Economy, War And Consolidation Buffet Process Industry E&Cs
Ed Lewis, president and CEO of Industrial Information Resources Inc., Houston, said his company’s research into the petroleum refining, chemical processing and biotech and pharmaceutical construction markets showed a less-than-robust market
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Publication Date: 14 October , 2002
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Plan for Bankruptcy Opens New Chapter for Encompass
Encompass Services Corp. plans to file for bankruptcy protection as a part of a proposed financial restructuring through which secured lenders will get most of the stock of a newly formed company. Sharehol
Publication Date: 14 October , 2002
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Trouble Surrounds Encompass
Encompass Services Corp. became the country's largest specialty contractor through consolidation but ran up huge debt from its acquisitions. Now its creditors are exploring options to limit losses through
Publication Date: 14 October , 2002
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Congress Approves 1% Cut in Military Construction Funds
The House and Senate have given final approval to legislation providing $10.5 billion in fiscal 2003 for Dept. of Defense construction programs, down 1% from the 2002 total. Final passage came on Oct. 10,
Publication Date: 11 October , 2002
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Conferees Agree on Small FY2003 Cut for Military Construction
House and Senate negotiators have approved legislation that provides $10.5 billion for military construction in fiscal 2003, a 1% cut from the 2002 level. The House was expected to vote on the measure late
Publication Date: 10 October , 2002
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Bay State Death Rate Runs Low
A new workplace safety report shows that Massachusetts, home to some of the biggest public works projects in the U.S. during the 1990s, has been able to keep its total number of construction jobsite fatali
Publication Date: 07 October , 2002
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Top 600 Specialty Contractors
There was a time when steel erectors worried about the price of materials, when utility contractors debated the virtues of directional drilling versus cut-and-cover trenching and when demolition contractor
Publication Date: 07 October , 2002
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Bush: Expedite Project Reviews
President Bush has issued an executive order directing federal agencies to speed up environmental reviews of major transportation projects, but says any such "streamlining" should adhere to exist
Publication Date: 30 September, 2002
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Congress Clears Short, Stopgap Spending Bill
With the end of fiscal year 2002 looming with none of the 2003 appropriations bills enacted, Congress has approved a measure extending funding for federal agencies until Oct. 4. President Bush is expected
Publication Date: 30 September, 2002
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Michigan Challenges States Over Environmental Reviews
In an unusual move, the Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality has submitted comments criticizing the draft environmental permit for a $1-billion factory to be built in Montgomery, Ala., by South Korean automaker, Hyundai Motor Co.
Publication Date: 30 September, 2002
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Reverse Auctions And Mold Risks Are Worrying AGC Contractors
Changing times are bringing new challenges to general contractors, such as "reverse auction" bidding on the Internet and mold litigation, but they also are possibly bringing a new and better relationship with subcontractors.
Publication Date: 30 September, 2002
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Supreme Court May Review Appellate Ruling on PLAs
When the Supreme Court begins its 2002-2003 session on Oct. 7 the big item for construction will be whether the justices agree to hear a case dealing with the perennially hot issue of project labor agreeme
Publication Date: 30 September, 2002
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Third Quarterly Cost Report - Asphalt
War jitters are adding an average $4 premium on the price of a barrel of oil, says Bruce Cavella, oil analyst for the forecasting firm DRI-WEFA, Lexington, Mass. Since the beginning of the year, the price of the benchmark West Texas Intermediate
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Publication Date: 30 September, 2002
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Third Quarterly Cost Report - Indexes
On the other hand, inflation measured by contractor selling price indexes, which reflect the competitive conditions of the marketplace, show an annual increase of just 0.8% this quarter. This is down from a 2.5% annual inflation rate measured b
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Publication Date: 30 September, 2002
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Third Quarterly Cost Report - Insurance
The storm clouds already are gathering, according to an annual report compiled exclusively for ENR by New York City-based insurance broker Marsh USA Inc. This year’s national survey of workers’ comp rates shows that the average premium
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Publication Date: 30 September, 2002
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Third Quarterly Cost Report - Labor
ENR's 20-city average union wage, including fringe benefits, for 19 skilled crafts is up 3.8% over a year ago. This is down slightly from the 4% annual increase won by this group of workers last year. Building laborers saw a 4.1% increase this y
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Publication Date: 30 September, 2002
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Third Quarterly Cost Report - Steel
Prices for flat products increased 41% from the time the tariffs were put in place to last August, according to the composite flat products price compiled by the forecasting firm DRI-WEFA, Lexington, Mass. During the same period, the firm's comp
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Publication Date: 30 September, 2002
