Subcontractor indemnification and "additional insured" requirements remain contentious between primes and subs, as a Minnesota case illustrates.The case—Engineering and Construction Innovations Inc. (ECI) v. L.H. Bolduc Co. Inc.—arose from a water and sewer infrastructure project several years ago for which Bolduc served as a sheeting subcontractor to first-tier subcontractor ECI. According to the American Subcontractors Association (ASA) of Minnesota, ECI accused Bolduc of damaging a sewer line during construction and sought reimbursement for the repairs from Bolduc and its insurance company, the Travelers Indemnity Company of America.When both Bolduc and Travelers refused to offer payment, ECI sued both in district
Related Links: Appeals Court Decision in Engineering and Construction Innovations, Inc., vs. L.H. Bolduc Co., Inc. Problems continue to grow with indemnifications—contractually making one party responsible for another’s damages.They can be difficult enough to understand if one is not well versed in legal or insurance issues, but sometimes they even stump lawyers.And as a case moving through the Minnesota state justice system illustrates, liability in construction contracts is an increasingly contentious and confusing issue.The case, Engineering and Construction Innovations, Inc. (ECI) vs. L.H. Bolduc Co., Inc., arose from a water and sewer infrastructure project for which Bolduc served as a
PHOTO COURTESY OF AECOM The $492-million Long Beach, Calif., courthouse, set to finish in 2013, will be the first non-transportation P3 in the U.S. Related Links: Private Funding Finds A Way Into Other Public Spaces U.K. Takes Hard Look at Cost of Private Finance Initiative Transport P3s Take Lessons Learned Into New Unknowns Read FMI Report: Public-Private PartnershipsWhat You Need to Know A generation after public-private partnerships burst onto the infrastructure construction scene as a project finance approach, participants are using lessons learned from successes and failures to refine methods, particularly as needs grow and public funding tightens further. But
Related Links: U.K. Takes a Hard Look at Private Finance Initiative Private Funding Finds a Way into Other Public Spaces P3 Special Report: U.S., Canada, U.K. Push New Finance Approaches In the mid-1990s, two highway projects oneither side of the country helped to create a paradigm shift in the way U.S. infrastructure improvements would be financed. Dulles Greenway in northern Virginia and state Route 91 Express Lanes in Los Angeles were designed and built almost entirely with private funds, giving rise to what would become public-private partnerships, or P3s.Enthusiasm and skepticism greeted both projects. While some saw the nascent P3s
Since joining the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in 2000, Matt Gillen has worked to coordinate and plan a variety of construction safety research efforts while also building stronger relationships between scientists and the construction industry.
Related Links: U.S. Stimulus Causing Rebound in Water Project Spending The overdue bill for water systems is reaching alarming size, with economic consequences that will weigh on U.S. businesses for years to come.An economic analysis on unmet public water and wastewater system needs commissioned by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) paints a grim future for the U.S. economy. The costs associated with unreliable delivery and inadequate treatment, the analysis shows, will combine to cut the nation’s gross domestic product by as much as $416 billion over the next decade if current spending levels remain unchanged.Failure to Act: The
CDC and NIOSH guide offers advice for preventing nail-gun injuries on the job. CDC and NIOSH are bridging the safety gap with Nail Gun Safety: A Guide for Construction Contractors. Related Links: NIOSH Nail Gun Safety Guide at CDC Website Nail guns are favored for their efficiency and convenience, but they're also sending users to the emergency room. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 37,000 people each year are treated for nail-gun injuries, with foot and hand punctures being the most common. A study of residential carpenters in St. Louis found that two of every five
PHOTO COURTESY OF San Diego County Regional Airport Authority eco vision San Diego Airports $1-billion Green Build program had its genesis prior to the recession. Related Links: Main Top 425 Owners Story ENR Top Owners sourcebook: Overview, Rankings and Market Sector Reports The economic and political uncertainty endemic in other sectors of the construction economy has now reached the airport design and construction market, which has enjoyed a relatively robust decade due in part to the momentum of extended project planning and implementation schedules.“We're at the tail end of the pre-recession construction/project implementation cycle,” explains Christopher Oswald, vice president of
PHOTO COURTESY OF NeW YORK DEP The $800-million New York City portion of the new City Tunnel No. 3 supply line is designed to provide redundancy for an aging system. Regardless of size, location and system configuration, most of the water and wastewater utilities in the U.S. share a common attribute: the continuing need to upgrade and improve their treatment facilities and underground infrastructure.Though the sluggish post-recession economy has largely removed capacity expansion from the list of priorities, there remains no shortage of needs on utilities' to-do lists.Most often, the driver is meeting federal discharge mandates, as is the case
