Awards & Accolades
1. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has honored Arizona water infrastructure projects for excellence and innovation within the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water SRF programs.
- Picture Rocks and Airline/Lambert Water Treatment Campuses, Marana, was recognized with EPA’s AQUARIUS Award for innovation, sustainability and public health protection in providing clean drinking water to its community.
- Flagstaff Watershed Protection was recognized for its work to prevent forest fires with EPA’s PISCES Award. Flagstaff Watershed Protection’s resiliency project employs forest thinning to protect Flagstaff’s drinking water resources and avoid catastrophic wildfire damage.
Groundbreakings
2. Preliminary work has begun on the SR 79 Gila River Bridge Replacement project on Florence’s north side. Construction is planned to last up to 18 months.
3. Kohler has begun construction on its 1MSF Greenfield Plumbing Ware Manufacturing Facility on 216 acres in Casa Grande.
4. The Opus Group announced the start of construction on Warner Commerce Center, a two-building, 197KSF speculative industrial project in Tempe.
Progress Reports
5. Valley Metro reports the rough cut utility work for the South Central Light Rail Extension is approximately 40% complete. The project will start laying track when that progress reaches 50%. The Northwest Extension, which will connect the transit system to the former Metrocenter mall, is approximately 34% complete.
6. Construction is reported to be on schedule for the American Leadership Academy Anthem South junior and senior high charter school in Florence. The school is expected to open in the fall.
7. Demolition is ongoing for the former Phoenix Greyhound Park near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The City of Phoenix Aviation Department, which owns the property, has not announced future plans for the site.
Completions
8. Route construction is finished on Valley Metro’s Tempe Streetcar project, but one of six cars remains to be delivered. The cars currently in stock are being run on the track to give operators experience while waiting for the final car to arrive.
9. With work completed on the new 30KSF Avondale Visitor Center, Avondale officials and representatives of Haydon Building Corp and Architekton conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to introduce the building to the public.