Brannan Building New Headquarters

After many years in the planning stage, Brannan Sand & Gravel Co. officially broke ground on Sept. 11 for construction of its new world headquarters. The site is east of York Street on the south side of Highway 224 in Denver/Adams County.

Adams County commissioners, representatives from Adams County Economic Development, the designer SEM Architects, general contractor Calcon Constructors and other agencies that were instrumental in planning the project were present at the ceremony.

The site is a 30-acre reclaimed gravel pit that has been in the Brannan family for approximately 30 years. Brannan's headquarters will be the first building on the site, and the overall plan is to develop it into an office park within five years.

The 16,800-sq-ft building is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2004.

Merrick Modernizing Denver Flood Insurance Rate Maps

Merrick & Co. is performing map modernization of all Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) in the City and County of Denver.

The collaborative effort includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Urban Drainage and Flood Control District of Denver and the City and County of Denver. All FIRMs (paper maps) will be updated to FEMA's new Digital FIRM format using existing Flood Hazard Area Delineation Studies and approved Letters of Map Revision to ensure alignment with Denver's basemaps. The DFIRMs will be delivered as ArcInfoTM coverages on CD-ROM.

The contract started in August 2003 with a completion date of January 2004.

FEMA maps - DFIRMs and FIRMs - are used to determine if a structure is located inside or outside a Special Flood Hazard Area. Federally regulated lenders require flood insurance for any loan on structures within an SFHA. In addition, FEMA maps are widely used by insurance professionals, homeowners, local and regional planners, floodplain managers, engineers and surveyors.

Visit UDFCD on the Web at www.udfcd.org. For information on FEMA's flood hazard mapping, visit www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/fhm/index.shtm.

Wong Strauch Has New Address

Denver architectural firm Wong Strauch has moved to the Santa Fe Arts District. The new address is:

820 Santa Fe Drive
Denver, CO 80204
Phone: 303-293-9206
Fax: 303-293-8207
Web Site: www.wsarchitect.com

Grey Wolf Announces Educational and Master Planning Projects

With more than $27 million in school projects under design or construction, the school market is becoming a larger part of Grey Wolf Architecture's design practice.

Grey Wolf has teamed with The Neenan Co. to offer pre-bond services to school districts, helping them be more successful in communicating needs and plans to the voting public. After bond passage, the team provides complete design-build services to the districts. The team is finishing a new $7.6 million junior/senior high school for Hanover School District.

The Grey Wolf-Neenan team has also been working with Adams County District 14 to provide support for its current pre-bond effort this November.

In addition, Grey Wolf will be designing a $23 million addition and renovation project at the Olathe Middle/High School for the same school district, Montrose and Olathe Schools.

The design-build delivery is also under way for a classroom and auditorium addition at Telluride High School. That project will be completed in fall 2004.

Weber Elementary School, another Grey Wolf renovation, was recently completed in Jefferson County.

Fentress Bradburn Wins National Marine Corps Museum Project

The Marine Corps, the Department of the Navy and the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation have named Denver-based Fentress Bradburn Architects as the winner of the national design competition for the 120,000-sq-ft National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va.

The museum's structure will be defined by a 210-ft element that soars at a 45-degree angle from the 160-ft-high glass atrium. This central element is symbolic of raising the flag at Iwo Jima, Howitzer cannons and the U.S. Marine Corp's raised swords. The Great Hall space will house the "Celebration of the Individual Marine Exhibit," including displays of marine aircraft, tanks and amphibious vehicles.

On November 10, 2005, the Marine Corps is scheduled to celebrate its 230th birthday with the opening of the building.

Guarantee Electrical Acquires Kimsey Electrical Contracting

St. Louis-based Guarantee Electrical Co. has acquired Aurora-based Kimsey Electrical Contracting - a division of Fischbach & Moore Electric Inc. - forming Kimsey-Guarantee Electrical Contracting, headquartered in Aurora. The announcement was made jointly by Rick J. Oertli, president and chief executive officer of Guarantee, and Stephen M. Kimsey, president of the new company.

Kimsey Electrical Contracting has 150 employees and annual revenues of approximately $30 million. In 2002, Kimsey was ranked sixth in the survey of Top Specialty Contractors of Colorado, published by Colorado Construction magazine.

Guarantee Electrical, which was named Electrical Company of the Year in the Thomas & Betts 2002 Signature Awards earlier this year, has 600 employees and annual revenues exceeding $100 million.

James R. Riney, current operations manager for Kimsey Electrical, has been named vice president of the new company.

Six Aggregate Industries Sites Receive ISO 14001 Certification

Aggregate Industries is developing and implementing a certifiable Environmental Management System across all U.S. regions. The EMS will meet the requirements of, and also be certified to, an international standard known as ISO 14001.

Four of Aggregate Industries' operations in the Central Region, three in the Mid-Atlantic Region, five in the North Central Region, nine in the Northeast Region and six in the West Central Region recently received the ISO 14001 Certification for their new environmental management system.

Certified Colorado sites are Bannock Ready Mix Plant, Bannock Maintenance Shop, Dahlia Asphalt Plant, Havana Ready Mix Plant, Havana Maintenance Shop and Platte Valley S&G Plant.