Construction

The housing market's continuing struggles have upset the retirement plans of millions of Americans, keeping more of them in their current homes, waiting for diminished equity to reappear. Others plan to move, but they appear to be demanding something much different from what they wanted before the real estate boom turned to bust: smaller, less expensive retirement houses they can afford with their reduced means. At the start of the financial crisis in the fall of 2008, economists weren't anticipating that the long-term trend toward retirement living would be derailed.

Radnor energy company Penn Virginia Resource Partners L.P. on Monday announced $380 million in new pipelines serving Marcellus Shale natural gas drillers, continuing its expansion in Pennsylvania's booming shale-gas region. PVR, which has rapidly transformed itself from a coal company to a natural-gas pipeline company, said it has entered into long-term agreements to extend its Lycoming County system to collect and process gas from the wells of four gas drillers, including some of the biggest producers in northern Pennsylvania.

Shawn Pressley, project systems manager for Hill International Inc., shuttles between the Comcast Center, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and other worldwide construction sites, tracking work crews, owners, vendors, supplies, bids, job changes and corrections, and the money flowing among them all. "My office is my laptop," said Pressley, checking work at the Comcast tower in Center City. "When I'm in the Middle East and I have to get information to our corporate office in Marlton or get it from someone in Spain, I used to have to look at e-mail, faxing and Fed Exing.

Schuylkill Expressway drivers will be forced to endure another season of construction delays next year in the Vine Street interchange area, according to PennDOT officials. PennDOT district engineer Robert L. Rowland said today that the contractor working in that area this year is 10 weeks behind schedule on the job. That, said Rowland, means the contractor will be returning to the interchange area next year to finish the job. The contractor, a joint venture of Morrison-Knudsen Corp.

Downingtown Senior High School administrators are working to alleviate disruptions caused by a $2.9 million renovation and expansion project under way at the school. Construction in the high school's library and cafeteria is causing severe parking problems, and because construction forced the closing of the cafeteria, students have had to bring in food and eat in the gym since the first day of school. On Oct. 26, the school started serving lunch in the gym. Main dishes such as sandwiches, pizza, hoagies and cheeseburgers, plus a vegetable, soup, drinks and dessert, will be offered until early March, when construction is expected to be finished and the full-service cafeteria back in operation.

The Coatesville Area School District approved a contract Thursday with the Wagner Group Inc. to plan seven major construction projects that will cost between $25 million and $30 million over the next five years. Roger McGuigan, chairman of the district's buildings and grounds committee, said the school district would pay between $4 million and $5 million to the Reading firm to design plans to upgrade existing buildings and oversee the building of new ones to meet enrollment growth.

Eagles fans heading to Sunday night's game at Giants Stadium will see drastic changes with the parking situation. Because of construction of the new stadium at the Meadowlands, more than 5,000 parking spaces have been eliminated. All game-day parking is prepaid, permit parking for season ticketholders. Fans without permits will be directed to off-site lots that cost $20. Tailgating is prohibited on the off-site lots. There is free shuttle service to and from the stadium, beginning 4 hours before kickoff and continuing for 1 1/2 hours after the game.

It took 29 years to get from proposal to the pick and shovel, but today it's official. PennDot will start construction on the Exton Bypass today with groundbreaking ceremonies at 10 a.m. near the heart of the problem the bypass is designed to correct - the traffic at the crossroads of Routes 100 and 30 in Exton. State Transportation Secretary Howard Yerusalim and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation district engineer Stephen B. Lester will officiate as local and state officials gather alongside northbound Route 100, a half-mile south of Route 30 in West Whiteland Township.

Valley Township supervisors have approved final plans for two developments with a total of 214 homes. Developers said that construction would begin this fall and that sales would begin in the spring. Approved by 5-0 votes Tuesday were: Country Club Valley, at the southeastern intersection of the Route 30 Bypass and Country Club Road. It will have 92 townhouses and 64 single-family houses. Developer is Ken Hellings of Media. Valley View, adjacent to Country Club Valley on the south.

East Goshen will have two new traffic-signal systems, and a third might be installed if the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's traffic counts indicate sufficient need. At a supervisors meeting Tuesday, Chairman Anthony G. Iacovelli opened sealed bids for construction of a traffic light at Reservoir Road and Paoli Pike. He said a contract would be awarded to the lowest bidder, Lenni Electric Corp. of Lenni, Del., pending a review by township manager Louis F. Smith. Lenni's bid totaled $41,500.

