These are trying times for specialty contractors. Given the limited opportunities for new work, the struggle to get paid for completed jobs and the reluctance within the lending community to extend credit to construction firms, the region’s subcontractors are fighting on all fronts to survive. Many contractors are cautiously optimistic that the economic environment could improve in 2012, but conditions could get worse before they get better. Public projects such as road, transit and infrastructure jobs have provided the most work for specialty firms over the last year. Related Links: TSC Overall Ranking in the Tri-State Area TSC Rankings broken

The headlines about the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site usually include “arbitration,” “notice of dispute,” and “finally started” — with only the occasional mention of any good news. For the people involved with the construction of all the towers and public spaces at the 16-acre site, many of whom have been at it for close to a decade now, this can be particularly frustrating. Because they have been working, regardless of the squabbling between the 19 stakeholders — Silverstein Properties, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, ConEd, Verizon, and a host of notoriously slow city agencies

In the wasteland of the New York region’s slumping construction market, K-12 public schools were the oasis sustaining contractors, designers, and others as work dried up elsewhere. “Thank God for the schools,” says Tom Rogér, vice president for Gilbane Building. “It maintained some level of consistent activity through the recession.” The plodding finance process for school construction had set up several years’ worth of projects as the recession deepened. “Last year, there was still a significant amount of new construction going on, because those were projects approved three years ago,” Rogér adds. But the downturn’s ripples have begun lapping against

In explaining his decision to sell his company, Tishman Construction, to AECOM Technology Corp., Daniel R. Tishman notes that the company lacked the very deep financial resources needed to establish new overseas offices and maintain itself as a major market player. “It’s a very expensive proposition to open an office in the Middle East,” he said onJuly 19 in New York City. Photo: Luke Abaffy for ENR Daniel Tishman moves engineer AECOM further into construction services. And with those words, the respected leader of one of construction’s most famous family-owned companies summed up why AECOM and its competitor, URS Corp.,

Prosecutors unsuccessfully moved to treat their own mentally and physically disabled witness as hostile when his testimony unexpectedly bolstered the defense of his friend and co-worker, William Rapetti, the master rigger on trial for manslaughterand negligent homicide in a 2008 Manhattan crane collapse that killed seven. Related Links: Trial Begins For Rigger in Deadly 2008 Crane Collapse Victim “Buried Alive” in 2008 Crane Collapse Testifies in Manslaughter Trial for Crane Rigger Supervisor May Have Been Off-Site At Time of Crane Collapse Faulty Sling Argument Takes a Hit in Rigger�s Manslaughter Trial Doomed Crane Had History of Malfunctions John Della Porta,

Gov. Rick Perry has reappointed Bill Thornton of San Antonio as chair to the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2012. Thornton received a bachelor’s degree from Trinity University, a doctorate of Dental Surgery from Baylor College of Dentistry, and completed his oral surgery residency at Baylor Medical Center. In addition, Gov. Perry has reappointed David Allex of Harlingen as chair to the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority for a term to expire Feb. 1, 2012. He received a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University at Kingsville and attended the Institute of Organizational Management at

Industry Faces  July 1, 2010 The 2010 Global Construction Summit recently took place at The McGraw-Hill Companies Corporate Headquarters Auditorium located at 1221 Avenue of the Americas on the 2nd Floor in New York City. The focus of the event was on �Winning Business in World Markets� and included country delegations from the major construction markets of Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Australia gathering to hear from global thought-leaders.From left: McGraw-Hill CEO, Terry McGraw; Indian Minister, Kamal Nath; McGraw-Hill Construction President, Keith Fox. Leaders from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority highlighted the need for fi scal discipline and a renewed

The site supervisor for the lead contractor at the site of the 2008 midtown Manhattan crane crash testified today in the manslaughter trial of master rigger William Rapetti and revealed that the doomed crane had experienced a spate of problems starting three months before the accident. Related Links: Trial Begins For Rigger in Deadly 2008 Crane Collapse Victim “Buried Alive” in 2008 Crane Collapse Testifies in Manslaughter Trial for Crane Rigger Supervisor May Have Been Off-Site At Time of Crane Collapse Faulty Sling Argument Takes a Hit in Rigger�s Manslaughter Trial Prosecutors Contest Own Witness in Crane Collapse Case Matthew

WARD The World Trade Center has you in the news more than anything else, so let�s start there. Where are we on those projects? CW: If you look at One World Trade, we�re in good shape. The steel is now rising. It�s about 26 stories above grade. We�re at the point, now, where we�re hoping to start getting a floor done every week and a half. So by September we should be at 50 stories and by September of next year we should be literally be topping out. We�re doing the excavation and preliminary foundation at the transit hub, too.