Environmental Construction | Terra-Petra

22Mar2016

950 E Third St development breaks ground in DTLA – Terra-Petra Contributor

March 22, 2016

construction, Environmental Construction, Environmental Engineering, los angeles, Terra-Petra Construction Industry, Enivronmental Engineering, Environmental Construction, Terra-Petra News, Uncategorized

Terra-Petra contributes environmental construction services for the developer of one of the newer projects in downtown Los Angeles. The $215M mixed-use development that broke ground March 2016 is scheduled to compelete at the end of the year in 2017.

NEW RENDERINGS OF ARTS DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT UNVEILED

Mar 22, 2016 Karen Jordan, Bisnow,

Fairfield Residential renderings have just been revealed for 950 E Third St, a $215M mixed-use development that broke ground last week in the Arts District. Fairfield Residential and Legendary Development have released in-progress exterior renderings of the project. It will have five- and six-story buildings with 472 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments along with 22k SF of ground-floor retail, according to Urbanize LA. Amenities include social and sweat lounges, a dog wash and play area, a rooftop deck and a courtyard. Kava Massih Architects is designing the project, which will use similar materials, tones and colors to those of existing buildings throughout the neighborhood. The project is scheduled to be partially completed by December 2017. [ULA]

15Mar2016

Wilshire Grand Tower Topped Off March 2016 – Video Recap

March 15, 2016

Terra-Petra

Environmental Engineering, korean air, Los Angles, tallest building, Terra-Petra, Turner Construction, west, wilshire grand City of Los Angeles, Construction Industry, Environmental Construction, Environmental Engineering, Los Angeles Economy, Methane Mitigation Design Projects, Uncategorized, Waterproofing

Wilshire Grand Center is a 335-meter (1,099 ft) skyscraper under construction in the Financial District of Downtown Los Angeles, California. The tower will become the tallest building in Los Angeles, the tallest structure and the second tallest building west of the Mississippi River upon completion. The building will be part of a mixed-use hotel, retail, observation decks, shopping malls and office complex, expected to revitalize downtown Los Angeles and the area surrounding the building. The development of the complex is estimated to cost $1 billion. The plans currently include 67,000 square feet (6,225 m2) of retail, 677,000 square feet (62,895 m2) of Class A office space and 900 hotel rooms. InterContinental is the tower's hotel component, comprising 900 rooms and suites occupying the 38th to the 70th floors. Estimated date of completion March 8, 2017. Terra-Petra is proud to have been a part of this project during initial record concrete pour.

23Feb2016

Park Fifth development in DTLA will break ground in April

February 23, 2016

Terra-Petra

Ankrom Moisan, city of Los Angeles, construction, Consulting, Deputy Methane Barrier Inspector, Environmental Construction, Environmental Engineering, Terra-Petra City of Los Angeles, Employment News, Environmental Construction, Environmental Engineering, Inspections, New Projects, Uncategorized

Based on its intimate knowledge of the City of Los Angeles plan checking requirements, Portland-based architects, Ankrom Moisan brought in Terra-Petra environment engineers to work with the firm's in-house design team to help with design as well as consult on code-complaint systems for the Park Fifth project. The mixed-use development will replace parking lot near Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles and is scheduled to break ground in April.

The project is being designed by Portland-based Ankrom Moisan Architects, and will be

26Jan2016

Terra-Petra contributes to new projects transforming Downtown LA

As one of the most well-known environmental engineering and building waterproofing companies in the Los Angeles basin, Terra-Petra is currently working on or has completed some very high-profile projects in the Downtown LA area. Some of the most notable projects, among many others, include:

The Wilshire Grand Tower – the Wilshire Grand skyscraper will one day be the tallest west of Chicago. (Terra-Petra photo of project start to the right.)

The Metropolis, a $1B development is one of the largest mixed-use projects under construction on the West Coast.