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Third Quarterly Cost Report - Summary
There comes a time in an economic cycle when things can go either way. The second half of 2002 may just be one of those times for construction. The pessimists have plenty of bad economic news to make their
Publication Date: 30 September, 2002
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Third Quarterly Cost Report - Wallboard
ENR's 20-city wallboard price peaked at $236 per thousand sq ft in the first quarter of 2000, after increasing 36% the previous year. ENR's price then fell 20% over the next two years before recovering in 2002. At $203 per thousand sq ft, it is
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Publication Date: 30 September, 2002
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House Committee Clears Water Resources Measure, But Senate Bill Stalls
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has approved a measure that would authorize construction, studies or changes for dozens of Corps of Engineers water projects and lower the matching sha
Publication Date: 25 September, 2002
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Feds Sue Over Hotel Investment
After settlement talks failed, the U.S. Dept. of Labor on Sept. 12 filed a lawsuit charging that the five trustees of the Plumbers and Pipefitters National Pension Fund mismanaged the pension plan's investment in the Diplomat. The suit alleges t
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Publication Date: 23 September, 2002
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Special Report - Backup Facilities Break Free From a Black-box Approach
Ken Seaton, vice president with Chicago-based engineer Environmental Systems Designs, says, "We have noticed that disaster recovery sites are not just black boxes anymore and companies are getting away from retaining data at one location.&q
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Publication Date: 23 September, 2002
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Special Report - Balancing Security, Visibility Takes U.S. Mission to Suburbs
Visibility has always played a role in locating and designing U.S. embassies and diplomatic missions throughout the world. But openness and accessibility, two traits of a democratic system that the U.S. go
Publication Date: 23 September, 2002
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Special Report - High-tech Protection Moves From Lab to Marketplace
"What Sept. 11 has done is accelerate development and deployment for projects with security applications," says Duane Lindner, deputy director of chemical and biological programs for Sandia National Laboratories, Sandia, N.M. Because t
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Publication Date: 23 September, 2002
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Special Report - Industry Firms Develop Niche That is No Longer Secret
For some firms, security work was a pronounced niche long before 9/11. "We've been a firm in this area for 15 years," says George Anastos, executive vice president of Springfield, Va.-based Versar Inc.'s AEC group. The firm has worked
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Publication Date: 23 September, 2002
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Special Report - On U.S.-Mexican Border, More Woes for Migrants
They're called "coyotes" or migrant traffickers who sneak thousands of Hispanics across the 2,000-mile-long U.S. border each year. The alien smugglers are often ruthless and elusive, recognized f
Publication Date: 23 September, 2002
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Special Report - One Year Later, U.S. Security Remains a Contentious Goal
It's been slightly more than a year since a terrorist attack leveled New York's towering icons of economic might and drove a fireball through several layers of the Pentagon's hardened perimeter. The World
Publication Date: 23 September, 2002
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Special Report - These Shining Examples Heighten Building Safety
A well-designed exterior lighting scheme is a crucial part of any facility's security system. In addition to helping people see better at night, the right kinds of fixtures, properly placed, can discourage
Publication Date: 23 September, 2002
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Special Report - U.S. Ports Hope Funds Stay Afloat for Security Measures
It was a start, but the ports had filed grant applications for $750 million worth of work, eight times the total Mineta promised. According to the American Association of Port Authorities, ports have plans to spend at least $312 million of their
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Publication Date: 23 September, 2002
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Special Report - U.S. Scrambles to Inspect Its Vast Infrastructure Array
While protecting public infrastructure systems from potential disasters is not a new concept, owners and consultants have felt an urgent calling to this task since 9/11. Government agencies at all levels a
Publication Date: 23 September, 2002
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Labor Dept. Sues Plumbers' Union Pension Trustees Over Resort Investment
The U.S. Dept. of Labor has filed a lawsuit in federal court, charging that the trustees of the Plumbers and Pipefitters National Pension Fund mismanaged the pension plan's investment in the Diplomat Resor
Publication Date: 13 September, 2002
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Laborers Open A Charter School
The New England Laborers-Cranston Public Schools Construction Career Academy is a partnership between the laborers' union and the Cranston Public Schools. It will offer students a "project-based integrated system" that merges a construction-spec
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Publication Date: 09 September, 2002
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Second Fatality Hits Powerplant
Work has stopped on part of a $300-million powerplant project near Pittsburgh after a second worker in less than a year died after falling into a 400-ft-tall exhaust stack that was being built.
