With trillions of dollars in new work coming online this year, contractors — already struggling to retain craft workers during a historic shortage — now face the challenge of competing with big projects that come to town with a lot to offer workers. This year, the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, which allocates $39 billion to build and expand semiconductor manufacturing plants, will create thousands of new construction jobs — on top of what Ken Simonson, chief economist for Associated General Contractors of America, called “an unusually large concentration of really large projects right now.” To attract and retain workers, many local companies are finding more compelling benefits well beyond money. They’re offering everything from hot meals and heated bathrooms on jobsites to paid volunteer and educational opportunities that may even extend to workers’ families. Younger generations of workers are asking more questions about company culture, what types of projects they would be working on and even safety protocols, said Keyan Zandy, CEO of Skiles Group, a mid-size general contractor in Dallas.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/how-to-retain-workers-when-a-megaproject-comes-to-town/643411/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202023-02-24%20Construction%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:48327%5D&utm_term=Construction%20Dive

With an additional $100 million needed to entirely fix the state’s crumbling foundations, lawmakers are once again pushing for assistance for the thousands of homeowners still affected. One of the most significant proposed bills calls for more borrowing for the Crumbling Foundation Solution Indemnity Co., or CFSIC, the captive insurance company that has been fixing foundations, primarily in the northeastern section of the state. While it is still early in the legislative session and there is not yet a dollar amount attached to the bonding bill, its sponsor, Sen. Jeff Gordon, D-Woodstock, said the final proposal could range anywhere between $50 million and $100 million. That would be in addition to the $100 million in debt that has already been approved by the legislature, $25 million of which has been allocated, as well as nearly $12 million a year from an annual insurance surcharge deposited in the Healthy Homes Fund. While testing is now mandatory at quarries for pyrrhotite, the mineral known to cause concrete to deteriorate, Maglaras notes that not all concrete aggregate comes from quarries.

https://www.journalinquirer.com/connecticut_and_region/crumbling-concrete/article_26b96d7a-b50c-11ed-9139-4b930c4be5c9.html

The $2.3 million streetscape project involves creating a sidewalk that will begin at the Wilton-Ridgefield line, heading north on Route 7. It will continue north to Tusk & Cup Fine Coffee, to the intersection with Route 102. There will be a walking bridge over a brook. The sidewalk will continue north across the street. “The width of Route 102 where it meets Route 7 will be narrowed so you won’t have to run out of breath trying to get across there,” Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi said. “There’ll be walking signs, crosswalks and the sidewalk will continue up to the Norwalk River. A sidewalk will continue all the way up Florida Road as well, with a crosswalk over to the Ancona Plaza.” The project also includes installing decorative lighting as well as the realignment of Route 102 with Route 7 with new traffic signalization and crosswalks at that intersection. J Iapaluccio contractors in Brookfield are expected to do the work.

https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/ridgefied-branchville-project-pedestrian-friendly-17801998.php

Since 2007, Antonio Iadarola, the city engineer and public works director, has tried to convince the engineers that flooding on Kenosia Avenue and West Street are connected to development damage to the Still River and its flood plain that could be fixed if the federal government would commit its resources. But it wasn’t until Iadarola began collecting field data during storms to compile a comprehensive flood report for the Army Corps in 2021 that federal engineers took notice, and recently committed to a $1 million study. The two-year study, which requires the city to contribute $450,000, will recommend solutions, along with a cost-benefit analysis, that would set the stage for the Army Corps to implement flood control measures. The Army Corps study will focus on three key problem areas that Iadarola’s department believes are responsible for the flooding that has plagued the upper reaches of the Still Water basin.

https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/danbury-flooding-army-corps-fix-still-river-17804504.php?src=nthpdesecp