The segment of the U.S. population age 85 and above is expected to grow nearly five times faster than the overall population over the next 30 years. The surge could create huge demand for senior-living residences that occupy the middle ground between independent living, in which seniors largely care for themselves, and the more intensive care of nursing homes. Three Radnor businessmen are banking on that with Shelbourne Healthcare Development Group L.L.C., which with a Georgia partner has six assisted-living facilities under construction, including one in North Wales.

Three solo and three group shows hold sway currently at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts, in a roundup featuring many Philadelphia artists. A degree of spontaneity stamps the double shows "Under Construction, Parts I and II," which display work by 10 regional artists currently involved in combining various aspects of construction, architecture, design and sculpture. Some use ordinary building materials, others construction-site discards. Especially compelling are robust sculptural works Acanthus Model and The Movement of Objects by Wilmington's Joe Netta, both subtle essays in texture, structure, and composition - energetic, evocative pieces that establish definite mood and atmosphere.

Howard S. Turner, 100, who pursued a career in research and development before helping to lead his family firm, Turner Construction Co., from 1965 to 1982, died Wednesday, April 25, at Bryn Mawr Hospital. He had lived at Dunwoody Village, the retirement community in Newtown Square, since 1986. Christopher McFadden, a Turner Construction spokesman, said Tuesday that "under his leadership, the company grew from seven offices in the United States to operations in 20 cities ... and the company's international division was launched with operations in four countries.

Construction worker dies in Fairmount accident A construction worker fell from scaffolding at a work site in the city's Fairmount section Monday afternoon and was pronounced dead about 1:45, police said. Authorities said the unidentified 30-year-old man came in contact with a live wire while working on the third floor of a building under construction at 20th and Parrish Streets and fell to the ground. A police spokeswoman said the cause of death was under investigation.

Police said a construction worker fell from scaffolding at a construction site in the city's Fairmount section Monday afternoon and was pronounced dead at around 1:45 p.m. Authorities said the 30-year-old unidentified Hispanic male came in contact with a live wire while working on the third floor of a building under construction at Parrish and 20th streets and fell to the ground. A police spokeswoman said the exact cause of death was under investigation. A spokesman for the Medical Examiner's office could not be reached for comment.

A three-year, $66.2 million construction loan has been arranged through Wells Fargo Bank for Pearl Properties' Granary luxury multifamily project at 20th and Callowhill Streets in Philadelphia. The loan was arranged by the New Jersey office of commercial real estate adviser HFF Inc., which announced the financing. When completed in 2013, the Granary will have 227 one- and two-bedroom apartments averaging 842 square feet each, 20,654 square feet of ground-level retail space and underground parking.

Alfred E. Campellone, 85, founder of three Philadelphia construction firms and a horse rider in Masonic parades and wagon trains across the state, died Wednesday, April 4, of complications from Parkinson's disease at his home in Auburn, Schuylkill County. "He was more proud of his horse accomplishments than his work accomplishments," though they, too, were considerable, said James Brooks, who had worked with Mr. Campellone since the 1960s. Brooks is now vice president of SWERP Inc., a Miquon firm that Mr. Campellone founded in 1988.

Construction is set to begin on a $50 million project to expand sewage service in undeveloped sections of eastern Camden County, including portions of the Pinelands, laying the groundwork for 10,000 new homes. The county plan - paid for with a low-interest loan from a state environmental fund - comes as the region wrestles with tight municipal budgets caused by the real estate slowdown and shrinking property values. "That part of Camden County that has remained stagnant because of water and sewer issues," said Camden County Freeholder Jeff Nash.

Modular construction is not new to Philadelphia. A number of builders here have been using it, including Westrum Development Co. at its Hilltop at Falls Ridge in East Falls and the Arbours at Eagle Pointe in the Northeast. Developer David Perelman built 75 modular homes during the 2003-2006 real estate boom to keep up with demand. And developer Jeffrey Tubbs, for his first foray into home building three years ago, used modules for his Flats at Girard Pointe, near Girard Avenue and Third Street.

When a port with two ship berths opens late next year in Paulsboro, it will be the first new marine terminal in 50 years on the Delaware. Already, about $70 million has been spent to clear the site, construct a retaining wall on the shoreline, and haul and place 300,000 cubic yards of soil to raise the elevation of the 190-acre site, directly across from Philadelphia International Airport. The port is at a bend in the river, and thousands of cubic yards of sediment have been dredged to deepen the area to 40 feet to accommodate ships.