Oceanwide Plaza will break ground in spring 2015. This $1B project will have a total of three towers and an expansive above-ground outdoor space. A five star hotel and 200k SF of commercial space will be included. There will be 504 condos and 183 hotel rooms.

South Park Mega-Project (Chinese developer Shenzhen Hazens) is a three towers along Figueroa Street across from L.A. Live. A 30-story hotel tower would rise at the northwest corner of Flower and Eleventh streets. A 30-story condo tower would be at Figueroa and Eleventh streets, and a 42-story condo tower would be at Figueroa and Olympic.

According to the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS), the "flurry of activity" in the recent years is defiantly the biggest construction boom they have witnessed since the 1980s.

However, LADBS does say that it is yet to be seen if it's the biggest boom in history or not.

Stay tuned.

4 DEVELOPMENTS THAT WILL TRANSFORM FIGUEROA
Los Angeles Mixed-Use Jan 14, 2016 Jerry Liu, Bisnow, LA

We already told you about some of the mega-projects that will reshape Sunset Boulevard, perhaps one of the most famous thoroughfares in the world. But if you're really following what's hot in LA, it's all about Downtown. So we decided to take a look at some of the developments that will reshape the future of one of Downtown's most notable streets:

1. Circa
Location: 1200 Figueroa Players: Hankey Investment, Jamison Services, Falcon California Investments, Highlands Capital, Harley Ellis Devereaux, LendLease. Completion date: Late 2017. The $500M project will build twin 35-story towers housing 648 luxury condos on top of a seven-story retail podium. There will also be 48k SF of retail and 1,770 parking spaces. This project broke ground in summer 2015 and features a curved glass look that offers a panoramic view of LA, and many other neighboring high-rises, including the Metropolis. Bisnow chatted with Hankey president Scott Dobbins this week to get the latest status update on the development.

2. Oceanwide Plaza
Location: Figueroa and 11th Players: Oceanwide Real Estate Group. Completion date: 2018, condos hit the market in 2017. Breaking ground in spring 2015, this $1B project will have a total of three towers and an expansive above-ground outdoor space. A five star hotel and 200k SF of commercial space will be included. There will be 504 condos and 183 hotel rooms total. Chinese firm Oceanwide had previously acquired the development from New York City-based Moinian Group. This will be the first real estate venture for Oceanwide outside China.

3. Shenzhen Hazens
Location: Entire block bounded by Figueroa, 11th Street, Flower Street and Olympic Boulevard Players: Shenzhen Hazens, Gensler Completion date: After 2020. It's no secret Chinese firms are transforming the LA landscape. Shenzhen Hazens will add to the mix with a $700M redevelopment in the Luxe Hotel area. The project plans to break ground in 2017 and will be split into two phases. Phase 1 would build two 30-story towers, one residential and one hotel. Phase 2 would completely replace the Luxe Hotel with a 42-story residential tower. Expect the finished mega-project to have 650 luxury condos, 250 hotel rooms and 80k SF of retail space. We caught up with Shenzhen Hazens Group executive project director Sonnet Hui recently to get more on the company's plans.

4. MyFigueroa
Location: Four miles of streets from Downtown LA to South LA. Players: LADOT, Troller Mayer Associates, Melendrez, GEHL Architects. Completion date: 2017. Promising to make it easier for transit and bicycle users, this project will start in late spring 2016 and complete in 2017 under a $20M budget. It will link USC and Exposition Park to Downtown LA with better signals, signage, crosswalks, transit platforms, bikeways and trees. There will be on-street, fully separated bike lanes on each side of Figueroa for 27 signalized intersections. There will also be a lot more accommodations for public transit, including for the Silver Line and the upcoming streetcar service.

22Sep2015

Terra-Petra working on eleven of top fifty construction projects in Los Angeles

Environmental engineering firm, Terra-Petra, is currently working with close to 42% of the top 50 construction projects in the Los Angeles area—as listed by the Los Angeles Business Journal in the publication’s new (2015) Book of Lists.

