The Tampa chapter of the American Institute of Architects recently named the Beck Group, which is headquartered in Dallas and maintains nationwide offices, as Builder of the Year.

The Dallas Chapter of the AIA also named Beck the Architectural Firm of the Year.
"This award not only recognizes the quality of our work but also underscores our contributions to the profession and the community," said Rick del Monte, a managing director with the Beck Group.

In addition, the Dallas Chapter of the AIA chose Beck as its Contractor of the Year in recognition of the firm's completion of the highly acclaimed Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas. Beck served as the associate architect and contractor for the project.

Texas Construction Hosts First Awards Banquet

For the past seven years, Texas Construction has published a special issue highlighting the best projects of the year, which are selected by an independent panel of judges. The winners are announced in a special December issue.

The 2003 Best Of awards recognizes projects judged to be among Texas' best that were designed and built last year and pays tribute to the men and women who are part of the Texas construction industry.

The winners were featured in the magazine's December issue, which was dedicated to the Best of 2003 awards competition.

The Best of 2003 Awards marked the first year the magazine hosted an awards presentation and luncheon, which was held at Houston's Westin Galleria on Dec. 9. A total of 67 projects spanning 18 categories were submitted by 33 construction, design and specialty companies. The top project, the Judges' Award, went to the Nasher Sculpture Center. Neil McGlennon, senior project manager for the Dallas office of the Beck Group, accepted the plaque on behalf of his firm.

To submit potential award-winning projects that will be completed in 2004, please contact Texas Construction at 512-458-4894.

Parsons Brinckerhoff Named Prime Consultant for Corpus Christi Streetcar

The Corpus Christi Regional Transit Authority recently awarded a contract to the San Antonio office of Parsons Brinckerhoff to provide planning, project management and engineering design services for the development of a streetcar line in downtown Corpus Christi.

The project involves the development of a 2-mi. vintage-style streetcar line that will connect uptown with downtown and bayfront areas.

ABC Supply Sales Up in '03

American Builders & Contractors Supply Co. Inc. reported that third-quarter 2003 sales of $537.5 million were 29.1 percent above the sales of $416.4 million reported in the third quarter of 2002. Net income for the quarter was $30.2 million, compared with $20.8 million during the third quarter of 2002.

For the nine-month period, sales increased by $261.1 million to $1.334 billion in 2003 as compared to the same period in 2002, a 24.3 percent increase. Through September, year-to-date net income was $43.4 million as compared to $29.1 million for the same period in 2002.

ABC also hit a performance milestone in October when it reached $200 million in monthly sales for the first time in the company's history, according to David Luck, president and COO.

ABC Supply is the largest U.S. wholesale distributor of exterior building products, tools and supplies. The firm was founded in 1982 and currently has 262 branch locations in 43 states, with about 30 branches in Texas.

BOMAG Americas Acquires Gilcrest's ProPaver Equipment

BOMAG Americas Inc., formerly Compaction America, recently announced that it acquired Gilcrest's ProPaver equipment division.

"The ProPaver acquisition broadens our product offering for asphalt applications and gives BOMAG a complementary product for its line of compaction equipment," said Mike Simpkins, the firm's president.

The ProPaver line includes five self-propelled tracked asphalt pavers and four towable wheeled asphalt pavers with application widths from 4 to 15 ft. The product line also includes an asphalt distributor for heating and spraying emulsified asphalt.

ProPaver products will continue to be manufactured at the Warrensburg, Mo., facility, now designated BOMAG Paving Products.

Construction Spending Continues to Rise

According to a January report released by the U.S. Commerce Department's Census Bureau, construction spending during November was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $934.5 billion, 1.2 percent above the revised October estimate of $923.8 billion.

The November figure is 7.4 percent above the November 2002 estimate of $870 billion. During the first 11 months of 2003, construction spending amounted to $828.1 billion, 4.1 percent above the $795.7 billion for the same period in 2002.

PCI Call for Papers

The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute has issued a call for papers to be presented during the annual PCI National Bridge Conference, which will be held Oct. 17-20 in Atlanta in conjunction with the 50th PCI Annual Convention and Exhibition.

Conference papers are invited on topics related to the design, fabrication and construction of concrete transportation structures.

Abstracts are due Feb. 27 and should be submitted electronically. For more information log on to www.pci.org.