Final Beam in First Phase of CMRR Project Drops into Place

Workers hoisted the final steel beam atop the skeleton of what will be the Radiological Laboratory Utility Office Building at Los Alamos National Laboratory, marking a milestone for the first of three phases in the multiyear Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project (CMRR).

Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project, Los Alamos National Lab, N.M.

Photo by LeRoy N. Sanchez

Austin Commercial Contractors LP of Dallas received the design-build contract in November 2005, and the project broke ground on January 12, 2006.

The building will house several of the Lab’s mission-critical projects - analytical chemistry, materials characterization and actinide research and development capabilities - set to be relocated from their current location in the five-decade-old Chemical and Metallurgy Research building at Technical Area 3.

This first phase of a three-phase project also calls for the construction of the Nuclear Laboratory Facility building to further the mission of the National Nuclear Security Administration, as well as the specialized engineering of each building’s equipment. Designers have planned a tunnel that will connect the two structures.

Expected to be structurally completed by September 2009, the $164 million Radiation Laboratory Utility Office Building will then go through another two years of equipment installation. Between 2009 and 2011, Lab operations will begin in the new building’s facilities, which will include a radiological laboratory, a training center, two simulation labs and cleared and uncleared office space for some 350 Lab personnel.

Leaders of the CMRR effort expect the project to be fully completed within the next 10 years with a total projected cost of approximately $2 billion.

New Rules to Protect Workers from Drug & Alcohol Related Accidents

Governor Bill Richardson is pushing for changes to the New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Regulations related to the unlawful drug and alcohol use in the workplace.

The changes are part of Richardson’s comprehensive plan to strengthen workplace safety standards statewide which he demanded after a highway contractor crew was found drinking alcohol after work at a bridge construction site in Gallup, resulting in the death of one worker.

“These regulations, which are tougher than even federal standards, will ensure that all employers, including those in the construction industry, are held accountable for lax workplace practices that put their employees in harm’s way,” says Richardson.

Unlike federal OSHA regulations which make no specific reference to drugs or alcohol, the proposed “Prohibition against Unlawful Drug Use and Alcoholic Beverage Use in the Workplace,” would clearly spell out that:

• Employers are responsible for providing a workplace free from unlawful drug and alcoholic beverage use by employees.

• Employers are responsible for developing and implementing a written policy prohibiting the use of those substances by employees.

• Employers who violate those requirements may receive the maximum of the civil penalty for those violations.

The maximum penalty ranges from $1,000 to $7,000 depending on circumstances surrounding violations. If the Board adopts the changes, the new regulation could go into effect early next year.

Richardson also directed state agencies to pursue tougher measures, including:

• Amending current specifications to include zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol use or possession by contractor and subcontractor employees on work sites, and requiring random testing for all employees directly working on construction sites as a condition of prequalification for contractors and subs to bid on state construction projects.

• Requiring contractors and subcontractors to maintain certain safety ratings as determined by OSHA before bidding on state construction projects.

• Requiring contractors and subcontractors to conduct quarterly checks on the validity of all of its employees’ drivers’ licenses, and to have a hiring and termination policy with regard to DWI convictions and loss of drivers’ license, especially as it pertains to foremen, safety officers and supervisors.

• Amending current specifications to enable the state to terminate a contract if a contractors’ OSHA and OSHB safety ratings fall below certain acceptable standards.

To submit project news, events and personnel announcements, please email them to Scott Blair, editor, at scott_blair@mcgraw-hill.com. Include a color photograph or project rendering if applicable.