Engineering and design-build firms see no growth in 2009 and may be optimistic in predicting a 6% revenue rise next year, according to a survey of about 200 company chief executives’ sample comments at an Oct. 22 meeting in New York City. The CEOs, whose firms had $79 billion in 2008 revenue, cut by one-fifth their prediction made last year of 2009 profit growth, but it still averaged 10%, says the survey by Environmental Financial Consulting Group, a New York City financial advisory firm. EFCG President Paul J. Zofnass said only 3.5% of respondents predict a loss this year, but

Seeking to “ensure transparency and accountability” in the $8.7-billion effort to build a new commuter rail link under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan, Gov. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) has issued an executive order mandating more state oversight of spending and contracting. Slide Show Photo: New Jersey Transit Expanding rail-line terminus is one part of project to run more trains between New York and New Jersey. As the country’s largest transit public-works project, the rail link includes construction of two commuter tracks and requires 8.78 miles of tunneling. The project officially broke ground in June and is to be

“Exciting and bittersweet” is how Anthony Buhl, CEO of EnergX, a contractor at the U.S. Energy Dept’s Oak Ridge nuclear waste cleanup site near Knoxville, Tenn., describes his portion of the complex’s stimulus infusion gained early this year. Oak Ridge, Tenn. Photo: Oak Ridge Convention & Visitors Bureau / Wescott Production since the 1940s has left nuclear waste stores and tainted buildings to be cleared. Photo: U.S. Energy Dept. New hire training lasted three months and is critical to executing Oak Ridge’s ARA-funded cleanup. Related Links: Stimulus: A Snapshot of Top Shovel-, Wrench- and Pencil-Ready Projects About $125 million of

With bids due soon for an estimated $8.7-billion tunnel project between New Jersey and Manhattan, the governor of New Jersey has announced tough new measures to control costs and potential fraud. Seeking to "ensure transparency and accountability" in the effort to build a new commuter rail link under the Hudson River, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) issued an executive order Oct. 7 that mandates more state oversight of "spending and contracting." As the country's largest transit public works endeavor, the project will involve construction of two commuter rail tracks and require 21,000 feet of tunneling. Set for completion in

Despite an increasing number of federal stimulus projects under way, construction’s unemployment rate rose in September as the industry lost 64,000 more jobs. Industry officials say the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been a help but has not halted construction’s continued huge layoffs. Note: Rates Are Not Seasonally Adjusted Source: U.S. Dept. Of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics The industry’s September jobless rate climbed to 17.1%, from 16.5% in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Oct. 2. Construction’s rate remains the highest among industries. The 17.1% mark also was well above the industry’s September 2008 level of

Michael Horman, associate professor of architectural engineering at Pennsylvania State University, State College, who also specialized in research on building efficiency and use of lean construction in green buildings, died Sept. 15 while teaching a graduate course, says the school. He was 38 and suffered a fatal heart attack, according to published reports. HORMAN Horman was director of the university's Lean and Green Research Initiative, a research effort focused on high-performance and sustainable building design and construction, and co-editor of its Journal of Green Building. He also served as assistant specialty editor for the American Society of Civil Engineers' Journal

The AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh this month was the backdrop for the latest salvo between the federation’s Building and Construction Trades Dept. and its long-missing member, the carpenters’ union, over recruiting practices in a recession-impacted marketplace. The AFL-CIO on Sept. 16 passed a resolution urging the carpenters’ union to reaffiliate but also authorizing member unions to compete with it in organizing carpenters in certain markets. Resolution 70, passed unanimously, urges the 500,000-member United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners to end its “go-it-alone policy” and realign with both the AFL-CIO and BCTD, which represents 13 construction craft unions. The carpenters left

Teaching engineering in K-12 grades would not only boost interest in the profession and in technical careers in general, but would also improve all students’ problem-solving, systems-thinking and teamwork skills, says the National Academy of Engineering in a Sept. 8 report. Even so, very few U.S. schools now include the discipline or have enough trained faculty to teach it. Says NAE: “Engineering might be called the missing letter in STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] education.” Slide Show Students in Wisconsin engineering instruction high school class design and build a racing car prototype. Sun Prairie, Wis., high school engineering class;

Balfour Beatty plc, the U.K.-based global construction giant, announced on Sept. 17 it would acquire U.S. engineering stalwart Parsons Brinckerhoff for $626 million.

At its annual convention Sept. 16 in Pittsburgh, the AFL-CIO has passed a resolution that urges the carpenters' union to re-affiliate with the organized labor umbrella organization and also sets in motion a process to allow member building trades unions to compete with it in recruiting unaffiliated workers. The carpenters' left the AFL-CIO fold in 2005. Resolution 70, passed unanimously, urges the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, with more than 500,000 members, to end its "go it alone policy," which the document termed "inconsistent with the principles of solidarity" and a "detriment" to union construction. The resolution also urges