Within five years, the Webster Street parking lot will be reinvented into a 500-unit apartment complex with a 1,100-space parking garage, with a price tag of between $250 million to $350 million. In December, the state announced a $2 million grant to improve the Martin Luther King Jr. Corridor, remediating a nearly 5-acre plot in South Norwalk. Located at 55 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, the 4.97-acre parcel is a city-owned parking lot. The grant was part of $24.6 million the state distributed to combat blighted properties. The overall development costs, including construction of the apartments, will be between $250 and $300 million, while the remediation costs will be about $5 million, Bidolli said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/norwalk-webster-street-parking-lot-apartments-17804138.php

Sanctioned by voters last May in a town-wide referendum, the $16.4 million project would nearly double the size of the station at 240 Danbury Road to almost 19,000-square feet and, if approved, require approximately 20 months of construction. “Since the station was built, the size of the department has almost doubled, leading to overcrowding and a loss of operational and functional space,” the plan reported, according to the 236-page special permit application submitted to the P&Z. Michael Wrinn, director of planning & land use management, said he expects the P&Z to examine the project plans objectively and thoroughly on Monday evening. “After we deal with any required changes and receive approval, we will finalize the bid documents and put the project out to bid,” Burney said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/wilton-new-police-station-17805591.php

A California-based developer has purchased nine Hill properties for a combined $4.35 million — advancing plans to construct 194 new apartments on Congress and Davenport Avenues. The new owner of all nine properties is an affiliate of a company called Catalina Buffalo Holdings, a family-run real estate business with properties in California, South Dakota, and Connecticut. The sale took place roughly four months after the developer won site plan approval from the City Plan Commission to knock down all of the existing buildings on these nine properties and build up in their stead a new five-story, 194-unit apartment complex at the address of 354 Davenport Ave. Lockhart confirmed that his company will stick with the plans already approved by the City Plan Commission last October.

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/property_sales_8

Area shoppers soon will have an additional supermarket option with construction set to begin on a $22 million, 52,000-square-foot Big Y World Class Market in the southernmost part of the city. The Springfield, Mass.-based chain would create about 150 new jobs (50 full-time and 100 part-time), and “substantially increase” the tax base in Middletown, according to the application. Once opened, it is expected to add $2 million to the list of taxable properties. The store will be a stop on the 9 Town Transit route. Kozikowski this week was working on the final zoning approval. Once he finishes the associated paperwork, Big Y will have the go-ahead to proceed once it obtains building permits. The application from local developer Mike Stone, who runs Stone Point Properties, was approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission in September, with a few conditions such as additional screening to block delivery truck headlights from public view, Kozikowski said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/middletown-big-y-supermarket-bring-150-jobs-17799360.php

The parking crunch at Tweed New Haven Regional Airport will ease slightly, at least for the short term, following the City Plan Commission’s unanimous approval of Tweed operator Avports LLC’s application to increase its past parking expansion by 34 spaces. Parking has been an issue at Tweed as Avelo Airlines continues to grow. During holiday peak periods, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, existing parking came close to filling up some days. “More parking at the airport means less traffic in the neighborhood, which is a top priority for everyone,” said Michael Jones, CEO of Avports subsidiary The New HVN LLC, Thursday. “More parking also means a more predicable passenger experience as we approach spring and summer.” Wednesday’s decision followed a nearly three-hour continuation of a public hearing that began with nearly five hours of public testimony on Jan. 25. City Plan Commission members said at that time that they were moved enough by neighbors’ concerns about runoff to want to study it further.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/tweed-new-haven-airport-gets-permission-expand-17801900.php

Chips of lead paint are falling off hundreds of bridges in Connecticut at such a rate that the state Department of Transportation has put out an alert to municipalities and intends to hire contractors to clean it up. “Bridge structures statewide have been experiencing a sudden, unexpected release of lead-based paint chips, which is believed to be related to the recent extreme swings in temperature,” said the DOT alert first issued to its own employees on Feb. 17. The DOT’s bridge maintenance unit spent last weekend inspecting more than 2,100 bridges across the state and determined that lead paint was cracking and falling off hundreds of them. It wasn’t clear Thursday night how many Connecticut bridges were painted with lead paint or for how long that paint type has been used.

Lead paint chips falling off CT bridges, DOT reports