Image Courtesy of Black & Veatch Related Links: The Top 500 Design Firms Natural-gas liquefaction and gasification plants are huge, expensive and, up until now, land-based. However, in July 2012, Black & Veatch (No. 14) and Shanghai-based shipbuilder and engineering firm Wison Offshore & Marine Ltd. won a contract to design and construct the world's first floating LNG (FLNG) liquefaction, regasification and storage unit.The ship is being constructed in Nantong, China, and will be floated to the Pacific Coast of Colombia, where it will process gas from the La Creciente gas field, located in the Lower Magdalena Valley Basin. The
Image Courtesy of Maser Consulting Firm's use of surveying technology allows close monitoring of rail alignment on rail construction project below Grand Central station to detect shifts that could affect commuter safety. Related Links: The Top 500 Design Firms At No. 214 on ENR's list of the Top 500 Design Firms, Maser Consulting P.A., Red Bank, N.J., is embracing new technology to maintain a leadership role in land surveying, its biggest niche, and to boost its edge in newer telecommunications and transportation markets.The firm oversees deployment of Amberg Technologies' trolley-based survey system to measure track alignment on New York City
Photo Courtesy of SAIC SAIC performed work on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Vibro-Acoustic Research Facility near Cleveland. Related Links: The Top 500 Design Firms SAIC, ranked at No. 34 on ENR's list of the Top 500 Design Firms, is a $10.5-billion firm working in the national security and information-technology fields. It also does nearly $750 million in construction contracting and engineering.This construction group may soon find itself with a new name—Leidos—as SAIC says it plans to split into two firms."We started out supporting both government and commercial customers, but the business models began to diverge," says Joe Craver,
After four years, it appears the U.S. construction market has bottomed out and is beginning the slow climb out of recession. For many large U.S. design firms, this development is cause for both relief and celebration. But for other design firms, particularly in the public infrastructure markets, uncertainty about the future remains a constant.The signs of the recession's end can be seen in ENR's Top 500 Design Firms list. The Top 500, taken as
For the first time in over three years, the construction industry is seeing signs that the deep industry recession has bottomed out and the market is turning around.
The U.S. construction market remains mired in a recession, with few, if any, markets spared. In 2009, design firms looked for a turnaround this year, but so far there has been little relief. Industry companies now await a bounce back in 2011. However, leaders of the largest U.S. design firms, those on the cutting edge of any recovery, say there still are too many economic, political and financial uncertainties to predict when the marketplace will turn a corner.
The U.S. construction market remains mired in a recession, with few, if any, markets spared. In 2009, design firms looked for a turnaround this year, but so far there has been little relief. Industry companies now await a bounce back in 2011. However, leaders of the largest U.S. design firms, those on the cutting edge of any recovery, say there still are too many economic, political and financial uncertainties to predict when the marketplace will turn a corner.
The industry and the economy as a whole are now in a recession. As design firms are on the front end of projects, they are the first to feel the pain of a downturn, and these times are no exception.