Publication Date: 09 September, 2002
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Securing Highway Bonds Spurs Pitched Legal Battle In Georgia
The State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) plans to issue $822 million in Federal Highway Grant Anticipation Revenue Bonds later this year, but opponents intervened when a petition was filed Aug. 6 with the state court to validate the issue. Th
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Publication Date: 09 September, 2002
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House Committee Approves 2003 Boosts for Corps, DOE Cleanup
The House Appropriations Committee has cleared a fiscal 2003 spending bill that increases aid for the Corps of Engineers and the Dept. of Energy's environmental cleanup work, while freezing the Bureau of R
Publication Date: 06 September, 2002
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Inquest Calls For Homicide Charge
The Aug. 23 opinion follows an inquest that began in June into the accident that included testimony from about 25 witnesses. The collapse at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center killed ironworker Paul Corsi Jr. and injured two other workers.
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Publication Date: 02 September, 2002
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More Embezzlement Charges Filed In Ironworkers' Case
The ongoing federal government investigation into financial improprieties at the ironworkers' union is becoming more complex.
Publication Date: 02 September, 2002
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A Break Or Eating Lunch Can Set The Stage For Disaster
It may not seem like a safety lapse when a handful of hardhats sit down for lunch or when one takes a shortcut across the jobsite to get something he needs. But if something else goes wrong, where the workers are makes a big difference.
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Publication Date: 26 August , 2002
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Soft Markets Lead To Search For Value Over Volume
For ENR's Top 225 International Contractors, 2001 was a down year. International revenue for the Top 225 fell 8.1% to $106.5 billion from $115.9 billion in 2000 and 11.5% from 1999's high of $118.7 billion. Part of this drop-off can be explained
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Publication Date: 26 August , 2002
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Benchmarking and Best Practices Bring Home the Bacon on Projects
The Construction Industry Institute has delivered a report card on the impact of membership in the research and development organization and says that serious companies achieved the dean's list using the r
Publication Date: 19 August , 2002
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Ground Zero Transit Hub Funded
In what politicians at an Aug. 12 briefing overlooking Ground Zero repeatedly termed an "historic" event, the federal government has agreed to earmark $4.55 billion for a transportation mega-hub there that
Publication Date: 19 August , 2002
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Early Days of August Prove Fatal In Three Construction Mishaps
Over a five-day span this month that many Americans think of as a long weekend, seven construction workers were killed in three separate accidents across the U.S.
