Related Links: ENR's 2012 The Year In Construction Photo Contest Winners Construction Photography Contest Judging Is Challenging And Rewarding Photo Contest Archives Runners-Up The moment our appreciation for the role of construction in civilization and society starts to drift, we begin to lose our regard for the resourcefulness that makes the construction world so inspiring. The moment we turn blasé about the wonder of the work, the contributions of all the minds and mighty efforts, we lose our gratitude for the splendid benefits of things as simple as clean running water and a roof over our heads.We value ENR's annual
Related Links: RMF Engineering On January 3, 2012, I received an e-mail from the president of my company, RMF Engineering, with an attached document. My heart racing, I felt like a high school senior about to open the application response letter from his favorite college. I thought, "Is this it? Is this how I get asked to become a partner in the firm?" Nope. So what was it?First, let me paint you a picture.Back in 2001, a few months out of college, I was hired by RMF in Baltimore and have worked there for 12 years.As a mechanical engineer specializing
Related Links: What Keeps Construction Up at Night Over the Fiscal Cliff The Fiscal Cliff and the AEC Industry GROGANPundits, politicians, economists, barbers and taxi drivers all speak of the so-called fiscal cliff as if it were a bad thing. Is it really? Is it really even a cliff?Lets back up a bit and take another look at what is going on. What are the consequences of going over the fiscal cliff? First, that supposed devastating tax hike. Not going to happen!Both political parties are firmly locked into maintaining lower tax rates: the Republicans for 100% of taxpayers and
How bad is the flooding, Joe? That's what I wanted to know during a cell-phone call in the days after Sandy hit. I was talking with a long-term tenant of mine, a retired fire chief, about the condition of the small apartment building I own in Ventnor, a hard-hit New Jersey shore town."Two feet," Joe answered. The building sits on high ground, but when the electricity died, so did the building's sump pump. Two feet of water is one foot beyond the threshold to flood our elevated boiler system, which likely would deprive my tenants of heat and hot water—that
Related Links: ENR: Fresh Hope for Homebuilders ENR Mountain States Multifamily construction is booming despite the slow economic recovery for commercial and single-family markets, but it is a very different market than it was 10 years ago. Like other segments of construction, the increasing number of firms in multifamily has driven profit margins down. As a result, bidding errors or unanticipated project costs, which were once part of doing business and could be absorbed within the contract price, can now wipe out all profits on a project and even threaten a company's overall financial strength.Multifamily's healthy backlog of work has
ENR Research Related Links: Will Proposed Anti-Bullying Laws Bring a Wave of Lawsuits? What Companies Do to Fend Off Abuse Lawsuits The rooftop was getting hotter. All day it was the same with Bob, the chief of our four-man crew, who barked orders for materials: "Nails!" "Shingles!" He yelled at everyone, especially me, the low man. I was a 20-something student on a break from college, earning money for school. We were putting a roof on a suburban home on a hill overlooking Coraopolis, northwest of Pittsburgh. Bob's shouting punctuated the days."Water! Where the hell is that kid with the
Related Links: Download ENR's Free Mobile News App Foundation Flaws Make Kentucky's Wolf Creek Dam a High-Risk Priority The field of ground engineering and construction often is characterized by unknown conditions, a high level of uncertainty and risk. In the difficult economic conditions we see around the globe today, it seems as if the entire construction industry is on shaky ground, too. As the CEO of Soilmec, a heavy equipment manufacturer in the ground engineering sector based in Italy, I would like to offer my insight into how the European economic crisis is affecting the worldwide construction industry.In Europe, stronger
Related Links: U.S. Commercial Services website with additional details Under Secretary for Trade Francisco J. Sanchez explains the mission (video) On Nov. 11-17 of this year, the U.S. Commercial Service of the Dept. of Commerce’s International Trade Administration is leading a trade mission of U.S. companies to explore Vietnam's and Indonesia’s infrastructure markets. Together, these countries are undertaking billions of dollars' worth of projects in sectors such as environmental, construction and engineering, aviation and energy—all of which hold great promise for U.S. exporters looking for growth opportunities. Sarah Kemp and David Gossack, senior commercial counselors with the U.S. embassies in
In recent years, we've witnessed a fundamental shift in how architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) firms implement growth strategies. As once-explosive organic growth has generally ground to a halt, companies have shifted away from using acquisitions to add resources and size to keep up with the market. They now have become highly strategic formarket access and expansion of capabilities. This follows the well-established trend of project owners seeking single-contract solutions with AEC firms that "can do it all." SIEGELThese strategic acquisitions often have involved smaller specialty firms that can expand the purchaser's capabilities and increase the potential for work. But
Leading construction-industry companies have successfully withstood the adverse effects of the global economic downturn by growing company revenue in spite of it. But the real challenge for engineering and contracting firm managers has been the ability to turn that growth into increased value for shareholders. ROCAIn a 2011 analysis of 37 major global construction-industry companies, management consultant Accenture found that the firms reported a 6.4% compound annual growth rate in revenue between 2007 and 2010. But they also had relatively low profitability over the five-year and three-year periods ending in 2010.Firms' average total return to shareholders was -4.8% annually for
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