Power plant proceeds as scheduled

While the overall commercial construction market continues to slow, one massive project continues to churn ahead. And it's keeping a good number of the area's construction employees working.

The $697 million City Utilities Southwest 2 Power Station expansion project is on budget and on schedule to open for transmission in late 2010, according to CU General Manager of Electric Supply Scott Miller.

Miller said that most of the underground work on the 300-megawatt facility - foundations and piers, underground trays for transmission cables, and other substructure work - is nearly complete. Much of the steel work, along with the chimney that dominates the plant skyline, is in place, while large equipment, including the boiler, is being installed now.

"The heavy work right now is getting all the installation done, the boilers and tube and pipes and valves connected and welded," he said.

Construction jobs in question

That "heavy work" is employing roughly 550 people at the site near James River Freeway and West Bypass - and most, Miller noted, are local.

It's welcome news for Dave Robertson, president of the Springfield Contractors Association, who said the overall commercial construction market is in a continued slowdown despite Springfield's relative resilience in light of the overall recession.

"A lot of folks are looking for jobs - it's just a tough time to work in construction," he said. "From the association perspective we're concerned, but there's not a lot we can do other than just continue to work with designers and developers - it's a function of the market."

Kathy Baer, SCA's employment service director, said she has about 500 applicants for construction jobs, roughly double the number from a year ago.

"We don't have anywhere to place them," she said. "In years past, it's been pretty easy to place someone with skills, but right now I don't have anyone looking to hire."

Miller said gauging the exact impact of the CU project on the Springfield economy is challenging, mainly because it's hard to know exactly where the employees at the site are coming from. Some drive into town on Monday and stay until Friday, while others drive in for the day and still more live in Springfield. Contractors currently working at the CU site include Baker Concrete, The Boldt Co., Sachs Electric and Midwest Towers.

"Our emphasis has been to employ as many local people as we can, but it's hard to track how much local money is flowing back in," Miller said. "But think about it - with that much money spent for this project, you have to believe a lot of that is flowing back into the local economy at a time when the local economy needs it."

Post-plant highway work?

Robertson is somewhat concerned, however, about the impact on the market when the power plant construction ends.

"This market has always been resilient - there are typically jobs here when there aren't in other places - but will there be an impact when that job completes? Absolutely," Robertson said. "There are more crane booms sticking out of the air right there than there probably are in the rest of Springfield right now."

The one saving grace for the area may be road construction.

Robertson said work at the intersection of U.S. highways 60 and 65 is picking up and will create jobs for contractors.

The lead contractor on the project, Archer, Western Contractors of Illinois, has hired several local subcontractors, including Nixa-based D&E Plumbing and Heating, Springfield-based Hartman & Co. and Republic-based JLA Construction.

The state's prevailing wage law requires construction projects to hire Missouri employees, or employees from states with reciprocal agreements with Missouri, when the state's unemployment is higher than 5 percent.

And last week, the Missouri Department of Transportation accepted the $26.9 million bid of Emery Sapp & Sons to expand Highway 65 to six lanes between Highway 60 and Interstate 44. Work on that project will likely begin in September.

"This is the nature of construction," Robertson said. "When you cycle up, you cycle up big, and when you cycle down, you cycle down big."