Publication Date: 12 August , 2002
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Finding The Bottom Line Gets A Gradual Lift From Technology
Estimating is a complex, high-risk, individualized mixture of art and science, which makes the choice of the tools an estimator uses quite a personal thing. So it is really no surprise to find that four de
Publication Date: 12 August , 2002
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Governance Rules Touch Industry
Despite the collapse of confidence that culminated in President George W. Bush’s July 30 signature on the hastily assembled corporate governance and anti-fraud law, at least two design firm CEOs reass
Publication Date: 12 August , 2002
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Governance Rules Touch Industry
Despite the collapse of confidence that culminated in President George W. Bush’s July 30 signature on the hastily assembled corporate governance and anti-fraud law, at least two design firm CEOs reass
Publication Date: 12 August , 2002
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Split Personality
The nation's largest homebuilders are reporting record earnings and sales as that market continues to climb skyward, but few commercial builders stuck in market doldrums are able to tap homebuilding as a l
Publication Date: 05 August , 2002
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Bush Signs $28.9-Billion Bill, Funding Homeland Security, New York Rebuilding, Highways
After a long battle with Congress, President Bush has signed into law a measure that provides a substantial funding boost this year for homeland security programs at a variety of federal agencies, as well
Publication Date: 02 August , 2002
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Bush Signs Bill to Combat Corporate, Accounting Crime
President Bush has signed into law a measure that aims to counter financial fraud by stiffening criminal penalties and setting new regulatory requirements for accounting firms and corporate executives. Bus
Publication Date: 31 July , 2002
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URS Aims To Boost Stock Price And Market Share With EGG Buy
URS Corp., a giant in the engineering and construction world through acquisition, is aiming even higher with its plan to buy federal services contractor EG&G Federal Services Inc. for $500 million. The
Publication Date: 29 July , 2002
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Congress Boosts Aid for Homeland Security, New York; Adds $.4 Billion for Highways
The House and Senate have given final approval to a $28.9-billion spending package that includes billions of dollars this year for homeland security programs and for rebuilding New York City after the Sept
Publication Date: 25 July , 2002
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House, Senate Approve Financial Reform Bill
The House and Senate have passed legislation aimed at combating fraud by accounting firms and corporate executives. Both chambers approved the measure on July 25—the House vote was 423-3; the Senate's
Publication Date: 25 July , 2002
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Appeals Court Upholds PLA Ban
The AFL-CIO building and construction Trades Dept. will likely decide by early August whether to appeal a federal court decision that effectively prohibits project labor agreements on federally funded cons
Publication Date: 22 July , 2002
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House Passes Bill to Improve Probes of Building Failures
The house has approved legislation that aims to avoid a repeat of problems faced by investigators of the World Trade Center collapse. The bill, passed 338-23 on July 12, would put future building accident
Publication Date: 22 July , 2002
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Senate Passes Tough Bill on Financial Accountability
Increased financial accountability for accounting firms and corporate executives gained momentum July 15 when the Senate passed a package of new requirements for publicly held companies and their auditors.
Publication Date: 22 July , 2002
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Appeals Court Upholds Bush's Ban on Project Labor Agreements
A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has affirmed a White House executive order that effectively prohibits project labor agreements on federally funded construction projects. The court's July 12 ru
Publication Date: 16 July , 2002
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Don't Fade Away
The accounting duel was over how project losses and revenue were assessed. A year ago, WGI was reeling after buying Raytheon Corp.'s engineering and construction unit. Boise-based WGI assailed Raytheon for providing "blatantly erroneous" unaudit
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Publication Date: 15 July , 2002
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Megaprojects Need More Study Up Front To Avoid Cost Overruns
More independent project appraisals are needed in order to end abuses leading to cost overruns found in 90% of megaprojects in 20 countries, according to new research published internationally July 8. Deli
Publication Date: 15 July , 2002
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Modest Growth Overseas Betters Last Year's Effort
Although environmental business showed surprising resiliency in the U.S. last year, the going was rougher for U.S. firms working in international markets. Overall, the Top 200 reported $4.7 billion in envi
Publication Date: 08 July , 2002
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War, Recession And Growth
Enron, Arthur Andersen and WorldCom to the contrary, numbers don't lie: the environmental market posted solid gains in 2001. ENR's Top 200 Environmental Firms reported $32.8 billion in revenue for the year
Publication Date: 08 July , 2002
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Weston Solutions Retains Legacy, But Moves to Fix Historic Problems
OLD FOUNDER Roy F. Weston (left) and sons-in-law ran firm in 1980s. (Photo by William Reinhardt for ENR)
Publication Date: 08 July , 2002
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