TheJobWalk E.95

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The DOE selected 31 grid projects across 26 states for $5.25 billion in SPARK funding, Oklahoma Primary Aluminum unveiled plans for the first new U.S. aluminum smelter since 1980, and Applied Digital confirmed a $3.2 billion AI campus in Brookwood, Alabama. Caterpillar announced a roughly $1 billion North Carolina expansion centered on a new Sanford plant, Genentech broke ground on a $750 million expansion in Hillsboro, Oregon, and Eden Radioisotopes tapped Kiewit for an up to $1.4 billion medical isotope facility in New Mexico. Plus, Arcadis deepened its AI partnership with Autodesk. Let's dive in!

The Department of Energy's Office of Electricity plans to help fund 31 grid-improvement projects across 26 states through its SPARK initiative. The $5.25 billion total includes $1.9 billion in federal funds and $3.35 billion in recipient cost share.

Recipients are expected to reconductor or rebuild over 1,500 miles of transmission line and install Grid-Enhancing Technologies on nearly 21,000 miles, freeing up more than 23 gigawatts of capacity.

Reconductoring swaps existing wires for higher-capacity conductors. By working within existing rights-of-way, the projects should clear congestion bottlenecks while avoiding costly greenfield construction and the decades-long timelines new corridors typically require.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the work will make better use of existing infrastructure. DOE also cites reduced wildfire risk and stronger protection against blackouts and severe weather.

Funded through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program, the upgrades are expected to help lower electricity costs for roughly 100 million Americans.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts opened another all-new construction ECHO Suites® Extended Stay, highlighting rapid nationwide growth since the brand's 2024 launch. This key milestone builds on a wave of recent debuts in Springfield, Missouri; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Round Rock, Texas.

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📰 Fortis Construction Launches New Industrial Business Unit(Fortis)

📰 Bechtel Exits TerraPower's Natrium Project, Files WARN Notice for About 200 Workers(VirginiaGov)

📰 Green Data Centers Partners With New Mexico Building Trades(GlobeNewswire)

📰 Construction Layoffs Hit a Record Low(ABC)

📰 EquipmentShare and Cummins Partner to Deploy 1GW of Power(businesswire)

Oklahoma Primary Aluminum, a joint venture of Century Aluminum and Emirates Global Aluminium, has released renderings and an economic impact study for a proposed plant valued at more than $4 billion at the Tulsa Port of Inola in Rogers County.

If built, the 441-acre facility would be the first primary aluminum plant constructed in the U.S. since 1980. It is designed to produce 750,000 metric tons a year, which the company says would double domestic capacity.

Construction is expected to take three years and employ roughly 4,000 workers at prevailing wages, with 375 to 500 apprentice positions and priority given to local hires.

The plant will run on EGA's proprietary EX reduction cell technology, paired with scrubbers designed to capture and recycle 99% of process fluoride.

An estimated $400 million to $500 million in separately funded regional work, including port upgrades, wastewater treatment, and a new electric substation, is also planned.

OWNER/DEVELOPER: Oklahoma Primary Aluminum (JV of Emirates Global Aluminium and Century Aluminum Company)

AWARD: Heavy Industrial / Manufacturing

INVESTMENT: More than $4 billion

LOCATION: Tulsa Port of Inola, Rogers County, Oklahoma

🔓 Four Data Halls, $430M, One Big Build
(Read more here)

🔓 Just Build It: Knights Commit $1.1 Billion to a New Women's Hospital
(Read more here)

🔓 Piedmont Newton Relocation Hospital Filed at Nearly $600 Million
(Read more here)

🔓 Houston, We Have Power: 40 GW Campus Breaks Ground
(Read more here)

🔓 Space Command Gets a New Home Base
(Read more here)

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🤖 AI Has a New Home in Sweet Home Alabama

Applied Digital has confirmed Brookwood, Alabama, as the home of its Delta Forge 2 AI Factory campus, an investment of more than $3.2 billion from the company and its tenant. Plans call for roughly 1.26 million square feet on 160 acres of a nearly 1,300-acre site. Construction employment should peak above 1,000 workers, and the finished campus is expected to support more than 100 full-time jobs.