Los Angeles, CA (September 22, 2015) — Terra-Petra, a national environmental engineering headquartered in Downtown Los Angeles has announced that the firm is currenly working with 24% of the top 50 major construction projects currently underway in Los Angeles County—as listed on the Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2015 Book of Lists. This complete collection of data on industry leaders in a variety of industries was researched by the LABJ editorial team of the past year. The top construction projects have been ranked by construction cost and excludes infrastructure projects

According to Justin Conaway, Vice President of Terra-Petra. “Terra-Petra has been fortunate enough to have the diverse service offerings which have allowed us the opportunity to bid on a wide array of these developments. Our customer intimacy strategy allows us to offer a great value to our clients, I truly believe that our close customer/client relationships have differentiated us from our competition and has permitted us to secure many of these contracts.”

Terra-Petra’s involvement with most of the construction projects listed on LABJ’s Top 50 list ranges from methane testing, mitigation design and inspection to building envelope waterproofing consulting and inspection. “Hopefully our recent contributions will help to ensure that each project we work on is safe and successful,” says Kevin Buchanan, Terra-Petra President.

Working with 11 of the top 50 , Terra-Petra is currently supporting three of the top four ranked projects (number 1, 2 and 4) as well as with numbers 14, 16, 21, 25, 27, 41 and 47 and 50. Justin Conaway is also currently working on a bid with one other project on the LABJ list. Read the Top 50 Construction Projects in Los Angeles list here: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3.

“More realistically there are only 28 projects listed that are probably in a methane/methane buffer zone. So to be more accurate we are working on 42% of all potential projects on this list that we could bid on. That is a pretty impressive market share considering all of the local competition,” says Conaway.

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About Terra-Petra

Terra Petra’s expertise includes soil gas characterization, remediation, and in the design and inspection of gas mitigation systems for buildings of all types – including commercial, multiple family, single family, industrial, institutional and retail. We are methane experts and methane gas specialists. Our services include: Methane, Brownfield, Vapor Intrusion, Landfill, Oil Field, Site Closure, Geology/Hydrogeology and Radon as well as full service waterproofing consulting and services. Terra-Petra takes charge of every specific challenge from the very beginning of every project to engineer sustainable system and design cost-effective systems. For more information, visit: www.terra-petra.com.

13Aug2015

Update on Terra-Petra’s Pacific City Oil Well Abandonment Project

Joe Morelli, Fire Protection Analyst of the HBDF, and Terra-Petra's Larry Barnes consulting near an abandoned oil well trench Nearly two years after commencing environmental work on the Pacific City project in Huntington Beach, California, the site is prepared for further construction. After intensive environmental work to verify the integrity of the on-site oil and water well abandonments, all necessary permits are in place to start constructing the foundation of the approximately 190,000 sq. ft. property. Terra-Petra is proud to have taken part in such a notable development project while contributing to tremendous cost savings for the client.

In order to bring incredible value to the project, Terra-Petra came to a practical remediation plan contradictory to one which may have been reached by blindly conforming to re-abandonment codes and procedures. After a careful review of all information obtained from field explorations and well documents from the DOGGR, Larry Barnes – Terra-Petra’s Senior Petroleum Geologist – determined that a minimally intrusive remediation approach would be sufficient for the site. This approach involved shortening all wells to a depth between 6 and 10 feet below grade, recapping each well head with a circular metal plate, and installing a methane mitigation vent cone at each well head. Rather than disturbing the abandoned wells and replacing all cement plugs with costly drilling expenses, this much more non-intrusive approach was deemed more than adequate for preventing any future leaks and site contamination.

In convincing the governing agencies that is safer to leave the wells relatively undisturbed and proceeding with the aforementioned action plan, Terra-Petra was able to successfully save the client millions of dollars while simultaneously reducing their risks on this sizeable development project. With the combined expertise of the construction team Terra-Petra was able to meet the expedited construction schedule. The client is now in the process of grading the site in preparation for foundation construction. Terra-Petra will be on hand to proceed with the necessary methane gas mitigation measures on the foundation of the site for the safety of future site residents.

