Lawyers for embattled New York crane rental executive James Lomma used their closing arguments on April 19 to poke holes in the “morality play” they claim prosecutors presented of their client—as a man whose greed and carelessness led to the deaths of two construction workers, crane operator Donald C. Leo and sewer worker Ramadan Kurtaj, in a 2008 Manhattan crane collapse.Prosecutors will make their last arguments in Lomma's criminal case in the late afternoon on April 20, at which time Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Daniel Conviser will decide the case without a jury, upon the defense’s request.Lomma, CEO of two
Courtesy of AGC of America 2012 AGC President Joe Jarboe with Clark Construction Group told attendees that he will conduct his presidential year on the theme of "Building Connections," emphasizing technology and collaboration among AGC members and the industry as a whole. Increased emphasis on technology and team-based project delivery highlighted learning opportunities at the Associated General Contractors of America’s 93rd Annual Convention in Honolulu March 13–17. Most of the convention’s workshops and continuing education sessions were focused on emerging skills important to today’s contractors—jobsite technology, collaboration, risk management and improved leadership skills, said AGC spokesman Brian Turmail.“We are very
Photo courtesy ABC Romney won the endorsement of the Associated Builders and Contractors following his address to the group's board of directors last week in Phoenix. Photo courtesy ABC Anirban Basu, ABC's chief economist, gave an upbeat view of the improving economy during a presentation at BizCon in Phoenix. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney promised to undo much of the regulatory and labor initiatives of the Obama administration, he said during a speech Thursday to the Associated Builders and Contractors' board of directors in Phoenix. Later that day, the association of construction industry executives threw its hat behind Romney's candidacy
The families of two workers killed when a wall collapsed at the Gatlinburg, Tenn., Wastewater Treatment Plant last year claim the city and its construction and engineering firms knew of construction problems in 1997 but did not act to stabilize the wall.In a pair of similarly-worded lawsuits filed Feb. 27 in Circuit Court in Sevierville, Tenn., the families of John Eslinger, 53, and Don Storey, 44, claim that failure to act resulted in the workers’ deaths April 5, 2011, when the east wall of the stabilization basin fell onto the flow control room, trapping the two men and spilling about
Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin is acknowledging that one of two former senior executives had business dealings with a Canadian woman now in jail in Mexico on charges that she tried to smuggle Moammar Gadhafi's son into that country. The company said in a Feb. 9 announcement that Executive Vice President Riadh Ben Aïssa and Vice President-Controller Stéphane Roy were effectively no longer with the company. No reasons were given, other than a statement that “questions regarding the conduct of SNC-Lavalin employees have recently been the focus of public attention.”Roy has been linked with Cynthia Vanier, the woman at the center of the
India and China’s past disputes over border issues are now moving to the economic front. As China becomes India’s largest trading partner, Chinese construction companies are gearing up to cash in on by Indian plans to invest over $1 trillion in infrastructure in the next five years.Chinese enterprises have already completed infrastructure projects in India worth more than $10 billion and are involved with nearly $6 billion in projects in nearby Sri Lanka. China has become a larger presence there than even its traditional investor-donors, India and Japan. India’s discomfort was clear when prospective bidders for the 22-km long bridge
Materials Martin-Marietta Moves onAcquiring Vulcan Materials Martin-Marietta Materials, a Raleigh, N.C.-based aggregate supplier, made a tender offer on Dec. 12 to acquire Birmingham, Ala.-based Vulcan Materials Co. M-M has offered one of its shares for every two shares of Vulcan, a deal roughly valued at $4.7 billion. Vulcan operates in the Southeast, Southwest and California. M-M operates in the mid-Atlantic states, the Southeast and Midwest. M-M CEO C. Howard Nye, in a letter to Vulcan CEO Donald M. James, noted that the firms had been in merger discussions for over a year and a half but that Vulcan had broken
Military construction contracting officials touted their efforts to award work to small businesses at an industry conference last month, but attendees noted the procurements are fraught with issues, from slow-moving awards to bait-and-switch tactics by prime contractors.Tracy Pinson, director of small-business programs for the U.S. Army, highlighted its "robust" small-business contracting program to the 1,900 attendees at the Society of Military Engineers event in suburban Washington, D.C. In fiscal 2011, the Army let approximately $90 billion in construction contracts to U.S. firms—close to $24 billion, or about 26%, went to small businesses. Other officials, such as Brig. Gen. Stephen Leisenring,
The construction recession is killing off numerous smaller companies and surety losses are growing, said insurers at the International Risk Management Institute's construction conference in San Diego, which ended Nov. 17. But bigger, better-managed companies continue to win jobs, so surety losses overall will be manageable.At the same time, risk managers, brokers and insurers in attendance at the IRMI event said the never-ending legal wrangling over scope of coverage has led lawmakers in four states to attempt to assure that construction defects are covered under contractor liability insurance. As a result, they added, a few insurers reportedly are steering clear
Related Links: Contractor-Controlled Wrap-Up Insurance Plans Gain Popularity The construction recession is killing off numerous smaller companies and surety losses are growing, said insurers at the International Risk Management Institute's construction conference in San Diego. But bigger, better-managed companies continue to win jobs and the surety losses overall will be manageable.At the same time, say risk managers, brokers and insurers at the conference, the never-ending legal wrangling over scope of coverage has led lawmakers in four states to attempt to assure that construction defects are covered under contractor liability insurance. As a result, a few insurers reportedly are steering clear
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