COMPETITION Construction, other industries seek DHS work. (Photo by Michael Goodman for ENR) With each passing week, a focus on security becomes more entrenched in the business plans and daily life for those who own and operate powerplants, bridges, subways, airports, seaports and other key U.S. facilities. Design and construction firms continue to play a part on those many fronts of the anti-terror campaign. A new priority is rail and transit, after the terrorist bombings in Madrid in March. In Washington, the Dept. of Homeland Security, which incorporated about 20 separate agencies only 15 months ago, is still in its
SPRAWL In future, facility may be expanded another 20 acres to fill the 60-acre site. (Photo courtesy of Clark Construction) In Pittsburgh, a city of bridges, the powers-that-be wanted architect Rafael Vinoly’s convention center design to make a big splash. Vinoly was given the opposite charge for the $875-million Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. There, all efforts have been focused on keeping an extremely low profile—literally and figuratively. Maintaining that hasn’t been easy throughout the 45-month project, especially as the 2.1-million-sq-ft facility is the largest public building in Massachusetts and the first big public project to follow the wildly high-profile
It was an up-and-down year in 2003 for many firms on ENR's Top 400 Contractors list. Soft markets in many sectors, combined with big opportunities, kept firms on their toes. But overall, a sluggish domestic construction market has many contractors looking at how they manage their business. The ENR Top 400 Contractors generated a total of $193.35 billion in 2003, down 0.5% from $194.39 billion in 2002. On the domestic side, revenue fell sharply. The Top 400 showed a 4.7% decline from $179.79 billion in 2002 to $166.53 billion last year. International work saved many of the Top 400 companies,
SIGNATURE AIRPORT Miami Airport plans to be a landmark gateway to Latin America. (Photo courtesy of Michael Goodman for ENR) Uncertainty buffeted Miami International Airport's $6.1-billion capital expansion plans with hurricane-like force in 2002 as passenger traffic waned and American Airlines faced possible bankruptcy. But the skies are clearing-or rather filling up again as air traffic revives-and airport officials are moving ahead with a trimmed-down program of $4.8 billion that will include intermodal connections and two new terminals. "For the next two years, $50 million a month will be spent on construction," says Narinder S. Jolly, assistant aviation director for
LONE STARS DFW Airport team managed construction through post-9/11 design changes. Chairman Jeff Fagan (center) and executive VP Clay Paslay (second from right) led team that includes Perfecto Solis (far left), Jim Crites (second from left) and Andrew Bell (right). At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, some engineers proudly refer to the new 2.1-million-sq-ft Terminal D now taking shape as the “crown jewel” of DFW’s $2.5-billion capital expansion program. Others say the new $873-million airport transit system is the necklace that strings it all together. Together, the terminal and Skylink transit system are expected to improve the experience of international travelers
BUILDING UP Airports such as Dallas-Fort Worth are expanding. (Photo courtesy of DFW) U.S. air passenger traffic overall has not yet recovered to the levels seen before the Sept.11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but it is getting there. At several airports, even capacity crunches have reappeared. Airport expansion and improvement plans had been shelved nationwide, but now “they are coming back off the shelf,” says Gerald FitzGerald, Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc.’s aviation industry director. Several factors are at work. “I think it’s the combination of more comfort with security, some airline stabilization, low-cost carriers continuing to take their market share or more,
After years as the electricity industry’s the neglected stepchild, America’s high-voltage transmission grid is beginning to get new attention and a flow of new investment. The huge Northeast blackout on Aug. 14, 2003, dramatized Dept. of Energy claims that the steady increase in power outages in the last decade was costing the U.S. economy about $100 billion per year. It came on top of growing awareness among utilities and regulators that congestion on the grid was driving up the cost of electricity by over $500 million per year as customers could not access the low-cost supplies. The California crisis of
If you thought that chief information officers in design and construction firms today just upgraded inefficient servers or made sure the e-mail system was working, you’d be sadly mistaken. These gurus of corporate information technology management are at the heart of what drives and differentiates engineering and construction firms these days—cost competitiveness, collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship. As such, more CIOs now are valued members of the executive management team or are jockeying for a boardroom seat next to the CEO. Even so, the day-to-day pressures of keeping disparate company units connected yet secure and meeting tougher cost and profit goals
The U.S. construction slump that has been lingering for two years finally began to take its toll on the leading domestic designers in 2003. Only a spurt in international results among ENR’s Top 500 Design Firms last year prevented further damage. Total revenue for the Top 500 in 2003 fell 1.8% to $49.18 billion, from $50.11 billion in 2002. But the fall-off in revenue from U.S.-based projects was steeper. After nearly a decade of rising numbers, the group’s domestic revenue sagged 4.9% in 2003 to $39.03 billion, down from $41.02 billion in 2002. International markets, which continue to regain ground
OPEN SPACES Larger, lighter mezzanines allow for greater circulation. (Photo courtesy of Slattery/GOTTLIEB) As they renovate their 100-year-old subway system, New York City’s transit officials are taking a fresh look at how to improve functionality, aesthetics and connectivity. Working beneath the surface, within utilities and around trains that never stop operating, contractors and engineers are improving 468 subway stations within four boroughs, performing technical feats while keeping the trains running. The system celebrates its centennial this year, which is also the final year of a $10-billion, five-year capital improvement program. It includes $1.9 billion for rehabilitating 64 stations, $607 million
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