...buildings are only half full and have been taken over by the banks."

The reported demise of the sports market may be premature. "We got into the sports facility market in the 1960s and people said then that the market wouldn't last. It's still going strong for us 40 years later," Hunt says. One of Hunt's big new sports projects is the new baseball stadium for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Hunt Construction is planning to pursue possible sports-related projects in the New York City area. "We are just about to sign a joint venture agreement with Bovis," says Hunt. He estimates the sports facility market in the New York metropolitan area to be as much as $25 billion over the next decade. "The New York City sports market is set to explode if it gets the Olympics in 2012," Hunt says. Other potential jobs include a new arena in Brooklyn for basketball's Nets and a new stadium in Manhattan for football's Jets, he notes. But there are countless other opportunities. "We know the sports market and Bovis knows the New York market, so we think this is a great partnership," says Hunt.

Research facilities are a significant market and nanotechnology research is an emerging trend within this market. "These facilities combine biology labs, chemistry labs and physics labs, and each have their own unique requirements," says Allen Rudolph, CEO of Rudolph & Sletten. The firm just broke ground on the Molecular Foundry for Lawrence-Berkeley Laboratories, a joint venture between Lawrence Laboratories and the University of California under the auspices of the Dept. of Energy.

The petroleum and chemical markets remain soft domestically. "The price of oil, the anticipated prices of oil and high demand may drive capital spending, but we see it as a short-term blip that won't drive the market for long," says Tim Barfield, president of the Shaw Group. Click here to view graph

But there may be an emerging domestic market in liquefied natural gas. "We do a lot of consulting and permitting," says Barfield. "There are a number of projects proposed throughout the country. The market is there, it's just a matter of getting things in place."

CB&I also is interested in the LNG market in the U.S. "There has been a huge shift toward gas in the U.S. and there's no backing away from it," Glenn says. However, gas transmission and distribution plans remain, for the most part, in limbo. "There must be 100 proposals on the boards. Not all will bear fruit, but many will eventually be built," he says.

The federal environmental market is huge, but there are changes afoot. "The Dept. of Energy's environmental management mission is still there, but it appears as if DOE is moving toward assigning the responsibility of the waste back to the generator," says John Schmerber, vice president of business development for Washington Group International. "Now we are looking at DOE's infrastructure recapitalization market. There is a lot of engineering and construction associated with that, especially at Oak Ridge and Los Alamos," he says.

On the private-sector side, the environment has become a commodity business with low margins as the market has matured, Schmerber says. "It's an enforcement-driven market and as long as there are trade-offs between environmental protection and the burden of regulation, there won't be a driven market."

Last year's falloff in domestic revenue would have been even steeper if not for the remaining strength in the heavy and highway markets, which provided growth opportunities for many construction contractors. While domestic revenue growth from heavy and highway markets fell short of 2002's robust 17% increase, firms in 2003 were able to tap the transportation, environmental and water markets for $36.6 billion in revenue. This was 1.7% more than 2002's strong showing.
Click here to view graph

Some of the fastest-growing Top 400 firms worked in the heavy and highway markets. John Carlo Inc. more than doubled its revenue from the heavy and highway sector. Carlo's growth is even more impressive since work in its home state of Michigan was down. "Our strategy to diversify into the Florida market [for about a third of our work] really paid off in 2003," says Mike Carlo, president. Two large airport paving jobs in Florida accounted for nearly half of the firm's revenue growth in 2003. This year, he expects revenue to return to about $180 million. "The Michigan market is still flat but we remain optimistic about our opportunities in Florida," he says.

Williams Brothers Construction Co. was the second-fastest-growing firm among heavy contractors, boosting revenue in 2003 by 60% to $427 million. Williams grabbed two of the first three contracts for the $1-billion Katy Freeway project in Houston. The two contracts have a combined value of $469 million. "Those two jobs are 24-7 and that is where the increased revenue is coming from," says Doug Pitcock, president. He says that 70% of the firm's work now is on projects that go around the clock.

The wastewater treatment market proved big for Brasfield & Gorrie, which also is a building contractor. It increased its heavy contracting revenue by 52% in 2003 so that heavy construction now accounts for 20% of the firm's total revenue. "We were looking for growth markets and felt the wastewater treatment market fit nicely with our expertise in concrete construction," says Gary Harrington, vice president in charge of the wastewater division. "As our project managers and estimators developed, we decided to kick it up a notch and take on more work," he adds.

Other heavy contractors are poised for more revenue growth in 2004. The Lane Construction Group acquired Charlotte, N.C.-based Rea Contracting in 2003 from J.A. Jones, but Rea only contributed to revenue during the last two months of the year, accounting for $26 million in total heavy revenue. This year, Rea is expected to kick $245 mil-lion into Lane's coffers, says Robert Alger, Lane's president and CEO. "Rea brings 20 more asphalt plants to our 50 plants…and will accelerate our expansion into the Carolinas."

BIG LIFT Woodrow Wilson Bridge rocketed Edward Kraemer & Sons’ revenue growth. (Photo by Janice L. Tuchman for ENR)

In 2003, Edward Kraemer & Sons expanded from its Midwest and Western strongholds and opened offices in the Mid-Atlantic area. The firm made a grand entrance into the market by winning two major contracts for the $2.4-billion Woodrow Wilson bridge across the Potomac River. The project accounted for about 10% of revenue in 2003, says Mike Fischer, executive vice president. This year, that will get bumped up to 20%, he says. "Eventually, the East will comprise about 40% of our overall revenue," he adds.

Another heavy civil firm looking beyond its tradi-tional markets is The Walsh Group. "We're working on the Brown Line reconstruction here in Chicago," says Kinsella. "But there's a lot more light-rail work coming up, so we are expanding out of our base in Chicago." The firm is doing work on the BART system in California's Bay Area. "We are also pursuing a light-rail project in Phoenix."

Many of the major firms have used the pause in the previous frenetic market to look at their operations. "Despite the downturn, we have continued to work on our non-core components of the organization," says Fish of Suffolk. "We've continued to invest...