Construction

Days after state environmental officials found unacceptable noise levels from wind turbines in Falmouth, they are considering new regulations that would require the state to review potential noise issues before wind turbines are built in Massachusetts. The state might also conduct sound studies in other communities, such as Fairhaven and Kingston, where residents, as in Falmouth, have complained about newly installed turbines, officials said. A panel of independent scientists and doctors, convened by the state to look at the effects of wind turbines on the health of nearby residents, urged the...

A blast in a tunnel killed 19 workers at a central Chinese highway construction site on Saturday, authorities said. The explosion in Hunan province also injured one person, said two officials from the provincial work safety bureau who would only give their surnames, Li and Yang, a practice that is common among Chinese government employees. The blast occurred when a vehicle was unloading explosives in the tunnel of the highway that is being built between Yanling and Rucheng in Hunan province, the official Xinhua news agency said.

I assumed I had seen it all with Liberty Mutual. Once you learn about the chief executive's $50 million-a-year compensation package, the fleet of corporate jets, the $90,000 flights to Hawaii, the tens of millions of dollars for senior managers, the board of directors that doesn't feel the need to utter one public word of explanation, what more can there be? But as we've seen, there's always more, a fact that was never more apparent than when I was flipping through a mound of permit applications, building records, and engineering drawings on file in the Boston Inspectional Services...

By Matt Byrne, Town Correspondent Construction work on the public parking lot on Pleasant Street is slated to restart this spring, and the city will hold a public meeting Thursday to discuss the remaining work. During construction, the lot will be closed to vehicles, the city said in a statement. Remaining work includes installations of decorative lighting, granite curbing, street signs, and the repaving of Linden Avenue and Garnet Road. At the 6 p.m. meeting at Malden Government Center, representatives from the construction and engineering companies will be on...

By Ryan Mooney, Globe Correspondent Shore Country Day School in Beverly has undertaken a massive fundraising campaign unlike any the school has carried out before, a campaign that is going so well, according to the Head of School Lawrence Griffin, that it is a year ahead of schedule. The attempt to raise upwards of $20 million in an attempt to effectively double the school's current endowment of $9 million has already netted the school $12 million. All of the money is raised through donations.

Construction on the Sagamore Bridge and heavy off-Cape traffic is causing long delays on Route 6 and its feeder roads, according to Sandwich police. According to the Department of Transportation, construction on the Sagamore Bridge that began Sunday and restricts westbound traffic to one lane is expected to continue through Saturday. Sandwich Police Detective Robert Burn said cars have been backed up in front of the station on Route 6A, three miles away from the Sagamore Bridge, for hours.

The drive between Boston and Cape Cod can be 60-plus miles of nightmare, depending on the time of day and road conditions, as surprised commuters discovered on Mother's Day, when construction allowed only limited access to the Sagamore Bridge. That work should wind down by the end of the month, but seasonal slowdowns await. So it's disappointing that a plan to extend weekend service on the MBTA's Middleboro commuter rail line to Hyannis this summer has been shelved for now. The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority's decision to wait until next year seems reasonable, based on the need to make...

Touting the start of a new era in Somerville, local and state officials broke ground last week at Assembly Row, the complex of stores and apartments that planners say will transform a long-disused industrial space into a bustling neighborhood. When completed in 2014, the complex will hold 2,050 units of housing, a 200-room hotel, shops, a movie theater, and an Orange Line T station. The first phase of construction will raise the 195-unit Avalon at Assembly Row building. At a dusty news conference held at the heart of the 45-acre site, where crews already were busy surveying and drilling for the...

The Fuller Craft Museum has reduced its hours to accommodate a renovation project set to run through the summer. The work, funded with a $780,000 grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, involves upgrading restrooms, installing energy-efficient windows, upgrading HVAC systems, increasing handicap access, and improving the use of spaceproject. - Steve Hatch

Voters will be asked Thursday at a Special Town Meeting to back a home-rule petition that would clear the way for construction of a Meditech facility that could create 800 jobs. The petition would exempt from the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Historical Commission the roughly 21 acres of the 138-acre site that would be built upon, according to Board of Selectmen chairwoman Lisa Pacheco. Meditech shelved its plans for Freetown after the historical commission ruled the company had to do extensive archeological excavations in the area known as Peace Haven, which may contain Native American artifacts.

