The Daily Reporter articles from August 2002

The Daily Reporter archives from August 2002

Commentary: Constructive Comments August 1, 2002.
August 1, 2002... Byline: Dick Snow While dollar volume is a good indicator of the current health of the construction industry, so, too, are the numbers of those employed month to month. For example, construction employment in Wisconsin for the month of...

Opponents speak out against freeway proposal.
August 1, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist brings up plenty of examples of good and bad freeways when stating his dislike for the $6.2 billion plan to overhaul the highway system in southeast Wisconsin. There's Detroit, where...

Roadwork ahead: A long and winding road.
August 2, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell This fall, the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission will hand the Wisconsin Department of Transportation a document laying out the scope of a revamped freeway system for the region. Only then, many...

Commentary: Construction Onsite Insite August 2, 2002.
August 2, 2002... Byline: Dick Snow An estimate is an estimate, but... The project is being bid at 2 p.m. Tuesday, but we have to wonder why rehabilitation of the Veteran's Administration intensive-care unit in West Allis has an overall cost estimate...

Covenant Healthcare Systems to build new Wauwatosa clinic.
August 5, 2002... Byline: Jessica Gosz Covenant Healthcare Systems will be building a new clinic in Wauwatosa that will consolidate the services offered at three different locations. The project involves the construction of a 5-story,...

Incentive paid for Appleton project's timely completion.
August 5, 2002... Byline: Sean Ryan On Aug. 23, Appleton will celebrate the reopening of College Avenue after a $7-million, storefront-to-storefront overhaul that ended last week. On Aug. 24, the project's prime contractor, Vinton Construction Company...

OSHA Citations August 5, 2002.
August 5, 2002... Byline: Daily Reporter Staff JUNE Jim Diener Painting and Decorating, Fond du Lac, paid a $450 scaffolding citation on June 27. The company was issued the citation on May 6 during a painting and paper-hanging job at 2721 Fifth St....

Commentary: Education = Productivity = Profit.
August 5, 2002... Byline: Gert Grohmann Profit and loss, dollars and cents, efficiency and effectiveness: These items are of critical importance to any business owner and are especially important in an unstable economy. With this in mind, the Associated...

Gov. restores funding for several power plants.
August 6, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Gov. Scott McCallum earlier this month axed a budget provision denying revenue to local governments that site power plants, putting several major energy projects back on track. "Under the bill as passed by the...

Dept. of Natural Resources two demolition projects.
August 6, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall Two downtown Milwaukee demolition projects - the Milwaukee Auditorium and Park East Freeway - came to a halt after the state Department of Natural Resources learned of environmental problems at the sites. ...

$320M Biostar Initiative kicks off at U of WI-Madison.
August 7, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The $320 million Biostar Initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is kicking into gear this summer, and accelerated funding for the four major projects could put the jobs on an even faster track. ...

Milwaukee Public School Dist. opens up bidding process.
August 7, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall The Milwaukee Public School District will no longer specify Square D Co. as the only supplier of certain electrical parts, said John Lynn, contract specialist with MPS. Lynn said the district is changing its...

Wisconsin Business People - August 7, 2002.
August 7, 2002... Byline: Daily Reporter Staff Oscar J. Boldt Oscar J. Boldt Construction announced the addition of Laure Johnson as its Wisconsin River Valley administrative and accounting manager. She comes to Boldt with more than 20 years of...

Commentary: Constructive Comments August 8, 2002.
August 8, 2002... Byline: Dick Snow Recent events of the day have somewhat livened up the dog days of August, providing plenty of questions worthy of winter's hot-stove league. For example: What's with recent revelations that public relations...

Opposition to International Building Codes surfaces.
August 8, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The state Department of Commerce last month made a transition to the International Building Codes after settling a sometimes-contentious debate, but differences of opinion are resurfacing. On July 19, the...

Port Washington approves power plant plans.
August 8, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall We Energies made strides Tuesday toward its Power the Future plan when the Port Washington Common Council unanimously approved a letter of agreement between the city and the utility. The first phase of Power...

Retzer Nature Center expansion will meet space needs.
August 9, 2002... Byline: Chris Thompson It's going to take a little help from their friends, but officials at the Retzer Nature Center are preparing for an expansion project that will more than double the size of the facility. "It was in 1997 when the...