[PHOTO: Joe Morelli, Fire Protection Analyst of the HBDF, and Terra-Petra's Larry Barnes consulting near an abandoned oil well trench.]

15Jul2015

Terra-Petra helps deveolper save millions with oil well remediation plan

Terra-Petra’s construction division was recently contacted to prepare an Oil Well History Report of 20 oil wells located on an 18 acre site in Huntington Beach, California. In accordance with the requirements of the Huntington Beach Fire Department, Terra-Petra’s team performed a “sniff test” on the oil well heads, then followed up with appropriate necessary re-abandonment activities in order to stop any leakage and contamination.

Photo on right: Excavation equipment unearthing an identified oil well.

See more photo highlights below.

The scope of work began with surveying and staking the location of all 20 oil wells and providing excavation equipment and labor to uncover 15 of the abandoned wells while making them safe for entry. Dave Lucero, Terra-Petra’s Senior Project Scientist, was responsible for managing all excavation/backfilling operations and overseeing the entirety of field activities.

Dave also monitored all soil stockpiles for V.O.C. emissions and dust control per the requirements of the South Coast Air Quality Management District's Rule 1166.1. With Dave's extensive field experience and expert project oversight all oil wells were located, excavated, and exposed for sniff testing.

Larry Barnes, Terra-Petra’s Senior Geologist, took charge of conducting the sniff testing of each of the 15 excavated oil wells, 5 vented oil wells, and monitoring for fugitive gas emissions at each well head per the requirements of Huntington Beach Fire Department City Spec. 422 and the California Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR).

As a California Licensed Petroleum Geologist, Larry’s duties included documenting the wells’ history, the casing and liners of the wells, the type of cement used to complete the well abandonments, preparing well diagrams, and recording information on all oil/gas zones. With this comprehensive information Larry was able to provide the developer with an ongoing Oil Well History Report for the Huntington Beach site. His expert knowledge in the geological field and long-standing relationship with the DOGGR facilitate the process of determining the level of safety for structures to be built over or near the wells and the corresponding safety recommendations.

After a careful review of all information obtained from field explorations and well documents obtained from the DOGGR, Terra-Petra came to a practical remediation plan contradictory to one which may have been reached simply by conforming to re-abandonment codes and procedures. Rather than disturbing the abandoned wells and replacing all cement plugs with costly drilling expenses, it was determined that a much more non-intrusive approach would be more than adequate for preventing any future leaks and site contamination. This approach involved shortening all wells to a depth between 6 and 10 feet below grade, recapping each well head with a circular metal plate, and installing a methane mitigation vent cone at each well head. In convincing the governing agencies that is safer to leave the wells relatively undisturbed and proceeding with the aforementioned action plan, Terra-Petra has successfully saved the client millions of dollars on this notable development project.

With the combined expertise of the construction team Terra-Petra was able to meet the expedited construction schedule. The client is now prepared to proceed with the necessary gas mitigation measures for the safety of future site residents.

Photo highlights

An excavated trench revealing an abandoned oil well cap,

An excavated trench revealing an abandoned oil well cap.

Terra-Petra excavation equipment compiling a soil stockpile near an abandoned oil well trench.

Terra-Petra excavation equipment compiling a soil stockpile near anabandoned oil well trench.

Joe Morelli, Fire Protection Analyst of the HBDF, and Terra-Petra's Larry Barnes consulting near an abandoned oil well trench.

A safe-to enter trench revealing the location of an oil well.

An excavated cement well plug.

14Jun2015

Terra-Petra and the environmental engineering industry shows well at I.CON ’15

June 14, 2015

Terra-Petra

CBRE, commercial, CONFERENCE, engineering, environmental, I.CON '15, Prologis, real estate, Sares Regis Group, Terra-Petra, trends Construction Industry, Environmental Construction, Environmental Engineering, Methane Mitigation Design Projects, Terra-Petra News, Uncategorized

Terra-Pettra Silver Sponsor I.CON '15 NAIOP Terra-Petra was very excited to serve as a Silver Sponsor of I.CON '15: The Industrial Conference (for the commercial real estate industry) AS June 10th and 11th at the Westin in Long Beach California.

