Photo by Joseph Rosta for ENR ENR Editor Tuchman waits to enter the newly opened Biomuseo in Panama. Related Links: ASCE Conference: Panama City Dancing to the Beat of Projects Panamania: Museum Becomes Instant Icon for Developing Nation In Panama, Global Engineers Tackle Gigaproject Transparency ENR Editor-in-Chief Janice Tuchman has visited signature buildings under construction around the world and sent three staff members to write about the Panama Canal.When she made her own visit to Panama earlier this month to cover an American Society of Civil Engineers' conference, Tuchman was finally able to experience first-hand some of the wonder of
Related Links: Black & Veatch Practices Risk Control in a High-Growth Strategy Keep Your Guard Up Against Green Project Risks Is risk management oversold? We know that some government regulation creates risk and that veering business cycles are a source of uncertainty for any designer or contractor. In construction, too, it's wise to vet contracts in case an untrusting customer slips a risk-shifting clause into Section 7, Subsection (c), Paragraph 4, of your agreement.This isn't news. Entire categories of risk exist thanks to innovations considered vital to the future of construction: integrated project delivery, BIM, sustainable construction and the expanded
Photo by Richard Korman for ENR Triplett says that over the years the company has figured out which types of projects are most likely to lead to trouble. The audience had been warned of the risks of prefabrication, briefed about the complications of P3s and enlightened about recent studies whose author emphasized that contractors must avoid a growth-at-all-costs business model.That’s when Timothy W. Triplett, the senior risk executive at Black & Veatch and a keynote speaker at ENR’s Risk & Compliance Summit on Sept. 30th at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, said that his company planned to expand its annual revenue
The Wayne County, Mich., prosecutor has charged three current and former county employees with felonies and misdemeanors for misconduct and neglect of duty in allegedly failing to inform county commissioners of increases in the cost of a partly completed jail project. Days after charging the three, the county announced it had settled its claims in state court against the project's at-risk construction manager.Officials of the construction manager, a joint venture of Walbridge Aldinger Co., Detroit, and dck Worldwide, Pittsburgh, could not be reached for comment. A Wayne County spokesman said that, under the settlement, the county would pay the construction
Related Links: Obama's Executive Order Invites Confusion Link to US Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Report on Federal Contractor 2012 Worker Violations On its face, President Obama's July 31 executive order requiring federal contractors to list workplace-related violations when they submit bids and proposals is an attempt to keep persistent violators from continuing to win federal contracts.Why, the president asks, should violators earn checks from federal taxpayers if they won't treat their workers according to federal standards?According to the order, contracting officers and newly appointed agency "labor compliance advisors" would evaluate the violations to determine if a company
PhScarborough had pledged coal waste at this West Virginia tract as the asset backing his bonds. Edmund C. Scarborough, who owned the biggest and most public individual surety business in the U.S., once claimed that his guarantees were backed by solid assets comprised of valuable coal waste.In federal bankruptcy court in Tampa July 17, Scarborough and his wife, Yvonne, filed for protection from their creditors, listing assets of $4.5 million and liabilities of $16.2 million.The 70-page filing states that the main business asset held by the debtors is IBCS Mining, a Charlottesville, Va., based company that
Related Links: Schiavone Agrees to $23-Million Settlement for MBE Fraud D.C. Cuts Forrester Payment by $1M Over MBE Joint Venture Federal prosecutors charged steel fabricator and erector Larry Davis, the owner of DCM Erectors Inc., with using front companies and a fraudulent joint venture to fulfill goals for hiring minority- and women-owned companies during construction of One World Trade Center and the adjacent transportation hub in New York City.The charges were revealed by prosecutors in late July in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where Davis was released on $100,000 bail.Sanford Talkin, an attorney for Davis, denied the charges against his
One day after Truland Group, the big Reston, Va.,-based electrical contractor, ceased operations on July 21, units of the company filed for protection from creditors in federal bankruptcy court in Alexandria, Va.The company ranks 21st on ENR's list of The Top 600 Contractors, with 2012 revenue of $486 million, and is listed as the 10th largest electrical contractor in the U.S.Exactly how many unfinished projects, stranded employees and surety bond claims the company leaves is unclear. Truland officials could not be reached for comment.Truland is seeking protection under Chapter 7 of the federal bankruptcy code, which usually involves liquidation of
Photo: iStockphoto/Dwight Nadig The project involved a 30-in.-dia natural gas pipeline, similar to the one at left, in Lycoming County, Pa., along with gas-gathering lines and compressor stations. Related Links: How to Resolve Construction Disputes Proactively Creating a Compliance Culture Lessens Risk of Fraud Faced with mounting interest payments after losing a $24-million jury verdict in Delaware County, Pa., a pipeline company has settled with contractor Utility Line Services, says the contractor's attorney.The jury in April had ordered the defendant, PVR Marcellus Gas Gathering Inc., recently acquired by Dallas-based Regency Energy Partners, to pay Utility Line Services about $16.5 million
New York State Court lawsuit exhibit An aerial view of the excavation for Barclays Center in New York City entered as an exhibit in Laquila's lawsuit against Hunt. A New York State judge has ruled that Laquila Construction Group, the excavation and foundation subcontractor for the Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn, can sue prime contractor Hunt Construction Group for additional payment even though Laquila signed releases when it accepted progress payments during the project.The arena open on time in September 2012.New York City-based Laquila filed a complaint against Hunt in state court in Brooklyn in May, 2013. Although Hunt paid