Architect shortage not felt here.
August 9, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall Architects who specialize in certain niches are scarce, according to ZweigWhite Consulting, a national construction industry management-consulting firm in Natick, Mass. "Individuals who are the market-sector...

Waukesha County Jail expansion project to proceed.
August 9, 2002... Byline: Jessica Gosz Waukesha County Jail expansion plans are moving forward after a panel of county supervisors was told it could not reject a new contract with the project's architect. Kimme & Associates Inc., Champaign, Ill., has...

Lambeau Field just misses minority-hiring goal.
August 9, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell A state review of the Lambeau Field renovation project found that the project team came up inches short of its goals for hiring minorities and women, but there's still forward progress. "It's been a struggle, but...

Commentary: Construction Onsite Insite August 9, 2002.
August 9, 2002... Byline: Dick Snow An estimate is an estimate, but... We wondered why rehabilitation of the Veteran's Administration intensive-care unit in West Allis had an overall cost estimate between $2 million and $5 million. That appeared to be...

Misplaced Geneva bid doesn't change award outcome.
August 12, 2002... Byline: Sean Ryan Last week, the town of Geneva lost track of a drainage-improvement project bid, but when town officials opened it two days after the deadline, they discovered it was the high bid. "(The bid) just didn't get to the...

Commissioner's letter blasts $6.2B freeway expansion plan.
August 12, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Highway planners have taken exception to an Aug. 2 letter from Milwaukee's commissioner of public works criticizing the $6.2 billion freeway plan for southeast Wisconsin and calling the highway expansion program...

OSHA Citations August 12, 2002.
August 12, 2002... Byline: Daily Reporter Staff JULY The Plumbing Doctor, Milwaukee, reached a formal settlement with OSHA on July 19 to pay a $1,500 requirements-for-excavation-protective-systems citation and to reduce a $1,500...

School union considers building regulations.
August 13, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Like just about everybody else these days, the state's largest teachers' union has set its eyes on mold, and it plans to introduce a wide-ranging bill next session to help builders and administrators combat the...

Foundation work on Lambeau Field nears completion.
August 13, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall Visitors to Lambeau Field in Green Bay will have a solid foundation to stand on thanks to Spancrete Industries Inc., which is nearing completion of its riser work on the stadium renovation project. Spancrete,...

Commentary: Assoc. Builders & Contractors are distinguished by the mark of quality.
August 14, 2002... Byline: Matt McClone More than 23,000 contractors, suppliers and associated firms make up the Associated Builders and Contractors' team of merit-shop construction companies. That team is dedicated to building every project on time, on...

Bradley Tech receives $1M donation.
August 14, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall The construction academy of the Lynde and Harry Bradley School of Trade and Technology will bear the name of Dick Pieper, who recently donated $1 million to the school. Pieper donated the money several weeks...

WisDOT unveils online bidding.
August 14, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Except for a printer glitch that delayed the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's bid opening by 10 minutes on Tuesday, the agency's inaugural online bidding process went according to plan. Of the 96...

Wisconsin Business People August 14, 2002.
August 14, 2002... Byline: Daily Reporter Staff BT2 Inc. BT2 Inc., an environmental engineering consulting firm in Madison, has promoted Jennifer DeSteno, Eric Nelson and Brenda Peterson to project engineer II. DeSteno's areas of expertise include...

Commentary: Constructive Comments August 15, 2002.
August 15, 2002... Byline: Dick Snow From the get-go, Milwaukee always had a promotional slogan, and now it might just have created another for itself. Way, way back in its history, Milwaukee was "Gathering Place of the Waters," taken from the Indian...

Milwaukee's general contractors assn. forms mold task force.
August 15, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall The Associated General Contractors of Greater Milwaukee developed a mold task force assembled from members of a dozen construction associations. Mike Fabishak, executive vice president of the AGC-GM, said one...

Bush: Strong insurance market vital to construction.
August 15, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell President Bush brought a message of economic recovery to Milwaukee on Wednesday, and he said restoring stability in the insurance market is pivotal for growth in the construction industry. "If you want our hard...

