp. Project

Bodell Construction of Salt Lake City was recently awarded a $10 million contract for the construction of a CO2 Gas Compressor Station project for the Hess Corporation near Mosquero, New Mexico.

The project consists of the installation of two 6,500 hp gas compressors, along with various piping, structural steel, vessels, electrical instrumentation and associated buildings.