WASHINGTON — Maybe the US economy's strength this winter wasn't just weather related after all. Home construction is near a three-year high. And factory output has risen in three of the year's first four months. The data released Wednesday suggest growth in the April-June quarter is off to a good start, helped by falling gas prices and solid hiring gains. Fears of a spring slump are easing. ‘‘It's all very encouraging," said Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics.

By Ryan Mooney, Globe Correspondent Shore Country Day School in Beverly has undertaken a massive fundraising campaign unlike any the school has carried out before, a campaign that is going so well, according to the Head of School Lawrence Griffin, that it is a year ahead of schedule. The attempt to raise upwards of $20 million in an attempt to effectively double the school's current endowment of $9 million has already netted the school $12 million. All of the money is raised through donations.

Brazil's sports minister is dismissing delays in stadium construction for the 2014 World Cup and says construction work in the northeastern city of Salvador will be completed in time for next year's Confederations Cup. Minister Aldo Rebelo visited Salvador on Tuesday and said he is confident it will be included as a host city for the warmup competition in 2013. FIFA will decide by next month whether Salvador and Recife will host matches along with Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza and Brasilia.

Construction on the Sagamore Bridge and heavy traffic coming from Cape Cod has caused long delays into the night Sunday on Route 6 and its feeder roads, according to Sandwich police and State Police. According to the Department of Transportation, construction on the Sagamore Bridge, which began Sunday and restricts westbound traffic to one lane, is expected to continue through Saturday. At around 5:30 p.m., according to State Police Trooper Thomas Murphy, traffic was backed up for seven miles from the Sagamore Bridge and for two miles from the Bourne Bridge.

By Natalie Feulner, Town Correspondent Due to recent rains, construction in the rear part of the Keystone Lot in Dedham Square was postponed this week, a statement from the town said Wednesday. The hope was to have the rear lot already striped and usable for temporary parking during the rest of the project. To prevent further delays, construction needs to start in the front portion of the lot before the rest is striped. As such, the rear of the lot opened to the public starting Wednesday night, but the front portion of the lot will be closed starting at 6 a.m....

Construction will start Tuesday on a new playground at the Franklin Park Zoo that is slated to open in early July. The 10,000-sqare-foot area will replace the old playground next to Butterfly Landing, the zoo said today in a statement. The playground's design will represent more than 30 animals, including giraffes, peacocks, and Panamanian golden frogs. While it was being designed, students from local schools were able to vote on components of the playground. Input from parents and...

NORTH ANDOVER - A Massachusetts-based company is preparing to open the first full-scale commercial biodiesel terminal in the state. Baystate Biofuels LLC says construction of the terminal in North Andover will begin by the end of May. It expects to begin selling environmentally friendly biodiesel by summer's end. The company plans to distribute biodiesel to oil companies seeking to comply with Massachusetts' Clean Energy Biofuels Act...

WASHINGTON - The housing market remains a significant risk to the economy, data showed, as bad weather across much of the country hammered the construction industry. Along with icy storms, the real estate recovery is facing man-made headwinds. Yesterday, the government said buyers will face higher fees and tougher standards for home loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, a popular source of loans for first-time buyers. Unemployment is expected to remain high throughout the year, which will drive the foreclosure rate to new records.

Today is the last day to participate in an online auction to raise funds for the construction of the Cormier Youth Center. Up for bid are a variety of items from sporting tickets to dining gift cards. The online auction is the first in a series of communitywide fund-raisers to be held over the next 15 months by the Andover Youth Foundation with the goal of raising $890,000 to help supplement the $1.8 million in donations it has received to build the new youth center. Voters at a Special Town Meeting in December approved the use of $2 million from the town's operating budget to help fund the proposed...