Five firms submit bids for Leopold Elementary project.
August 16, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The Madison Metropolitan School District's new bidding policy favoring local and union-affiliated companies won't take effect after the district read bids Thursday for a $2 million school addition. Five companies...

Construction workers save accident victims.
August 16, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The construction industry came to the rescue Wednesday to help retrieve two children and their mother from a car sinking fast into a detention pond in Muskego. Minutes after 10:30 a.m., Cathryn Niemczynski of...

Zenith Tech captures large share of bridge market.
August 16, 2002... Byline: Candy Doyle Early next month, the Sixth Street Viaduct's grand reopening is planned, and it will be a proud moment for Zenith Tech Inc. Small wonder. The $50 million design/build project is the largest to date for the...

Organizing will keep carpenters union strong.
August 16, 2002... Byline: Candy Doyle Douglas J. McCarron, general president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, has said in the past that organizing is -- and must remain -- the union's No. 1 priority. McCarron, elected...

Commentary: Construction Onsite Insite August 16, 2002.
August 16, 2002... Byline: Dick Snow Quirky side of bidding The entire congregation has encountered the quirky aspects of estimating and bidding from time to time. This e-mail just in from one of the faithful, Gregg Thompson, executive vice...

OSHA to investigate trench accident.
August 19, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The Occupational Health and Safety Administration has opened an investigation into a trenching accident on Thursday that buried a plumber waist deep in dirt in the town of Summit. "We were there on site...

OSHA Citations August 19, 2002.
August 19, 2002... Byline: Daily Reporter Staff JULY Howard Immel Inc., Green Bay, paid a $500 scaffolding citation and a $500 eye-and-face-protection citation on July 11. The company was issued the citations on June 25 during a nonresidential...

Commentary: Try STP for superior job-site performance.
August 19, 2002... Byline: Dave Lukens Among auto enthusiasts, the oil-additive STP has enjoyed cult status for many decades. When it comes to the construction industry, the same goes for another type of STP, namely the Associated General Contractors of...

Wisconsin wastewater plants take national awards.
August 20, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Three wastewater-treatment plants in Wisconsin recently earned national and regional awards as outstanding examples of design and operation. "It shows we've got the community, the consulting engineer and the...

Brookfield Square plan set for Common Council review.
August 20, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall The city of Brookfield on Wednesday will consider a $161 million plan to renovate Brookfield Square and a host of properties surrounding the mall on Bluemound and Moorland roads. Four consulting companies...

Walworth County's location attracts tourists, businesses.
August 21, 2002... Byline: Jessica Gosz Southeastern Wisconsin's Walworth County has much to offer its visitors. Residents of one of the state's oldest counties -- it was established in 1836 -- can enjoy rolling hills, marshes, prairies, meadows, winding...

Audit confirms Milwaukee's Deep Tunnel inadequacies.
August 21, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall Findings of an audit recently completed by the state Legislative Audit Bureau confirmed that Milwaukee's sewer system can't handle the task at hand. "It's not working as intended," said James Zylstra, senior...

Wisconsin Business People August 21, 2002.
August 21, 2002... Byline: Daily Reporter Staff August Winter & Sons August Winter & Sons, a mechanical contracting firm, has promoted Paul Gardner to project manager and hired Patti McCarthy as an administrative assistant/service dispatcher. ...

Milwaukee school offers accelerated-engineering degree.
August 22, 2002... Byline: Jessica Gosz The Milwaukee School of Engineering will be offering its master of science in engineering-management program in an accelerated suite that allows work to be completed in as little as 15 months. The graduate program, a...

OSHA partnership promises safer work sites.
August 22, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration next week will pool its resources with a private council and a state consultation department to make a marriage made in safety. "We're excited," said Bryan...

Bradley Tech, Trade School occupancy permit OK'd.
August 22, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall The owner's representative for the Lynde and Harry Bradley Technology and Trade School said occupancy permits for the north and south buildings have been granted. "We have a school," John McGregor of Irgens...

State Fair Park to see rise and fall of structures.
August 23, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell State Fair Park will get two new buildings by the start of next year's fair as the State Building Commission took steps Thursday to flesh out the park's $100 million overhaul. Construction is due to start in...

