Slide Show

Photo: Photographer Chris Lamon, project engineer, McCarthy Building Companies Inc. submitted by Heather Riekena, McCarthy creative services coordinator

Lamon had the ENR photo contest in mind when he took this shot of a 30-ft rebar cage in the lay-down area at Central Arizona Project’s water-treatment plant reservoir in Mesa, Ariz. Lamon was an intern when he took this photo but since landed a full-time job with McCarthy. He says he sees lots of “cool shots” around construction sites.

Photo: Photographer Silas Crews Submitted by Michael Sweeney, marketing communications, Ames Construction Inc.

At an interchange project on I-35W and Highway 62 in Minneapolis, Crews captured these workers pouring the deck of one of the bridges. “I’m like a kid in a playground when I get to photograph on a construction site,” he says. “My background in newspaper photography has been one never-ending hunt for the perfect moment while layering multiple elements in a frame to tell a story in an aesthetic way.”

The will to proceed with major projects is sometimes the most important element in the construction equation. Some countries have the will to accomplish great works because they never had much and are impatient to catch up with or even outstrip more developed nations. But some nations with more sophisticated infrastructure and development have become complacent with their existing structures. They allow time to take its toll on their nations’ condition and technology while frittering away money and power on untoward political adventures.

The power of both the needs and wants may come together as the world embarks on an economic recovery effort of almost unprecedented proportions. The construction industry potentially will play a great role. While actual construction is the most photogenic part of the industry, that brick-and-mortar work is supported by many millions of people behind the scenes at the shops, factories and offices of suppliers, fabricators, design firms and consultants. It is the broad reach of this $4.5-trillion-a-year global industry, as well as the needed roads, bridges, airports, harbors, industrial plants and housing that will help untangle some political and economic disputes and could tie the world together in a peaceful way.

The benefits of construction are real and tangible, as seen by the concrete, steel, stone and skill displayed on these pages. They are not hidden, as some of the government bailout investments seem to be. Once rolling, the industry’s accomplishments can be impressive, such as the construction of the massive new Interstate-35W bridge in Minneapolis in 13 months. But the lesson of the old bridge’s collapse is not to succumb to the temptation to extend the life of a bridge that has design inadequacies, faulty maintenance and overloading.

The year 2008 was a watershed, with the dramatic collapse of financial markets and the spreading ripples that started to shut down projects or prevent their launch. Some workers shown among the photo contest winners or the hundreds of entries at ENR.com already may have lost their jobs or employment opportunities after their projects concluded.

By making construction an important part of any economic stimulus package, the U.S. and other nations will have a precious opportunity to keep the industry’s workforce and firms intact. They were not part of the meltdown problem; regulators and the failed financial institutions were. But the industry, like the fabled Humpty Dumpty, will be hard to put back together after a great fall.