Prosecutors are pressing ahead with new charges against contractors for workplace-related accidents.James F. Lomma, a crane company owner who was charged last year in connection with a May 2008 crane accident in New York City that killed two workers, is scheduled to go on trial on Sept. 19. Paul Schechtman, an attorney representing Lomma's firm, has said there is no basis for criminal charges in the case.Lomma, 64, two other firms and a former employee have pleaded not guilty to charges that include second-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault.Manhattan district attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said, “[The indictment] is an important
A jury acquitted a second supervisor in the Deutsche bank fire trial. The jury acquitted Jeffrey Melofchik, the safety supervisor for Bovis Lend Lease, the principal contractor during the demolition of the structure at Ground Zero in New York City, of charges that included manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. A fire during asbestos abatement work in 2007 killed two New York City firefighters. Less than 24 hours earlier, the same jurors had cleared Salvatore DePaola, the abatement supervisor for John Galt Corp. One more Galt employee, Mitchell Alvo, still is awaiting a verdict by the trial judge in State Supreme
Compared to all construction workplace safety penalties, the number of safety-related criminal prosecutions in the industry is small. Such cases force prosecutors out of their familiar territory of thieves, drug dealers and killers into the technical and organizational complexities of the jobsite. PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES / MATT CARDY GUILTY Peter Eaton (middle), the principal of engineering firm Cotswold Geotechnical, leaves court. His firm was convicted under Englands corporate homicide law. Related Links: Charges Filed Against California Construction Foreman Prosecutor's Reasons for Indicting Cotswold Geotechnical Testimony by OSHA Official Requesting Right to Seek More Prison Penalties But if the civil
Tutor Perini Corp. acquired Frontier-Kemper and plans to acquire Lunda Corp., adding significantly to its market share in heavy and civil construction, especially in the Midwest. Tutor Perini says in a statement that it will pay $153.5 million for Lunda--$131.8 million in cash and $21.7 million in debt. In addition, Tutor Perini says there is a structured earnout based on profitability targets for three years. The transaction is scheduled to close July 1, 2011. Founded in 1938, Lunda Construction Co. is based in Black River Falls, Wisc. It has extensive experience in bridges and marine and railroad-related construction. The company’s plainly presented website
The revolution in factory organization that transformed the world of manufacturing has never had an exact parallel in construction. Based partly on new research findings, a recent survey suggests a decisive moment is at hand for construction: productivity, safety, environmental quality, building information modeling and collaborative management can all be enhanced by or used to facilitate modular construction and prefabrication techniques. “It's amazing to think of all the pieces coming together now to transform the construction industry,” says Harvey Bernstein, vice president of industry insights and alliances for McGraw-Hill Construction, the parent of ENR, at a Construction Users Roundtable meeting
Leaders of the Construction Users Roundtable say they want to push designers and contractors to use more sophisticated methods of prefabrication and modular construction techniques to cut the time and cost of construction and to complete projects more safely with fewer workers. Image: Cianbro Cianbro manufacturing facility in Maine, pictured in earlier rendering, manufactured component modules for a Texas refinery. The comments were made at CURT's spring meeting April 12-13 in Covington, Ky., outside Cincinnati. While the use of prefabrication techniques has accelerated in the last five years—companies such as Jacobs Engineering, The Shaw Group Inc. and Cianbro are making
A federal jury in New Orleans awarded a $451,000 settlement on March 24th to a former employee of Boh Bros. Construction Co. to settle charges that he was sexually harassed by his superintendent. The verdict, which was announced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission March 29, is one of an increasing number of same-sex harassment lawsuits filed under federal sexual harassment laws. The jury declined to find liability and to award greater damages for retaliation against the worker by Boh Bros. He had claimed that, in reponse to his complaints, he was transferred to another, more distant location from his
The union rights controversy isn�t confined to Wisconsin or teachers. Newly seated Republican majorities in several budget-strapped states have swung legislative wrecking balls at some of the pillars of the building trades, including prevailing wages and project labor agreements. In Ohio, where newly elected Gov. John Kasich (R) has pledged to cut costly regulations, new Republican lawmakers have provided a substantial majority in the state Senate. A bill originating in the Ohio House of Representatives would prohibit state funding on any local government project built under a project labor agreement. On prevailing wages, open-shop contractors are �working with the governor
The union rights controversy isn’t confined to Wisconsin or teachers. Newly seated Republican majorities in several budget-strapped states have swung legislative wrecking balls at some of the pillars of the building trades, including prevailing wages and project labor agreements. In Ohio, where newly elected Gov. John Kasich (R) has pledged to cut costly regulations, new Republican lawmakers have provided a substantial majority in the state Senate. A bill originating in the Ohio House of Representatives would prohibit state funding on any local government project built under a project labor agreement. On prevailing wages, open-shop contractors are “working with the governor
Whenever rustics Living In Rockland County, N.Y., want to relieve some of the stress of driving in the New York City area—traffic at the Lincoln Tunnel, bumpy, pot-holed streets—we head for New Jersey to gas up our tanks. When I pull into places such as the Lukoil on Piermont Road in Northvale, N.J., the lower price of gas makes me feel like I’ve just pulled a scam. On the New Jersey side of the Hudson, I can buy a gallon of regular this week for $3.169, instead of the $3.449 a gallon I would pay at a Gulf station on
