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, a Skanska-Stacy Witbeck joint venture broke ground on a $2.43 billion light rail project in Van Nuys, California, and autonomous machinery firm Bedrock Robotics raised $600 million in a Series C funding round.
But there was more building news beyond those highlights. Read on for some other stories construction execs should know about.
Granite nabs $23M in road, military wins
Granite Construction snared two project wins, one on the ground and one, seemingly, right out of the air.
The Watsonville, California-based contractor will take on the $16 million State Route 202 widening and trestle replacement project in Woodinville, Washington, according to a Wednesday news release. The project will widen the road from five lanes to eight, while replacing a railroad trestle with a post-tensioned box girder pedestrian bridge. Construction has begun, and completion is slated for late 2027.
The firm also won an $11 million contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a BAK-12/14 aircraft arresting system at Homestead Air Reserve Base in Homestead, Florida, according to an Oct. 22 release. The system, which is reminiscent of the hook-and-cable set up Maverick snatches onto in the “Top Gun” movies, provides a critical emergency stopping mechanism for incoming aircraft.
The contractor expects construction to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2027.
—Joe Bousquin
Bechtel sends $1M to Wyoming skilled trades
Construction giant Bechtel has invested $1 million into two Wyoming colleges to expand skilled trades training and to create new electrical and pipefitting career pathways in the state, the builder announced Wednesday.
The investment into Laramie County Community College and Western Wyoming College seeks to support curriculum, instructors, equipment and training facilities. It will also prepare graduates for apprenticeships and introduce them to local builders and partners.
In addition, the Reston, Virginia-based contractor launched Build for More, a statewide campaign to pitch Wyoming residents on the skilled trades as a first-choice career. Build for More is designed to use digital storytelling and community engagement to reach students who may have never considered the trades, as well as their parents and teachers.
—Zachary Phillips
Skyline taps Silicon Valley construction vet
San Francisco-based Skyline Construction has hired Silicon Valley building vet Steve Dunne as senior project executive, according to a Monday news release. Dunne previously worked at Sunnyvale, California-based SC Builders for more than 20 years, according to his LinkedIn.
Dunne led projects and campus developments for Silicon Valley stalwarts Google and Qualcomm, according to the announcement, and counts nearly four decades of construction industry experience.
In his new role, Dunne will support Skyline's operations and project teams throughout Northern California, per the release, and anchor its technology, life science and workplace business.
—Joe Bousquin
Navy awards $3.3M autonomous construction contract
The U.S. Navy is getting involved with new forms of construction.
Neya Systems, which provides off-road autonomy software, won a $3.3 million contract to deliver an autonomous construction equipment kit to the Navy, the company announced Tuesday. The kit will help the Naval Construction Force repair airfields and ports autonomously and construct naval bases in environments where personnel would be exposed to hazards.
The company’s system will deploy onto the NCF’s existing vehicle fleets, per the announcement. It can scale to additional vehicles, which include skid steer loaders, forklifts, bulldozers and front-end loaders.
The systems will offer the NCF a full spectrum of construction autonomy behaviors, which include teleoperation, to both semi- and fully autonomous behaviors. It will also be capable of operating in GPS-denied, degraded, intermittent and limited environments.
—Matthew Thibault
Hensel Phelps hits milestone at Tampa International Airport
Tampa International Airport in Florida has reached a new milestone on its Airside D Terminal project.
Construction workers, led by general contractor Hensel Phelps, have begun to place precast concrete panels on the exterior of the terminal building, the airport announced Tuesday. The panels were cast off site and then trucked to TPA.
Workers will place 83 pieces set along the outline of Airside D, which they will then fasten into place and tie to the structural steel, thus creating the building’s skeleton, per the announcement.
Although they are similar to the panels that make the elevator shafts throughout Airside D, these panels feature an exterior finish with a rough texture, which will highlight the stone and sand that make up the walls, per the announcement.
—Matthew Thibault
