VFA Inc., a provider of integrated software and services for facilities asset management, capital planning and capital spend management, read with interest the article on the U.S. Dept. of Defense's recent decision to standardize on SMS BUILDER.
The latest article, “Hardening Energy Assets” is particularly interesting.However, I’d respectfully point out that an especially important subject that has been omitted.
The Letters section on page four of ENR's June 4, 2012, edition, in which William Shuzman of the Allied Building Metal Industries commented on an earlier staff editorial regarding crane safety in New York City, gives some numbers that are not correct.
On the Top 100 Design-Build Firms list, HOK, St. Louis, made an error on its survey and was improperly ranked at No. 50. HOK should be removed from the list. Thus, Webber LLC,The Woodlands, Texas, should rank at No. 100, with revenue of $107 million.
Any plan advanced by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers or others to re-reverse the flow of the Chicago canal system will hasten the demise of Lake Michigan
"BIM Consensus Standard Is a Step Forward but Not a Major Leap Toward Interoperability" should have stated that Nemetschek Vectorworks and Graphisoft are owned by the same company, Nemetschek Group. Also, the headquarters of FM:Systems is located in Raleigh, N.C."Cracks Slow Pontoon Job" erroneously stated Kiewit-General is widening state Route 520 east of the floating bridge. Eastside Corridor Constructors, a joint venture of Granite and PCL, is on that job. Alleged on-the-job drinking did not involve anyone from ECC.
The cover story "Boardrooms Raise the Bar" was interesting and made good sense, but it missed the main points for [director] qualifications today: truthfulness, honesty, ethical behavior and moral integrity.Harry Watkins, P.E., Retired President Watkins Engineering Consultants Inc.Birmingham, Ala.
The membership of Allied Building Metal Industries Inc. were dismayed at the contents of your recent editorial "Making a City Safe for Cranes," in which you suggest that users should de-rate a crane's load chart so every lift in New York City defaults to a critical lift.Crawler cranes already have a standard 75% reduced chart; truck cranes are at 85%. A further reduction to 75% would limit the crawler capacity to 56%. There is already a built-in factor of safety in the manufacturer's approved charts. Cranes are typically load-tested to at least 130% of rated capacity. A further reduction to
Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record The story "OSHA Points to Process Errors in Cincinnati Casino Collapse" contained errors. The photograph depicted another Horseshoe Casino, which collapsed last December in Cleveland. Also, Messer Construction Co. received its last OSHA violation in January 2006, not May 2006 as the article stated. The violation was to be deleted as part of an informal settlement but remains visible in OSHA's online database.
In the story "As Fluor Turns 100, CEO Seaton Notes Successes, Challenges," the Q&A with Fluor Corp. Chairman and CEO David Seaton requires the following clarifications.A reference to "greenhouse gas" should have instead read "greenhouse-gas regulation."The sentence "The [Obama] administration said it wants to drive gas prices up to push renewables" refers to a 2008 statement by Energy Secretary Steven Chu.The sentence "Fluor has perfected the public-private approach [to infrastructure finance]" should have stated "sort of perfected."A quotation used should have been stated as "You don't earn a penny unless you sell something."