KEY DETAILS
Owner / Developer: Applied Digital
Award: Data Center
Investment: $3.2 Billion
Location: North of the 17,000 block of Brookwood Parkway, Brookwood, Alabama

🐛 Caterpillar Crawls Into a $1B North Carolina Expansion

Caterpillar plans to invest about $1 billion in North Carolina, including a new manufacturing facility in Sanford designed to boost output of compact track loaders and telehandlers. The project backs the company's Cat Compact strategy, which is aimed at small contractors and growing businesses. Caterpillar expects the plant to use automation, digital production systems, and integrated logistics, and it cited its existing Sanford operations and local workforce in choosing the state.

KEY DETAILS
Owner: Caterpillar
Award: Equipment Manufacturing
Value: $1 Billion
Location: Sanford, North Carolina

💉 Genentech Prescribes a $750M Expansion

Genentech has broken ground on a $750 million expansion of its manufacturing plant in Hillsboro, Oregon. The 211,000 square foot addition will double the size of the existing site and bring device fill-finish capabilities to the company's U.S. network. Construction is expected to support about 200 jobs, and the finished facility will add roughly 250 high-wage manufacturing positions, with commercial operations slated for 2031.

KEY DETAILS
Owner: Genentech (member of the Roche Group)
Award: Pharmaceutical manufacturing
Value: $750 Million
Location: Hillsboro, Oregon

⚛️ Kiewit Is Heading Into the Atomic Business

Eden Radioisotopes has tapped Kiewit Nuclear Solutions Co. as its nuclear EPC partner for a planned medical isotope production facility in Lea County, New Mexico, an investment of up to $1.4 billion backed by state incentives. Sargent & Lundy stays on for architecture, engineering, and regulatory work. Eden filed its NRC construction permit application in May, expects a decision in mid-2027, and targets commercial operations in 2030.

KEY DETAILS
Owner: Eden Radioisotopes
EPC Contractor: Kiewit Nuclear Solutions Co.
Award: Nuclear, medical isotope production
Value: $1.4 Billion
Location: Near Eunice, Lea County, New Mexico

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Arcadis has expanded its collaboration with Autodesk to speed adoption of AI, connected data, and digital workflows across the built and natural environment, while keeping human expertise central to client delivery.

The partnership pairs Arcadis' design, engineering, and project delivery expertise with Autodesk's Design and Make platform and Autodesk AI, including Autodesk Assistant.

Arcadis is linking its Model Context Protocol capabilities to that assistant while keeping full ownership of what it develops.

One joint effort, See Through Walls, uses AI, sensor data, and predictive modeling to infer hidden conditions inside existing buildings, supporting material reuse and decarbonization.

Existing AI and automation work in North America and Europe is already paying off. In one case, it cut quality reviews from five days to about half a day.

Arcadis CEO Heather Polinsky said embedding the firm's knowledge into its design and decision workflows should help staff work more efficiently and focus on complex client problems.

Construction continues at Oxagon, NEOM's reimagined industrial city on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, where work centers on a 48-square-kilometer core development zone and an expanding port.

Port of NEOM has operated since 2022 at a capacity of 250,000 TEUs. A major expansion targets 1.5 million TEUs by 2030, with the port's advanced container terminal scheduled to open in phases from 2026.

A partnership of Hassan Allam Construction Saudi, El Seif Engineering Contracting, and China Harbour Engineering Arabia holds the EPC contract for Container Terminal 1 and the Marine Services Area, with Jacobs serving as engineer.

BESIX has completed the port's marine infrastructure package, delivering more than 4.6 kilometers of quay wall with Boskalis and Modern Building Leaders.

Beyond the port, NEOM is courting renewable-energy manufacturing and AI-driven industries. Its Oxagon Hive community already houses residents and tenants, with capacity for up to 2,400 people.