Irish building materials firm James Hardie Building Products has unveiled plans to build an advanced fiber-cement building products manufacturing plant in Prattville, Alabama that will entail an investment of up to $220m
Austria-based Lenzing is set to construct a $293M tencel fibre plant in Alabama, US.
GE Aviation has started construction on two adjacent factories to mass-produce Silicon Carbide (SiC) materials in Huntsville, Alabama. Estimated to cost more than $200M, the two factories will be constructed on a 100-acre site. One of the plants will produce silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic fibre, while the second will use this SiC ceramic fibre to produce the unidirectional CMC tape necessary to fabricate CMC components.GE Aviation’s vice president Sanjay Correa, who leads the industrialization of advanced technologies, said: "GE Aviation is creating a fully integrated supply chain for producing CMC components in large volume, which is unique to the United States."The new factories in Alabama are vital to this strategy. We are deeply gratified by the tremendous local, state, and national support for this effort."Construction work is expected to be complete by the first half of 2018, with production set to commence on that same year. Once fully operational, the plants are anticipated to employ up to 300 people.
Alabama Senate has passed Governor Robert Bentley's $800m bill to construct four prisons in the state.At present, Alabama prisons have about 24,000 inmates in facilities originally designed for about 13,000. The bill calls for closing 13 of the 15 men's prisons and Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women. The state would build three new men's prisons accommodating 4,000 inmates each, and a new one for women with 1,200 beds. Replacing the old prisons will add about 3,000 beds.The state will borrow the money for construction.Governor Robert Bentley said: "I commend the Senate for taking a bold and decisive step toward prioritizing public safety in our prison system with the construction of four new prisons."The passage of this bill will help reduce overcrowding and will provide safer conditions for corrections officers as well as inmates within the facilities."New facilities will also create greater opportunities to reduce the risk of recidivism."
Granite Construction has won a $209m contract for modification of the 59/20 interchange in Alabama, US.The scope of the contract, awarded by the Alabama Department of Transportation, will include the construction of the interchange at I-59/20 and I-65 on the northwest side of the Central Business District in Birmingham.In addition, work will involve the construction of new direct connector bridges to downtown, widening of existing bridges, replacement of crossover bridges, and upgrades to main lane pavement.Construction on the project is expected to commence in early 2016, and will be completed by the end of 2018.