PHOTO COURTESY VDOT / Trevor Wrayton Innovative financing Virginia DOT plans to expand use of PPP on projects in the suburbs of D.C. Related Links: ENR's Top Owners List and Top Owners Sourcebook Features After years of steady gains fueled by record funding levels, departments of transportation across the U.S. face lean times ahead. With funds from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act largely spent and most states grappling with declines in revenue, the impact of the economic downturn is hitting the transportation sector hard.Highway and bridge construction starts nationwide could drop to $50.2 billion in 2012 from a
Maryland has a soft spot for turtles. Not only is the turtle the mascot of the state's College Park-based university, it is a symbol of the high level of environmental stewardship demanded on its transportation projects.
The uncertain future of federal transportation funding loomed large over the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' annual meeting, held in Detroit on Oct. 13-17. Under the theme “Leading in Lean Times,” directors of state departments of transportation discussed ways to weather the choppy financing environment.“In regards to our aging infrastructure, there's generally a pessimistic view of the future funding picture,” said Malcolm Dougherty, Caltrans acting director. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, addressing the attendees, called on them to urge Congress to pass a multi-year highway-transit bill. “Passing the surface transportation bill will put America back to work,”
Photo by Bruce Buckley Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction, sees no upswing in construction volume in 2012. Related Links: YouTube Video of McGraw-Hill Construction's Forecast for 2011 A fifth straight year of decline is how 2011 will go into the record books, with no growth likely next year. That's the sobering forecast from McGraw-Hill Construction.In light of the sluggish economy, construction spending continues to limp along in a depressed state with few limited signs of hope on the horizon. McGraw-Hill Construction, the parent of ENR, estimates that 2011 will close out with a 4% drop
Three years into the economic downturn, many specialty contractors aren't sure what to make of today's market, much less where it is headed. Although the construction industry has weathered its fair share of cycles over the years, top brass at the region's largest firms have never been through a down period that lasted quite this long. This is new territory, even for the industry's most-seasoned executives. With private dollars still squeezed and public money running low, there is no clear path to long-term recovery, says Harold MacDowell, CEO of TDIndustries, Dallas.“It's a muddle-through economy,” he says. “It's going to be
Although many large engineering, procurement and construction, or EPC, firms in the petroleum sector are still building backlog and revenues on international jobs, traditional upstream and downstream opportunities in the U.S. remain largely in a slump. Still, many U.S.-based firms are bullish on work in Canada and South America.Irving, Texas-based Fluor Corp. is near the end of a strong streak of U.S. refinery work won in recent years, including a $3.8-billion job for BP America at its Whiting, Ind., refinery, $1.6 billion in work in Detroit for Marathon Oil and $1.2 billion for two projects in Texas and Louisiana for
PHOTO Courtesy of Balfour Beatty CONSTRUCTION A $534-million Army medical-center replacement at Fort Hood, Texas, broke ground in December. While many of the general building sectors remain in the doldrums, health-care projects continue to pump a steady stream of revenue for top contracting firms. Although the recession did create a pause in capital projects at many health systems, megaprojects—especially federally funded ones—are filling the pipelines of top firms. And as big-dollar projects wane, many companies hope to see a return to more traditional work in the near future.Skanska USA, New York City, is on track for one of its “better
The impact of the recession came on quickly for specialty contractors, sending them into a slump as they cope with a combination of fewer jobs and thinner margins. Although revenues remain below pre-recession levels, many of the region's largest firms are landing enough work to hold steady. The recession took its toll in 2009 as the combined revenue of the region's top 10 specialty contractors dropped 17% from the previous year to $2.32 billion. But revenue leveled off at $2.29 billion for the top-10 firms in 2010.For specialty contractor Donaldson Interiors, Hauppauge, N.Y., revenue is down, but the corporate interiors
In the aftermath of Tuesday's 5.8-magnitude earthquake in Virginia, building owners in the Washington, D.C., region are accessing potential damage to buildings. Other industry voices are questioning whether the temblor, the largest Virginia has experienced on record, will lead to new discussions of Seismic codes for the East Coast.Several major facilities are closed while teams of engineers inspect structures. Most notably, the National Parks Service closed the Washington Monument indefinitely after teams discovered cracks near the top of the 555-ft-tall obelisk, considered the world's tallest of its kind. Other closed facilities include the National Building Museum, the Dept. of Homeland