I.CON is produced and presented annually by the NAIOP – commercial real estate development association.

Terra-Petra client representatives (Prologis, CBRE and the Sares Regis Group, among others) served as either panelists or moderators during many of the conference presentations which included "Can American Cities Accommodate Industrial Development?," "Regulatory Environment and Its Effect on Development," and "Industrial Investment Outlook."

Terra-Petra at NAIOP I.CON '15 CEO Power luncheon

Each year, I.CON offers the most up-to-date trends and information available presented by the most notable names in industrial real estate including e-commerce trends, the logistics supply chain, demand for new industrial development and trends in current and future industrial facilities.

The event was NAIOP’s national conference for the industrial real estate sector. Overall, the Terra-Petra team had the opportunity to network with many of the company's current and new/potential clients as well as learn more about the commercial real estate industry.

14May2015

Terra-Petra at ICSC RECon 2015 – Las Vegas – May 17-20

Environmental Engineering firm, Terra-Petra, will once again have a booth in the “Green Zone” booth N1665 on the Exhibition Floor at ICSC RECon 2015 in Las Vegas (May 17-20). For more information visit: https://lnkd.in/bDrCKKS.

Contact Terra-Petra VP/GM, Justin Conaway,
to request/arrange a meeting day/time while at the convention.

11Mar2015

Terra-Petra Managing Removal of Asbestos Containing Material in Downey, CA

March 11, 2015

Terra-Petra

asbestos, california, los angeles, removal, Soil Gas, Terra-Petra City of Los Angeles, Construction Industry, Enivronmental Engineering, Environmental Construction, Terra-Petra News, Uncategorized

Terra-Petra is serving as the environmental engineer of record for a large retain development in Downey, California. The project is well under construction and has included the demolition of some existing buildings and mass grading for the site.

During grading activities, the contractor had uncovered several old abandoned concrete encased pipes buried in the soil. Terra-Petra was called out to analyze the concrete for asbestos content and to manage the removal of the material as needed.

Terra-Petra's Senior Project Scientist was able to mobilize to the site within 24 hours of the contractor reporting the discovery of potential ACM materials on the property. Within 48 hours, samples were collected and the results were received back from the lab stating: "the black felt/fibrous material showed negative for asbestos. The light-colored pipe encased in concrete showed positive for asbestos and will require special handling."

Terra-Petra is in the process of mobilizing its Industrial Hygienist to the site to manage the removal of the ACM per the local state and federal standards.

Historical Use of Asbestos
During World War II, use of Asbestos Containing Material (ACM) products peaked, and the shipbuilding industry utilized the mineral extensively. From the early 1900s to the 1970s, asbestos was the ideal material to use.

Why asbestos? Simple: It was cheap, durable, flexible and naturally acted as an insulating and fireproofing agent. The construction and manufacturing industries fell in love with its potential and used asbestos-containing products whenever possible.

Malignant mesothelioma, otherwise known as mesothelioma cancer, commonly develops in the lungs of people exposed to asbestos. Effective treatments are available to ease symptoms and improve your prognosis.

The cancer usually affects the thin, protective membrane surrounding the lungs, heart or abdominal cavity. Doctors diagnose an estimated 3,000 cases a year in the United States, and the majority of those are traced to job-related asbestos exposure.

Although asbestos use declined dramatically in recent decades in this country, the incidence of malignant mesothelioma remains steady. That difference can be traced to the distinct latency period linked to the cancer.

The disease can take anywhere from 20 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos before it shows obvious symptoms and an oncologist can make a definitive diagnosis.

While no cure for the disease exists and the prognosis is typically poor, researchers made significant progress in recent years in understanding the cancer and developing new treatment options and alternative therapies.

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