TheJobWalk E.100

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Today marks the 100th edition of TheJobWalk. On November 21, 2024, the very first issue went out to just 33 people. One hundred editions later, we’re still walking the jobsites, tracking the biggest projects and the people building them, and we’re glad you’re along for it. Whether you’ve been reading since day one or just joined the crew, thank you for helping us reach this milestone. Here’s to the next hundred!

Salt Lake City International Airport wraps up its $5.1 billion rebuild after 12 years, while SEG Solar signs a land deal for a $950 million HJT solar cell plant near Houston. Also in Houston, HITT and NASA break ground on a new spaceflight fabrication facility at Johnson Space Center, and UCHealth kicks off a $463 million expansion of Memorial Hospital North in Colorado Springs. Walmart files plans for a $400 million distribution center in Cibolo, Texas, and Cambrex breaks ground on a $120 million expansion in Iowa. Plus, Digital Realty taps SmartPM to bring schedule analytics to its global data center construction program. Let’s dive in!

Salt Lake City International Airport has wrapped up The New SLC Redevelopment Program, a $5.1 billion effort that spanned 12 years. The work replaced three outdated terminals with a central terminal and two linear concourses.

The final piece, a roughly 132,000 square foot addition to Concourse B-east, opened October 27, 2026, with seven gates and six concessions. United Airlines holds five of the gates, and the other two are common-use.

The airport now has 94 gates and 101 concessions after a series of openings in September 2020, October 2023, October 2024, and July 2026.

Close to 25,000 craft workers logged more than 18 million craft hours. Executive Director Bill Wyatt credited those behind the program with the foresight and determination to build an entirely new airport despite many challenges.

About 500 guests and employees celebrated on October 24, 2026, and many from the July 2014 groundbreaking recreated the original photo. The evening featured the unveiling of artist Gordon Huether’s suspended installation of about 2,500 acrylic airplanes.

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📰 Construction Quits Reach 198,000 in September, Highest Since Early 2023(ABC)

📰 Jacobs Selected for AEP’s $37 Billion Transmission Program(Jacobs)

📰 DPR Taps 27-Year Veteran Scott Sass to Head Raleigh-Durham Business Unit(DPR)

📰 Construction Unemployment Stays Below 10% in All 50 States(ABC)

📰 Constellation Secures $5 Billion Conditional DOE Loan for Nuclear Upgrades(DOE)

SEG Solar has signed a land agreement for a planned $950 million heterojunction (HJT) solar cell plant at its Tomball Industrial Campus in the Houston area. The facility would add 4 GW of annual cell manufacturing capacity.

SEG expects the plant to create more than 700 local jobs. It is planned to come online in two 2 GW phases, targeted for 2028 and 2029.

The new plant will sit next to SEG’s existing 4 GW Tomball #1 module facility and its 4.6 GW Tomball #2 module plant, now under construction. When finished, the campus will combine cell, module, and component production with warehousing, an R&D center, a certified testing lab, and planned EVA and junction box lines.

The site would become one of the few in the country making HJT cells, modules, and key components together. SEG says modules built with its U.S.-made HJT cells will help developers and asset owners meet domestic content requirements.

CEO Jim Wood said U.S. cell production will give customers a more domestic supply chain, clearer sourcing, and one company accountable for the product.

OWNER/DEVELOPER: SEG Solar

CONSTRUCTION TEAM: TBD

AWARD: Solar Manufacturing

INVESTMENT: $950 Million

LOCATION: Tomball Industrial Campus, greater Houston area, Texas

🔓 Part 1: What the 2026 Midterms Could Mean for U.S. Construction (READ HERE)

🔓 Turner Selected for 452,000 Square Foot Office Renovation (READ HERE)

🔓 Lockheed Martin Expands in Camden, Arkansas with $420M Investment (READ HERE)

🔓 U. S. Steel Breaks Ground on $1.9 Billion in Arkansas (READ HERE)

🔓 Gilbane Breaks Ground on New Lots Library in Brooklyn NYC (READ HERE)

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🚀 Houston, We Have a Groundbreaking

HITT Contracting has broken ground with NASA on the Applied Spaceflight Fabrication Facility, or Building 70, at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The roughly 37,625 square foot high-bay machine shop will consolidate machining work from several campus buildings and support production of precision components for spaceflight missions. It is phase one of a planned engineering complex. HITT is also one of seven firms on a Johnson Space Center contract covering up to $300 million in campus work.

