In an effort to jump start building projects in New York City and put idle union construction workers back on the job, the leaders of more than 40 different building trades and union employer groups announced on May 29 what they termed a “historic compact” to cut wages of both labor and management and end expensive work rules. Proponents claim the citywide project-labor agreement will cut costs by as much as 21% on the first 12 high-rise and other commercial projects that it covers, representing $2 billion of construction and 10,000 jobs. But some are less enthusiastic about the cost
Contractors are feeling the impact of the changing economy, but many are failing to prepare for what may not be just a normal recession, according to industry management consultant FMI Corp. in a new report. In its survey conducted in February of 230 executives of U.S. construction firms in various revenue categories and market segments, Raleigh, N.C.-based FMI says respondents anticipate much uncertainty ahead. Three-quarters of respondents foresee workforce cuts, and 77% expect profits to drop. While 74% of firms have boosted business development in the last six months, only 56% are formally evaluating their capabilities and constraints and only
Five contractors have submitted proposals to build the $523-million National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility at Kansas State University in Manhattan, project sources confirm. Construction of the megalab, to be the center of U.S. anti-bioterror and agricultural defense research, is being managed by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. It will replace the 50-plus-year-old Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York state and is being designed by a Perkins & Will-led team. DHS would not disclose details of the ongoing procurement, but according to company executives, those who submitted proposals earlier this month to build the facility include: a joint
Feniosky Peña-Mora learned English at Columbia University in New York City two decades ago as a newly arrived immigrant with an engineering degree from the Dominican Republic, where he grew up. Now, the 43-year-old is returning to the upper Manhattan campus, close to the heart of the city's Dominican community, taking over in July as dean of that Ivy League institution's School of Engineering and Applied Science. Photo: Columbia University Feniosky Pe�a-Mora takes over Columbia's school of engineering and applied science in July. Peña-Mora replaces interim dean Gerald Navratil and will assume a program with 164 faculty, close to 2,870
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, N.Y., announced two new arrests this month related to an ongoing probe of corruption on construction projects for New York City utility Consolidated Edison Corp. The investigation had led to charges filed in January against 10 current and former Con Ed construction officials who allegedly accepted $1 million in kickbacks from contractors, but the contractors were neither identified nor charged at the time. Now U.S. Attorney Benton J. Campbell has said the alleged corruption occurred in connection with work at Metropolitan Transit Authority and city Dept. of Environmental Protection jobsites where Con Ed was working. According
Constantine "Taki" Papadakis, the president of Drexel University in Philadelphia and one of a few civil engineers to be running a major academic institution, died unexpectedly April 5 at age 63. According to the university, his death was related to pulmonary complications, although he was in remission from cancer. Photo: Courtesy of Drexel University Constantine "Taki" Papadakis Papadakis, a management veteran of three construction industry firms, joined Drexel in 1995, at a time when its enrollment, physical plant and bottom line had sunk to new depths. But during the 14 years of his presidency the university experienced an academic and
The forecast shrinks the anticipated decline in 2009 construction starts to 15% from an earlier estimate of 20% or more. This is fueled by weak residential and commercial markets and the “emerging loss of momentum for institutional building,” according to the report. Projections say the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will hike public works project starts by 10%, “enough to cushion what was shaping up to be a particularly tough year for construction,” says the report by MHC, publisher of ENR. “The public works jump-start will be the saving grace for the year,” says Robert A. Murray, MHC
Tough economic times around the world are taking a toll on global construction spending. Back-to-back annual declines have been reported for the first time in two decades, according to results of an annual survey of 69 construction markets. In its 2009 global construction outlook, IHS Global Insight Construction Services, Lexington, Mass., projects a 3.7% decline in total global spending this year, to $5.6 trillion. This dip would come on top of a 1.2% drop in 2008. The combined figures represent “the steepest decline in global construction spending in at least 20 years,” says Scott Hazelton, the research firm’s director of
Evan Thomas and Max Gold were two of Bernard Amadei’s earliest disciples in Engineers Without Borders-USA as undergrads at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Now they are taking their EWB-USA site experiences and soon-to-be-earned graduate engineering degrees in a new direction to build sustainability and long-term earning power in developing communities that once could only hope for philanthropy. Photo: Manna Energy Foundation Manna’s Gold (above) with Rwanda site colleagues; Thomas and client (below) Photo: EWB-USA Related Links: 2008 Award Of Excellence Winner: Bernard Amade Engineers Go Global Looking for a Home Depot in Veron, Dominican Republic Thomas and Gold are leveraging
Alejandra Deza, a junior aerospace engineering major on her first Engineers Without Borders project trip abroad, was scouting storefronts in Veron, Dominican Republic, for a “ferreteria,” the local version of a Home Depot.
