Construction Dive’s Friday Punch List is a series dedicated to sharing major building headlines that contractors may have missed from the week.
This week in construction news saw big-name contractors winning huge awards for infrastructure builds in the biggest U.S. cities. One joint venture of Skanska, Traylor Bros and Walsh Construction won a $1.02 billion subway extension in New York City, and a Kiewit Stacey Witbeck Herzog partnership nabbed a $3.5 billion deal to lay the first section of California’s high speed rail line.
Read on below for other news from the past week builders should know about.
California’s high-speed rail advances private partnership
Beyond the $3.5 billion California high-speed rail contract to lay tracks for the beleaguered initiative, another development received less attention.
The project is now also prioritizing a public-private partnership, according to USA Today. The state’s high-speed rail authority started courting private investors in December to keep the project on track in the face of costs that have ballooned from the original $45 billion estimate to as high as $231 billion today.
On Monday, the authority advanced plans to work with Momentum Alliance Partners, USA Today reported. Consortium team members listed in a May 11 authority filing include Dallas-based contractor Jacobs, Spanish engineering firm Sener and London-based urban mobility planner Steer.
The agreement to move forward with the partnership is expected to be finalized by the end of May, according to the newspaper, and would bring private money and international expertise to the project. Private stakeholders would invest their own money and get paid back over time via system revenues, such as ticket sales, and public funding.
—Joe Bousquin
Turner completes $557M build at UC Berkeley
Turner Construction marked a new milestone in the artificial intelligence buildout, though not with another data center.
The New York City-based contractor this week highlighted the upcoming debut of the Barbara and Gerson Bakar Gateway building at the University of California, Berkeley. The project cost $557 million, according to The Daily Californian, the student newspaper.
The 367,270-square-foot edifice will host Berkeley’s College of Computing, Data Science and Society, the first new college at California’s flagship public university in over 50 years, according to a Monday Turner news release.
The facility, which started construction in 2022, includes research laboratories, classrooms, lecture halls, seminar and conference rooms, offices, social kitchens, a café and rooftop event space. It will support more than 1,300 faculty, students and researchers studying the intersection of AI, machine learning, data science, climate science and healthcare, according to the release.
Working with design partners Weiss/Manfredi and Gensler, the project team made modifications to original designs to meet evolving codes while executing on intricate millwork within the building’s bends and curved architectural forms.
Faculty and staff will move into the building this summer, with the first classes planned for the upcoming fall semester, according to the release.
—Joe Bousquin
7 firms win contracts on $300M NASA campus upgrade
NASA has handed out awards for a $300 million upgrade effort to its primary hub in Houston.
The space agency tapped seven companies to provide construction, revitalization and infrastructure services at the Johnson Space Center, according to a May 29 news release. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity award supports facility projects essential to astronaut crew training and engineering development, according to the release.
The seven contract awardees are Coho Construction Management, Conti Federal Services, Healtheon, HITT Contracting, Ross Group Construction Corp., Energy EPC Solutions and Sauer Construction.
All funds must be obligated by Sept. 30, 2026.
— Sebastian Obando
Trimble launches cross-country documenting initiative
This summer, Trimble is hitting the open road to document how its customers use the firm’s tech.
The Westminster, Colorado-based contech giant, has launched its “Everywhere you turn” initiative, which will demonstrate how clients use its geospatial, construction and transportation tech in their businesses via a series of videos and social media posts, per the Monday announcement.
Traveling in a custom-branded Airstream trailer, the tour will stop at construction projects, infrastructure landmarks, stadiums and high-profile sites and events. The first video episode, which will launch this summer, will focus on a mission to re-measure Mt. Elbert and East Crestone in Colorado.
Other episodes will feature major infrastructure jobs and stadium construction. The road trip will conclude at the Trimble Dimensions conference this November in Las Vegas.
—Matthew Thibault
