Related Links: ENR 2013 2Q Cost Report (full report, subscription-only) Engineering News-Record's Quarterly Cost Reports Construction Financial Management Association It has not been an easy five years for the construction industry. The recession of 2008 hit nearly every market sector and region in the country. Recovery has been slow. For years, forecasters have searched in vain for signs that the worst of the recession is in the rearview mirror.The most recent ENR Construction Industry Confidence Index survey may be that sign. It shows the industry believes the market has turned a corner and is beginning, in fits and starts, to
Image Courtesy of Black & Veatch Related Links: The Top 500 Design Firms Natural-gas liquefaction and gasification plants are huge, expensive and, up until now, land-based. However, in July 2012, Black & Veatch (No. 14) and Shanghai-based shipbuilder and engineering firm Wison Offshore & Marine Ltd. won a contract to design and construct the world's first floating LNG (FLNG) liquefaction, regasification and storage unit.The ship is being constructed in Nantong, China, and will be floated to the Pacific Coast of Colombia, where it will process gas from the La Creciente gas field, located in the Lower Magdalena Valley Basin. The
Photo Courtesy of SAIC SAIC performed work on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Vibro-Acoustic Research Facility near Cleveland. Related Links: The Top 500 Design Firms SAIC, ranked at No. 34 on ENR's list of the Top 500 Design Firms, is a $10.5-billion firm working in the national security and information-technology fields. It also does nearly $750 million in construction contracting and engineering.This construction group may soon find itself with a new name—Leidos—as SAIC says it plans to split into two firms."We started out supporting both government and commercial customers, but the business models began to diverge," says Joe Craver,
Related Links: Engineering News-Record Construction Economics The construction market has taken its lumps over the past four years, tempting a normally optimistic industry to get gloomy.However, for the first time since early 2008, the industry is seeing signs that suggest the worst is over and the market is gradually recovering.The most recent ENR Construction Industry Confidence Index survey shows the industry's growing hope that recovery is at hand. The first-quarter 2013 CICI surged to a record 64 points on a scale of 100, which represents a growing market. The vast majority of the 376 executives of large construction and design
Related Links: View Complete 4Q Cost Report with Data and Analysis (pdf-subscription or purchase only) Construction Financial Management Association The construction industry has been expecting a turnaround in the market for the past three years, but just when sentiment starts to improve, fate steps in to thwart an upswing. Most recently, industry executives said that, once the national elections were decided in November, there would be more clarity on the direction of the market. With the results behind us, industry still is waiting for a sign that a market uptick is near.The most recent ENR Construction Industry Confidence Index survey
Courtesy of OConnell Electric Powerline crews around New York State struggled with lines damaged by trees. Debra K. Rubin for ENR John Pequet of Townsend Corp. traveled from Livonia, Mich. to New Jersey to help in Hurricane Sandy power restoration. Contractors based in areas struck by Hurricane Sandy pulled in additional hands from their region, joined by workers and companies well beyond, in a repair and restoration campaign of epic dimensions.One electrical worker who came in from Michigan was told only to head East "until you get to the ocean."Depending on logistical finesse and strong determination, crews tackled post-hurricane repairs,
Related Links: Presidential Platform As part of the CICI survey, ENR conducted an election poll asking which candidate would be better for the construction industry. Of the 378 executives polled, 71.2% said Romney was the better choice, 14.8% said Obama was the better choice, and 14.0% declined to answer.Many execs said their choice was ideological, with some claiming Obama is anti-business and others questioning Romney's leadership ability. However, many execs focused on markets. "The public sector will see more work under Obama, [and] the private sector will see more work under Romney," said one undecided exec.Agreeing with this analysis, many
Related Links: ENR's Construction Industry Confidence Index Declines in Third Quarter Full Report: ENR's 3rd Quarterly Cost Report, 2012 (subscription required) Construction Firms Weigh in on Romney's Presidential Bid A Second Obama Term Could Look Much Like the First As part of our most recent Construction Industry Confidence Index survey (CICI), ENR conducted an election poll asking which candidate would be better for the construction industry. Of the 378 executives polled, 71.2% said Romney was the better choice, 14.8% said Obama was the better choice, and 14.0% declined to answer.Many execs said their choice was ideological, with some claiming Obama
