Related Links: Sandy Recovery, An ENR Special Report Moving On After Sandy Lessons Learned From a Superstorm Could New York City have foreseen and protected itself from Superstorm Sandy's tidal surge? The question has been asked many times. Some, including my colleagues and I, believe natural barriers in the form of artificial reefs, sturdy dunes and barrier islands can help do the job. But while these can reduce the damaging effects of waves—the cold temperatures during Sandy kept the winds at a high altitude, thus producing fewer waves—if we are to protect against the storm surge itself, a broader system
Courtesy Andrew D. Ness What lawyers contribute is important, argues Ness. ENR’s recent viewpoint, “Lawyer as Constructor,” was a classic example of lawyer bashing—reliably good fun that is as old as Shakespeare. I am not going to argue that it’s never deserved but I would like to point out some of the ways that construction lawyers make a strong positive contribution to our industry. At the front end of a project, the construction lawyer frequently adds substantial value. Almost every project has at least one key challenge that is not addressed by any form contract. For a manufacturing plant, it
Related Links: Viewpoint: OSHA Crane Rules Have Merit Crane Experts Challenge OSHA Rules In One Week, Crane Operators Receive A License to Learn Under the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's current rules for cranes in construction, candidates seeking operator certification must be tested on the type and capacity of crane they will operate. However, implementation of a capacity requirement is controversial in the crane world, and OSHA's final determination on this issue could have major implications for the entire construction industry.In July 2003, OSHA convened the Cranes and Derricks Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee (C-DAC); I was honored to be
Related Links: Viewpoint: OSHA Crane Rules Must Change Crane Experts Challenge OSHA Rules In One Week, Crane Operators Receive A License to Learn Testing crane operators by the capacity and type of machine to be used—which is required under today's federal crane rules—provides meaningful qualification of an operator's skill set. Without that, certification lacks the teeth to take a bite out of accidents. This level of testing reduces risks and can be done economically.Some would argue that capacity is not a useful indicator of an operator's skill. However, the capacity designations used in Crane Institute Certification (CIC) tests are not
Related Links: Transport P3s Lessons Learned Special Report: Which Way the Winds are Blowing on P3s Public-private partnerships (P3s) have burst onto the scene in the U.S. as a solution to help meet the overwhelming need for public infrastructure and the underwhelming public resources to pay for it.P3s, of course, are hardly new. Private funding sources have been used for decades to develop major infrastructure and social assets in Europe, Asia and Latin America. In the last decade, P3s have become common in Canada, and they were utilized in the U.S. in the 1970s to develop post offices.In many cases,
Related Links: Read a Reply to This Commentary by a Top Construction Attorney A long time ago, when I was a young project manager, I had the temerity to complain that accountants were trying to run my job. As a professional engineer, I believed my technical education and abilities counted for more than theirs should on the construction site.However, I was confident that I knew how best to manage my own project and, therefore, had the confidence to proceed accordingly.WELLSBut things change, sometimes for the better and sometimes not. Now, with the American construction industry being run by lawyers, today's
Since 2010, more than 30 municipalities nationwide have filed for bankruptcy. Many states have experienced budget crises that have slowed payments or shelved projects, and the U.S. faced an operational shutdown that threatened the federal government's ability to pay its contractual commitments.Meanwhile, bankruptcies of major public companies remain near an all-time high. In the traditional paradigm for construction, the project owner worries about failure or default of its general contractor.In today's construction market, the reality is that the general contractor must pay close attention to the owner's ability to pay, regardless of how stable the owner appears to be.Tools From
Reporter-videographer Tom Sawyer traveled by boat to the Inner Harbor Navigation Channel surge barrier wall to see the work of Traylor Bros. Project Manager Wayne Jones.
The biggest issue in construction safety is communication, and when you look at the most recent volume of U.S. OSHA regulations, you’ll see a hefty 550 pages of safety rules. That’s a lot to communicate.Now, how do you transmit what's in those pages, or the most important part of it, to a worker who does not understand or know anything about the English language? How do you make those regulations clear to a worker from China, India, Europe, Africa or South America when those workers aren’t familiar with safety as a principle, never mind as an organized body of written
Until now very little research has been carried out into the definition of the personality traits that make a great risk manager and whether their skills need to change to meet emerging challenges. We have surveyed risk managers from a wide range of industries and areas. The survey results showed that, though the majority of today’s risk managers have characteristics that conform to the stereotype, there are many more dimensions to risk managers than first thought.The research itself was straightforward. We invited risk professionals from around the world to take part by completing an online confidential psychometric survey.We based it
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