DOTD, Plaquemines Parish host ribbon cutting ceremony for LA 23 widening

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the Plaquemines Parish president's office recently hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark completion of the LA 23 four-laning project in Plaquemines Parish.

Benny Rousselle, Plaquemines Parish president, served as master of ceremonies and DOTD Deputy Secretary Cedric Grant and former state representative Dr. Fran Patti gave remarks.

The $2.8 million project widened 1.97 mi. of roadway on LA 23 in West Point a la Hache, located between Belle Chasse and Port Sulphur. Two lanes of concrete were constructed for southbound traffic. The original two lanes were resurfaced for use by northbound traffic.

As the only hurricane evacuation route for lower Plaquemines Parish, widening LA 23 is a significant accomplishment.

Barriere Construction Co. of New Orleans was the contractor for the project and Nelson Capote was the DOTD project engineer. Construction began in October and was completed in February.

New golf community planned for Lafayette

A new $50 million private residential golf community is planned for a site just off Johnston Street along the southeastern border of Lafayette.

The venture, named Château Mirage, will occupy 313 acres of land and feature an 18-hole, $12 million golf course and 248 home sites ranging from patio to estate size.

John Montesano of Lafayette is the developer and Paul L. Miers Engineering LLC of Lafayette will oversee construction.

Louisiana ABC members take home 15 national awards

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) recently honored national award winners at its 2005 national convention in Orlando, Fla. Louisiana ABC members received 15 national awards.

Nine Louisiana ABC members received the Excellence in Construction Award, which recognizes the quality and innovation of merit shop construction and honors all members of the construction team.

The nine Louisiana winners were: Donahue Favret Contractors Inc., one award for the St. Christopher Hotel restoration and one award for the Intercontinental Hotel Conference Center Upgrade, both in New Orleans; Protherm Services Group for the ExxonMobil Far East Coker/West Coker Project in Baton Rouge; Harmony (Turner Industries Group), one award for the Atofina Cosmar Modernization and Maintenance Turnaround in Carville and one award for the Citgo Clean Fuels Project in Lake Charles; Repcon Inc. for the ConocoPhillips 2004 Hydrofluoric Acid Alkylation Unit Turnaround in Belle Chasse; The Lemoine Company for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Art Museum; Westgate Inc. for the Amitech USA New Meyer Polycrete Production Facility project in Zachary; and Industrial Specialty Contractors for the Shell Chemical Norco Subsystems Project in Norco.

Two Louisiana ABC members were National Craft Championship winners, demonstrating high-quality workmanship, technical knowledge and safe work practices in various craft areas during a two-day competition. The Louisiana winners were George H. Johnson Jr. with a bronze in pipefitting and Andy Joseph Blanchard with a bronze in welding.

Johnson and Blanchard are employed by Performance Contractors Inc. and were sponsored by the ABC Pelican Chapter in Baton Rouge.

Three Louisiana ABC members received National Safety Excellence awards: Performance Contractors Inc., Westgate Inc. and Basic Industries Inc.

In ABC's national student construction management competition, the Louisiana State University ABC student chapter team won second place in the project management/scheduling category. The team finished sixth overall in the competition.

ABC is a national association representing 23,000 merit shop construction and construction related firms in 79 chapters across the United States.

One of world's largest pedestal cranes used for ExxonMobil lift

ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge refinery recently used one of the largest pedestal cranes in the world recently to successfully lift and place a 400-ton fuel conversion unit head and set it back into the unit at a distance of approximately 290 ft.

"We know that people can see the crane from Interstate-110 and from the downtown area," ExxonMobil Refinery Plant Manager Bruce March said. "So we wanted to invite the media in and let all of our neighbors know what we're doing and how it impacts them."

The turnaround at ExxonMobil will employ 1,000 contractors, generating a payroll of more than $12 million. The Baton Rouge ExxonMobil facility employed more than 2,000 contractors for turnarounds this year.

"Turnarounds allow us to improve our facility," March said. This turnaround project was needed to upgrade a cat cracker unit, which processes fuel oil into gasoline.

Deep South Crane of Baton Rouge supplied the 2,500-ton-capacity crane needed to handle lifts associated with improvements to the cat cracking unit. Other companies working on the project include Turner Industries, Brand Scaffolding, Industrial Specialty Contractors and Leacon-Sunbelt Inc.

Chicago Bridge and Iron (CBI) of Houston was the only out-of-state contractor to work on the project, although it hired Louisiana workers for its portion of the turnaround.

Crowds flock to annual safety conference

Unseasonably mild winter temperatures recently boosted attendance at the nonprofit Construction Safety Council's 15th Annual Construction Safety Conference & Exposition in Rosemont, Ill.

About 900 attendees, 200 presenters and 500 exhibitors attended the show.

"We were pleased with the turnout this year, as well as with the quality of our programs," said Gayla Bockrath, CSC conference director. One of the council's first employees, Bockrath has run every annual safety conference held by the group to date.

"The traffic on the show floor was heavier, and the discussions in our seminars seemed even livelier than usual," Bockrath noted.

One factor that helped to distinguish this year's conference was a presentation by keynote speaker Michael J. Durant, the best-selling author, decorated Army veteran and chief inspiration for the book-turned-film, Black Hawk Down.

"We knew Mike would be a good fit for our audience and he surpassed our expectations," said CSC Executive Director Tom Broderick.

ACCSH member Scott Schneider of the Laborers Health & Safety Fund of North America also convened a meeting of the Construction Noise Control Partnership (CNCP), a coalition of unions, employers, manufacturers, academics and government agencies, all aiming to reduce noise levels on U.S. jobsites.

The "meat and potatoes" of the conference were the dozens of sessions on fall protection, power line safety, excavation and trenching, industrial hygiene, workzone safety, jobsite rescue and workers' compensation.

Good Growth Awards presented during annual Baton Rouge event

The Baton Rouge Growth Coalition and the Baton Rouge Business Report recently hosted the 2005 Good Growth Awards Program.

The program recognizes and honors outstanding commercial and residential projects in the greater Baton Rouge area as well as individual achievements in the real estate development industry. About 500 representatives of the real estate development industry, the business community and representatives from various civic and governmental agencies attended the event.

"The Good Growth Awards Program showcases to the city of Baton Rouge the many outstanding projects and achievements that are taking place in our city," said Baton Rouge Growth Coalition Executive Director Michael McDuff. "The growth in our commercial and residential markets is good news for our economy and our quality of life."

Individual Award Winners were:

• Distinguished Service Awards - Michael Songy and Marlene Weyand, for outstanding achievements and service to the Baton Rouge Growth Coalition and the real estate development industry.
• Heritage Award - Milton J. Womack, in memory and appreciation of his lifetime achievements and contributions to the real estate development industry and the city of Baton Rouge.
• Hibernia Quality of Life Award - Davis Rhorer, executive director of the Downtown Development District, for his contributions and efforts in revitalizing and developing downtown Baton Rouge.

Nonresidential project award winners were:

• Retail - Havertys by MAPP Construction LLC of Baton Rouge
• Office/Institutional - Bon Carre' Business Center by Commercial Properties Development Corporation
• Office/Institutional - The Baton Rouge NeuroMedical Center Hospital and Clinics by JTS Realty Services
• Mixed Use/Rehabilitation - Mayer/Picadilly Building by McGlynn Corp.