Oracle Breaks Ground on New Compute Facility in West Jordan

Oracle executives joined by Utah Senator Hatch, Utah Governor Huntsman, in high-profile groundbreaking event. Facility is expected to take approximately 18 months to build, with an expected completion in early 2010.

Executives from Oracle, the world's largest enterprise software company headquartered in Redwood Shores, Calif., broke ground October 24 on a new global information technology center, Oracle’s Utah Compute Facility.

The 179,000-sq-ft facility will support the company’s growing On Demand business and house the technology infrastructure to support the research and development needs of Oracle’s growing customer base.

The facility will include many sustainable building practices including:

• The use of green technologies and materials such air-side economizers, the use of outside air to help cool the facility, motion-sensing and low-voltage lighting, xeriscaping and the use of low-emitting adhesives, paints, recycled steel and other building materials.
• Incorporating practices that reduce the facility’s carbon footprint such as encouraging alternative commuter programs like ride-sharing, carpooling and biking to work; comprehensive recycling programs; and the use of natural daylight to offset power usage.

(l to r): Oracle board member Ray Bingham, Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr., Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, Oracle president Saffra Katz, and Oracle CIO Mark Sunday were on hand October 24 for the groundbreaking of a new 179,000-sq-ft Oracle compute facility in West Jordan. Inset: Hatch praised Oracle’s decision to build in Utah and said the new facility will have a great impact on the local economy.

In addition to Oracle president Saffra Katz and CIO Mark Sunday, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch and Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. participated in the event and addressed attendees, saying this facility will be a major boon to Utah’s economy.

“This is going to be a terrific facility,” said Hatch. “Our workforce ranks as one of the most intelligent, hard-working in the country and is the life-blood for many companies.”

Holder Construction of Atlanta is the general contractor of the anticipated 18-month-long project, which is expected to be finished in early 2010. Kitchener, Ontario-based Ginsler is the architect on the project. Salt Lake-based firms such as CCI Mechanical and Cache Valley Electric are part of the construction team.

Duncan Aviation to Open Provo Service Center

Lincoln, Neb.-based Duncan Aviation, Inc. recently announced its plans to build and open its third national full-service maintenance facility for business jet aircraft in Provo, Utah, by August 2010. This facility will provide airframe, engine, interior completions, exterior paint and avionics installation services for business aircraft from around the world.

Tectonic Management Group, a design-build firm in Denver, will design and construct the facility, according to Kevin Larson, an architect with Tectonic. Larson says the firm “is currently doing conceptual layouts for the project”, with an anticipated groundbreaking slated for late spring-early summer of 2009.

Todd Duncan, chairman of Duncan Aviation, says the firm started looking two years ago at a potential service center in the western U.S. “Our site selection criteria was based on our other successful models and we are excited to have found Provo,” says Duncan.

The Duncan Aviation facility will be built from the ground up and is slated to open by August 2010 with nose-to-tail service capabilities. Duncan Aviation currently has two full-service support facilities, one at its headquarters in Lincoln, Neb., and one in Battle Creek, Mich.

Avalon, Greene’s Repair U Concrete Sections

Salt Lake-based Avalon Construction and Kaysville, Utah-based Greene’s Inc. assisted the University of Utah in making various concrete repairs at Rice-Eccles Stadium recently.

The University of Utah wanted to repair some cracks and chips in the venue’s concourse and Olympic plaza concrete, eliminate tripping hazards, and re-pour 21 concrete stairs for aesthetically and safety reasons. Avalon Construction hired Greene’s Inc. to do the rehabilitation and demolish, then re-pour, the stairs according to ADA specifications.

“This type of maintenance and upgrade keeps the facility looking and operating to the highest standards and will make it a safer place,” said Ed DeLaCruz, Greene’s project manager.

Greene’s ground down tripping hazards, repaired and patched cracks and chips in the concourse and the Olympic Plaza. The $30,000 project was completed in just over three weeks.

Ground Broken on 11400 South Expansion

Utah governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. and officials from the Utah Department of Transportation broke ground October 30 on a massive $250 million transportation project in Salt Lake County.

The project will include a new interchange at 11400 South off I-15, and an expansion of a five-mile corridor from State Street in Sandy to Bangerter Highway in South Jordan. The project will provide the first east-west connection to I-15 in more than a decade.

Completion is slated for fall of 2010.

W.W. Clyde Awarded POM Project

W.W. Clyde & Co. of Springville, Utah, was awarded the Siphon and Penstock Relocation project at the Point of the Mountain near Lehi, Utah. W.W. Clyde & Co.’s portion is part of a $5 million capital improvement project.

The purpose of the project is to protect and maintain the integrity of the current water delivery system. The project, commissioned by the Provo River Water Users Association, is time-sensitive and must be completed by April 2009 to accommodate the start up of the Provo Canal.

W.W. Clyde & Co.’s $2.1 million portion of the project (with an option to increase the contract to $2.4 million) requires the contractor to provide labor, materials and tools for the installation of 3,626 lf of parallel 60- and 72-inch diameter steel pipe. Additionally, the project requires the building of a meter vault, manway access vaults, a concrete blow-off vault and a concrete energy dissipation structure.

The majority of the pipeline relocation will be constructed through the Staker Parson-owned gravel pit located on the west side of I-15 at the Salt Lake County and Utah County line.