Before You Can Say, “Let there be light,” you first have to say, “Let there be concrete and steel.” At least that is the way the process works with some of the scientific research at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y., where $150 million of stimulus funding is speeding up parts of a big new research laboratory. Upton, N.Y. Photo: Brookhaven National Laboratory Ring-shaped Lab in Upton, N.Y., used stimulus money to speed contractors held back by annual funding cycles, and parts, but not all, of the project have been moved up for earlier completion. Related Links: NJ: New
Before You Can Say, “Let there be light,” you first have to say, “Let there be concrete and steel.” At least that is the way the process works with some of the scientific research at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y., where $150 million of stimulus funding is speeding up parts of a big new research laboratory. Upton, N.Y. Photo: Brookhaven National Laboratory Ring-shaped Lab in Upton, N.Y., used stimulus money to speed contractors held back by annual funding cycles, and parts, but not all, of the project have been moved up for earlier completion. Photo: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. failed to convince a Minnesota state judge to throw out the claims against the company related to the collapse of the Interstate-35W bridge in Minneapolis two years ago. The company had argued that it didn’t owe Minnesota any of the $37 million the state paid out to victims because the design work performed on the bridge was done more than 40 years earlier. A state court judge in Hennepin County on Aug. 28 ruled that the state’s lawsuit against Jacobs, one of several engineers and contractors targeted, could continue. As the bridge’s principal designer, Jacobs is
A 32-year veteran of Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc., one of the industry�s oldest and most prestigious firms, Hawksworth was named CEO in January, 2008, succeeding Thomas J. O�Neill. ENR business editors Debra K. Rubin and Richard Korman sat down recently with Hawksworth in PB�s Manhattan headquarters and talked about how the engineer and program manager is reorganizing and restrategizing. Among the topics covered: a recent merger deal PB seriously considered; the company�s push for improved marketing; the ramifications of the financial crisis and the legacy of the Big Dig. Keith J. Hawksworth Related Links: Video: Parsons Brinckerhoff’s Future O'Neill Sheds CEO
Faced with political opposition and inconsistent rules from state to state, partnerships that channel private investment into public works have lagged badly in the U.S. compared to Europe and Australia. A new survey report suggests that public officials that have experience in building via public-private partnerships consider the method an important and useful development tool, but that there is a long way to go in gaining broader acceptance. Photo: Missouri DOT Can PPPs fund special truck lanes, such as the ones shown in this experiment in Missiouri? Related Links: Experienced Officials Support PPPs McGraw-Hill Construction’s PPP SmartMarket Report Released at
Stop mixing messages. That is what a team of safety researchers urged Perini Building Co. to do during worker orientations last fall following an assessment of the CityCenter project and another Perini project nearby. The mixed-message advice was one of the most interesting aspects of the assessment. Although Perini seemed on the surface to have the best safety communication practices, the assessment team claimed that the message was compromised. Photo: Tony Illia Bilingual instruction at CityCenter’s safety orientation lasted only 15 minutes. Related Links: Las Vegas CityCenter Project: Inside a Safety Turnaround Perini’s direct messages seemed to reflect an enlightened
To Todd Harris, trouble at his local bank is a sign of thin times for his building contracting company, J.C. Harris & Sons, which is based in Elgin, Ill., not far from Chicago. Harris keeps an account at Amcore Bank, a mid-sized regional bank, and has even built its branch buildings. But like banks around the world, Amcore reported a loss for 2008: $97.5 million. William McManaman, Amcore’s CEO, told investors that in the last quarter of 2008, builders and developers accounted for the majority of the bank’s new bad loans. So for now, Amcore, like other banks, is about
Adjust to new realities, give employees a cause to fight for and focus on opportunities: Executives of three design and construction firms offered those strategies as ways for the industry to cope with the current financial crisis. The executives joined other leaders from industry, government and Wall Street at an ENR/McGraw-Hill Construction conference in New York City last month to analyze economic developments and optimize solutions. Ira Levy, president of AECOM’s DMJM Harris unit in New York City, acknowledged that his firm’s revenue will shrink, but he said profitability could still survive. He noted, “A better question to ask is,
Adjust to the new realities, give employees a cause to fight for and focus on opportunities. That�s how leaders of three design and construction companies described methods of fending off despair and rallying staffs during the financial crisis that has engulfed global economies and the construction industry. They joined other market sector leaders from industry, government and Wall Street to analyze current realities and optimize solutions at �Managing Construction�s Financial Crisis,� an ENR/McGraw-Hill Construction-sponsored conference in New York City Feb. 24-25. Photo: Richard Korman/ENR Siegel: When time are tough, great companies capture market share. Ira Levy, president of AECOM’s DMJM
President Barack Obama, speaking before signing his historic stimulus measure in Denver, proclaimed it to be the “largest investment in our infrastructure since Eisenhower built the interstate highway system.” That may be so, but with most of the stimulus directed toward infrastructure, the news isn’t uniformly good. Just minutes before Obama spoke, Blake Jones, CEO of Namaste Solar Electric Inc., said “thousands of electricians and plumbers and carpenters...that have been laid off should consider joining us in the solar industry.” The increase in roads will be moderate, the falloff in nonpublic buildings steep. Those comments suggested the diverging fortunes of
