Construction Dive’s Friday Punch List is a series dedicated to sharing major building headlines that contractors may have missed from the week.
The biggest news story this week was the Democrats' enormous victory in the midterm elections. But other major headlines in construction included a Fluor subsidiary winning a $2.4 billion Navy contract and news that 190,000 construction workers quit in September, the most in three years.
Read on for other news stories construction execs should know about.
Granite wins $52M contract on Arizona airport
The Tucson Airport Authority awarded a $52 million construction manager at risk contract to Granite Construction to upgrade Tucson International Airport in Arizona, according to a Wednesday news release.
Scope of work includes taxiway modification and enhancements to the Federal Aviation Administration’s navigational aids. The project is the final portion within the TAA’s Airfield Safety Enhancement program, a more than $400 million initiative to modernize the airport. With the most recent win, Granite has won or completed every project in the program, according to the contractor.
Granite’s Swan Facility, a fully automated aggregate plant in Tucson, will supply more than 80,000 tons of FAA-specification aggregate and about 50,000 tons of FAA-specification asphalt for the project, according to the release.
The contractor began preconstruction activities in September, and expects to complete the project in 2029.
—Sebastian Obando
US Coast Guard awards Tutor Perini subsidiary $60M contract
A subsidiary of Tutor Perini won a $60 million contract to build facilities at U.S. Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg in Florida, according to a Monday news release.
The project spans two areas of work on the south and north sides of the station, according to the release. The north project involves demolishing several structures damaged by Hurricane Helene in September 2024 and activity on the south side involves building five berths and upgrades to the buoy yard.
Design work began in late August 2026, according to the contractor. Perini Management Services expects substantial completion in May 2028.
Los Angeles-based Tutor Perini will include the contract value in its 2026 third quarter backlog, according to the release.
—Sebastian Obando
SMACNA announces new leadership
The Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association installed its 2026-2027 president and executive committee during its annual convention in Orlando, Florida, according to a release shared with Construction Dive Wednesday.
Scott Vidimos of industrial sheet metal shop Vidimos, Inc., based in East Chicago, Indiana, took the reins as president. The rest of SMACNA’s executive committee for this year include:
- Joe Samia, CEO and president of Wichita, Kansas-based Central Consolidated, as SMACNA’s new president-elect.
- Gary Myers, vice president of marketing and business development at Roseville, California-based Intech Mechanical, as the organization’s secretary-treasurer.
- Roy Jensen, president of operations at Colorado Springs, Colorado-based MechOne, as SMACNA vice president.
- Todd Hill, president of Troy, Michigan-based Ventcon, as immediate-past president.
—Zachary Phillips
DPR picks new leader in North Carolina
DPR Construction has picked a new leader for one of North Carolina’s major metro areas.
Company veteran Scott Sass will lead operations in the Raleigh-Durham business unit, the builder announced Tuesday. Sass, who has spent 27 years at DPR, has experience leading complex projects and business operations, per the announcement. He also brings experience in the life sciences sector, one of DPR’s strongest markets in the region.
Previously, Sass was a national leader of the contractor’s Special Services Group, which provides specialty contractor services such as renovations, according to his LinkedIn.
The Raleigh-Durham area, which is part of the Research Triangle, features one of the fastest rates of rising construction employment in the country, per the announcement.
—Matthew Thibault