KEY DETAILS
Owner: NASA
General Contractor: HITT Contracting
Award: Aerospace / Manufacturing
Investment: TBD
Location: Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas

❤️‍🩹 Memorial Hospital North Scrubs In for a $463 Million Expansion

UCHealth has broken ground on a $463 million expansion of Memorial Hospital North in Colorado Springs, with JE Dunn as construction manager and Hammes as owner’s representative. The project adds more than 300,000 square feet, including a six-story inpatient tower and eight operating rooms, plus a six-level parking garage. Capacity will grow from 140 to 190 beds, and the hospital will stay open to patients throughout. Completion is expected by summer 2029.

KEY DETAILS
Owner: UCHealth
Construction Manager: JE Dunn
Architect: Perkins&Will
Award: Healthcare
Value: $463 Million
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado

🚛 Project Theo: Walmart’s $400 Million Plan for Texas

Walmart plans a $400 million distribution center in Cibolo, Texas, according to an October 28, 2026, state filing for “Project Theo.” The 744,433 square foot development pairs 712,500 square feet of distribution space with 31,933 square feet of connected office space. ESI Group USA is the design firm, and the filing names no general contractor. Construction is slated to start February 1, 2027, and finish August 1, 2029, a 30-month schedule.

KEY DETAILS
Owner: Wal-Mart Stores East LP
Design Firm: ESI Group USA
Award: Distribution Center
Value: $400 Million
Location: 3641 S. Santa Clara Road, Cibolo, TX 78124

💉 Charles City Gets a $120 Million Booster Shot From Cambrex

Cambrex has broken ground on a $120 million expansion at its Charles City, Iowa, plant, adding 160,000 liters of capacity for developing and commercially manufacturing small molecule APIs and synthetic peptides. The project builds on existing site infrastructure and is targeted for completion in the fourth quarter of 2028, and Cambrex says it will bring total site capacity to nearly one million liters. The groundbreaking came as the site marks its 100th anniversary.

KEY DETAILS
Owner: Cambrex
Award: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
Value: $120 Million
Location: Charles City, Iowa

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Digital Realty has chosen SmartPM Technologies to provide enterprise schedule analytics for its global data center construction program. SmartPM says it was selected after a comprehensive evaluation.

The three-year agreement covers Digital Realty’s Design Engineering & Construction (DE&C) group in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. It includes roughly 60 project slots along with professional services for implementation, analytics, and adoption.

The goal is a more standardized approach to schedule oversight, project controls, and portfolio reporting. For an owner building across three global regions, getting every team to interpret schedules the same way is a significant challenge.

SmartPM co-founder and CEO Michael Pink said more project data does not automatically produce better decisions. What matters, he said, is quickly spotting what is changing, where risk is growing, and what needs attention.

The deal expands SmartPM’s presence in the data center market. The company says owners in that sector want standardized analytics, objective performance measurement, and clear visibility across widely dispersed projects.

The tower formerly known as 1 Undershaft has a new name, One London, and a delivery timeline. The Eric Parry-designed building will rise 309.6 meters, matching The Shard, and is expected to cost more than £1 billion.

Keltbray is already deconstructing St Helen’s Tower to clear the site. A main contractor is expected to be appointed later in 2026. Construction is set to start in 2028, after enabling works are finished and development financing is secured, and practical completion is targeted for 2033.

The team plans to reuse the existing basement and foundations to reduce embodied carbon. WSP is leading structural, civil, and MEP engineering for an all-electric design with greywater recycling and rainwater harvesting.

The 1.2-million square foot, office-led scheme will offer floorplates from about 12,000 to 26,000 square feet, with 3-meter floor-to-ceiling heights throughout.

Public spaces include an SLA-designed podium garden on Level 11 and a London Museum viewing gallery on Level 73, just over 300 meters up.