Cement Association Recognizes Two Port Authority Jobs

The AirTrain light rail system to John F. Kennedy International Airport and the Newark Liberty International Airport Terminal C Parking Garage each won a Concrete in Transit Award for 2004 from the Portland Cement Association. The national trade group selects winners biennially, and the two area projects were among only five selected nationally. The criteria call for concrete as either a system-wide feature or a principal material in a single completed project, judging on creativity, transferability, aesthetics, economics, and functionality.

The Port Authority operates both airports and the $1.9 billion AirTrain system, completed last year. In recognizing the projects, the association's award cited concrete as a major factor in ensuring construction of the AirTrain guideway in 20 months, while minimizing impact on traffic from the nearby Van Wyck Expressway. The 3,400-space parking garage, part of a major expansion at Newark Liberty, is a four-story, free-standing precast-prestressed concrete structure with a curved shape that conforms to adjacent roadways.

102-Year-Old Contractors Group Honored

The Association of Wall & Ceiling Industries International has bestowed its Centennial Award on the Plastering & Spray Fireproofing Contractors of Greater New York, recognizing that group's status as one of the oldest trade associations in the nation. The contractor group has been continuously operating since 1902.

The association's award recognizes success, stability, and longevity of trade associations and companies. The contractor group represents plastering and fireproofing contractors, and aims to promote and expand use of their services.

SMPS Names Directors for New York

The New York Area Chapter of the Society for Marketing Professionals has selected a new slate of directors. They are: John Coleman, senior manager of business development for the New York office of Skanska; Leslie Farrell, director of business development for Cosentini Associates; Michelle Galindez Russo, marketing director for Flack + Kurtz; Heather Hatfield, regional publisher of New York Construction, Midwest Construction, and Mid-Atlantic Construction; David Koren, senior associate and marketing director for the New York office of Gensler; and Julie Pampuch, marketing director at Cerami Associates.

GBC Elects Murnane as President

Patrick Murnane, president of Murnane Building Contractors, Inc., has won election as president of the General Building Contractors of New York State for 2004. The statewide association represents more than 300 general contractors and associated service firms, and is a chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America. Murnane Building has offices in Plattsburgh, Syracuse, and Utica, N.Y.

The General Building Contractors also announced the winning entries in its 14th annual Build New York competition. Bovis Lend Lease LMB won for the Time Warner Center in Manhattan in the large new project category. E. W. Howell Co., Inc., won for the New York Botanical Garden Visitor Center in the Bronx under the small-medium new project category.

Other winners included Northeast Construction Services, Inc., for the Aurora Inn, in Aurora, N.Y., and Alexander Wolf & Son for the renovation category, recognizing its lighting and acoustical upgrade work for the United Nations General Assembly building.

New Institute to Promote Plaster

Two industry organizations have launched the New York Lath and Plaster Institute, an organization devoted to promoting their trades in the New York area. Local #46 Metallic Lathers Union and the Employing Metallic Furring and Lath Association of New York have joined forces to press the case for lath and plaster construction.

They contend these materials are poised to regain prominence, because lath and plaster are flexible, have strong fire resistance, resist mold, and provide better sound attenuation - addressing issues cited as concerns by many residents and tenants of modern buildings.

ACE Honors Mentors of the Year

The ACE-Mentor program that tutors students in architecture, construction, and engineering studies has named its "Men of the Year" in New Jersey. They are: James McLafferty, executive vice president with The Multitech Group, an engineering services firm in South Plainfield, N.J.; John Spencer, CEO of the New Jersey School Construction Corporation; and Lewis Morgan, vice president of Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas.

Engineering Firms Raise Funds for Olympics

Members and affiliates of the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York have raised nearly $670,000 toward aiding the bid by NYC 2012 to host the Olympic games. The organization states that its strong support for the bid rests on the belief that winning the 2012 games would create thousands of new jobs and nearly $10 billion in construction contracts.

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