Frederick G. "Bud" Wright, former chief operating officer of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, will be the new executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), effective on Feb. 1. He will succeed John Horsley, who is retiring from the position after 14 years. Wright, COO at FHWA from 2001 to 2008, is now an Alexandria, Va.-based transportation consultant who has been examining performance-based management approaches for the federal-aid highway program.

 

WRIGHT

Further, AASHTO elected as its 2013 president Rhode Island Transportation Director Michael Lewis, who has led the state's transportation agency since 2008. AASHTO represents transportation agencies in 50 states as well as in Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Kiewit Corp., the Omaha-based global contractor, has elevated President and CEO Bruce Grewcock to the added role of chairman, effective on Jan. 1. In that position, he replaces Ken Stinson, who remains a Kiewit board member. Grewcock has been CEO since 2005 and president since 2000; Stinson has served as chairman since 1998. Kiewit reports $10.4 billion in engineering and construction revenue for 2011.

The Shaw Group Inc., Baton Rouge, La., has announced three executive changes in its Power Group. Timothy J. Poché joins the group as senior vice president and chief financial officer; he had been the corporation's chief accounting officer. James C. Wilems, named interim vice president in Shaw Group, replaces Poché as chief accounting officer; Wilems joined Shaw in 2011.

 

MERRIFIELD

Jeffrey S. Merrifield has been named senior vice president of business development in the Power Group, now overseeing all activities for the company's nuclear, fossil and plant services divisions; with Shaw since 2007, Merrifield is a former commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Shaw also says that its shareholders will meet on Dec. 21 in Baton Rouge to vote on the firm's $3-billion sale to CB&I, the global oil-and-gas construction and services firm whose U.S. headquarters is in The Woodlands, Texas. The proposed deal, announced on July 30, must be approved by at least 75% of Shaw stockholders. Not casting a vote is the same as voting against the sale, says a published report. The transaction, unanimously approved by Shaw's board in October, would close in the first quarter of 2013 if the shareholders vote in favor of it.