Staff, students of De Forest elementary school file mold lawsuit.
August 23, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Staff members and a student at a De Forest elementary school filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming that negligence by the school's builder, J.H. Findorff & Son Inc., Madison, produced toxic mold that led to health...

Brookfield Square development plans tabled.
August 23, 2002... Byline: Jessica Gosz Plans to develop the Brookfield Square area will be taken up next month, after the city's Plan Commission tabled a report detailing the use of $161 million in public and private money for the redevelopment. ...

T-3 Group denies company closure.
August 23, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall Despite visible signs to the contrary, a spokeswoman for T-3 Group denied that the Milwaukee firm has closed its doors. "We're not prepared to make any statement beyond that," said Nicole Miller of Mueller...

Commentary: Construction Onsite Insite August 23, 2002.
August 23, 2002... Byline: Dick Snow Us against them Border crossing is not necessarily new to general contracting. Certainly large, large projects are targets for nationally focused contractors. However, in our wonderful world, Wisconsin...

WI's American Indian Tribes seek extended gaming compacts.
August 26, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Wisconsin's American Indian tribes have blitzed the state with a media campaign urging an extension to gaming compacts, and the tribes say $600 million in construction projects hang in the balance. The United...

Wisconsin OSHA Citations August 26, 2002.
August 26, 2002... Byline: Daily Reporter Staff JULY Hooper Corp., Madison, reached an informal settlement with OSHA on July 31 to reduce a $7,000 construction-safety-training-and-education citation to $4,000 and to pay a $4,000...

Citizens group wants bridge project stopped.
August 27, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall A lawyer hopes for a decision as early as next week for a citizens group that wants a Wisconsin Department of Transportation bridge project stopped midstream. Attorney Robert Corris, Milwaukee, filed a...

Planning commission's dissolution spurs harsh response.
August 27, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Gov. Scott McCallum's executive order last week dissolving the Dane County Regional Planning Commission has provoked outrage and threats of legal action, but area builders have been requesting the move for more than...

Dept. of Transportation compiles database of state roads.
August 28, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The state Department of Transportation is nearing completion of a local-road database that will provide the first reliable snapshot of the state's small-town infrastructure and could lead to a host of construction...

Wisconsin Business People August 28, 2002.
August 28, 2002... Byline: Daily Reporter Staff Ayres Associates Phillp J. Scherer recently joined Ayres Associates as a senior transportation associate. He is responsible for developing a strategy to enhance Ayres Associates' presence in federal, state...

Commentary: Celebrating the construction craft professional on Labor Day.
August 28, 2002... Byline: Steve Stone On Labor Day, we celebrate the American worker. One industry that represents the diversity and abilities of the American laborer in a powerful way is the U.S. construction industry. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor...

Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District hearing set for Wednesday.
August 29, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District's management of the Deep Tunnel, a 405-million-gallon waste-water storage facility that went on line in 1994, will be under scrutiny Wednesday during a public hearing...

Sierra Club blasts road builders for campaign spending.
August 29, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Road builders refuted a report that environmental groups issued Wednesday tying contractors' campaign contributions to an enlarged state transportation budget. "Every time they want to object to policy decisions...

Superfund site forces Little Menomonee River diversion.
August 30, 2002... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Contractors are set to embark on a one-of-a-kind cleanup project to remove toxic materials from the Little Menomonee River in Milwaukee, and they'll have to go against the flow to make it happen. "I'm not aware...

Architecture firm that designed Shorewood High School to design addition.
August 30, 2002... Byline: Chris Thompson Please forgive the designers at Eppstein Uhen Architects Inc. if they're taking one of their latest projects a little personally. It's kind of hard not to considering that Eppstein Uhen has picked up at Shorewood...

Sixth annual Dozer Day adds activities.
August 30, 2002... Byline: Ellen Hickock-Wall The sixth annual Dozer Day is just a little more than a week away -- Sept. 7. The popular event, at the Halquist Stone Co. Inc. quarry in Lisbon, features giant construction equipment, fire engines and...

Commentary: Construction Onsite Insite August 30, 2002.
August 30, 2002... Byline: Dick Snow Us vs. them You may recall the item last Monday about border crossing by general contractors. Dubuque, Iowa, bid a riverfront education and conference center on Friday. The project consists of a three-story,...