Skanska Named CM for $147M Detention Center Expansion

The Durham, N.C., office of Skanska USA Building has been named construction manager for the $146.9 million, 412,000-sq-ft Phase 2 expansion to Wake County’s Hammond Road Detention Center in Raleigh.

The project expands the existing Hammond Road facility and will include 672 beds: 224 beds in single cells and 448 beds distributed within eight dormitories. Additionally, the project includes a kitchen and food service facilities, laundry area, administration areas and intake/booking space. Facilities for medical services as well as a forensic lab are also included.

Skanska will also build a 300-space parking deck on the site to support employees and visitors.

Preconstruction work has begun and the facility is scheduled to be completed in 2012.

North, South Carolina Have Steep Declines in August

Compared to the same period of a year ago, the value of new contracts signed in August for future construction fell by 26% overall in North Carolina, and by 84% in South Carolina, according to the latest information from McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of Southeast Construction.

In North Carolina, all three construction sectors were negative for the month, as the state experienced an overall total of about $1.5 billion in new project starts. The nonresidential sector fell by just 3% compared to last August, to total about $442.7 million. The value of August’s new residential contracts was $775.3 million, down 38% from a year ago. The nonbuilding sector – which includes infrastructure projects – fell 11% to total about $256.4 million.

For the year-to-date, North Carolina is 19% behind last year’s pace. The residential sector is 35% behind last year, and totals roughly $7.1 billion in new starts so far. The nonresidential market is now 11% behind the ’07 pace, with about $4.3 billion in new starts. The nonbuilding sector’s nearly $2.9 billion total to date is about 46% ahead of last year’s pace.

In South Carolina, August contracts were 84% lower than the same period of a year ago, and totaled roughly $702 million. That compares to last August’s total of $4.4 billion.

The nonresidential sector fell 91% compared to the previous August for a $344.9 million total. Residential fell 39% during August for a $311.3 million monthly total. The value of nonbuilding declined by 66% compared to last August for a total of $45.9 million.

For the year-to-date, according to the latest revised information from McGraw-Hill Construction, the value of new starts in South Carolina is now 34% behind ‘07’s pace. Residential is 26% below last year, and totals roughly $3.6 billion. Nonresidential is 58% behind last year, with a cumulative total of $2.3 billion. The nonbuilding segment is 62% ahead of last year’s pace, with a recently revised total of about $1.6 billion.

Hendrick Construction Building Carolina Cobra Coaster

Charlotte, N.C.-based Hendrick Construction is building the Carolina Cobra, a new roller coaster at amusement park Carowinds of Charlotte.

Scheduled to open in the spring, the Carolina Cobra will send passengers along a 935-ft-long track that drops almost 10 stories and reaches speeds of almost 50 mph.

Hendrick is building the foundations, queue line, control station, site paving and amenities for the roller coaster. When that work is complete in February, Hendrick will work in partnership with Carowinds and the ride’s creator to assemble and mount the structure.

According to Hendrick, the project will require 1.6 million pounds of structural concrete and 60,000 pounds of reinforcing steel to support the track and forces exerted by the ride. The roller coaster will be supported by a series of structural concrete caissons that, in some cases, extend more than 15 ft underground.

The Carolina Cobra is located near the entrance of Boomerang Bay on a 1.5-acre site that straddles the border of North Carolina and South Carolina. The “boomerang” coaster will send riders along a 65-degree descent into three inversions until the train is caught by a second lift hill and towed to the top. When the train is released, riders will race backward through the inversions to the starting point.

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