Related Links: See who else is moving up, or moving on, in the AEC sector William L. Robertson has been named president and CEO of Weston Solutions Inc., the West Chester, Pa., sustainability consultant, a spokeswoman told ENR on March 18. ROBERTSONHe replaces Patrick G. McCann, who was president and CEO since 2003 and chairman since 2008; McCann has left the firm. Weston provided no details on what triggered the change. Robertson was Weston CEO from 1997 to 2003 and chairman for six years.Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp., Oak Brook. Ill., said on March 14 that President and Chief
Related Links: Canada's SNC-Lavalin Expects Tough Year Amid Scandal and Market Shifts Robert G. Card, new CEO of SNC-Lavalin, promises to put the firm's "house in order" in the wake of an ethics scandal he inherited from previous management, now gone from the Montreal global engineer. He presented a mixed outlook for results this year, however. In a March 8 report to analysts, Card said year-end 2012 backlog "remained strong" at $9.85 billion, but lower earnings included "unfavorable cost reforecasts," largely from problem projects in North Africa and Russia. Margins fell for most of the firm's industry segments in 2012
After more than five years of official study at a cost of at least $16 million, a team of World Bank consultants are close to completing work that, so far, supports building an estimated $10-billion water pipeline project in Jordan.
Related Links: Archives of obituaries on other industry leaders and innovators MooreMark E. Moore, a senior principal at forensic engineer Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc., Northbrook, Ill., and an expert in structural analysis and pioneer in use of nondestructive testing methods, died suddenly on Feb. 25 on company business in Washington, D.C., says a company spokesman. He did not disclose the cause of death for Moore, 55, who was based in Atlanta.Moore, a 34-year WJE veteran, "was involved in many of the firm's most significant structural investigation assignments," says President William Nugent.These include a probe of a partial 1999 parking-garage
Related Links: SNC-Lavalin Wins Contracts, Even as Ethics Issues Widen SNC-Lavalin Names CH2M Hill Executive to Top Job Efforts To Restart Libyan Projects Land SNC-Lavalin in Controversy POHLMANNAndreas Pohlmann has joined SNC-Lavalin, Montreal, as its chief compliance officer, a new position at the global engineer, says a spokeswoman.The firm is involved in a Canadian probe into alleged bribery and corruption by former executives on local and overseas contracts. Pohlmann was founder and principal of a corporate compliance consultant, Pohlmann & Co., in Frankfurt, Germany.The consultant's website says that, from 2007 to 2010, he was chief compliance officer at Germany's
Related Links: Statistics Canada: Capital and Repair Expenditures, 2013 Canada's capital investment in 2013 will slow to its lowest rate of growth since before the recession, with little to no growth seen in the oil-and-gas, mining and other industry sectors. But there is better spending news from public agencies and certain provinces, says a national government survey released on Feb. 27.Anticipated investment in construction, machinery and equipment will reach $387.5 billion this year, up just 1.7% in current dollars, says the survey by Statistics Canada, the Ottawa-based federal agency that tracks the country's economic growth and other indicators. "This would
Related Links: Check ENR archives for obituaries of other construction industry leaders and innovators International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers website JoyceJohn T. "Jack" Joyce did not spend much time as a jobsite union bricklayer, but he staunchly defended the craft against outside politics and changing market forces in his 20 years as president of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, the longest of any leader, and in a longer career pushing new ideas to serve its members.Joyce died on Feb. 14 in Washington, D.C., of cancer, says a union spokeswoman. He was 77.In a statement,
L. Gene Suhr, former director of water and wastewater engineering at CH2M Hill Cos. and an innovator of globally used advanced Suhrtreatment design techniques, died on Jan. 27 in Vancouver, Wash. He was 79.At CH2M Hill for 35 years, Suhr helped push it to become top-ranked in the fields, the firm says.Among Suhr's notable roles were managing and designing the first U.S. advanced wastewater treatment plant at South Lake Tahoe, Calif., in the 1960s and developing the master plan for a first-ever treatment program in Alexandria, Egypt, in the 1980s.He also was chief technical consultant for the Milwaukee Water Pollution
Related Links: Check ENR archives for obituaries of other construction industry leaders and innovators Stephen P. Byrne, a construction executive and educator who pushed contractor certification and helped shape the construction science department at Texas A&M University, died suddenly on Feb. 11 from back surgery complications, says the school. He was 59. BYRNEByrne, a senior lecturer since 2000, also managed internships and was executive director of Texas A&M's Construction Industry Advisory Council. He previously worked for the school as associate executive director of facilities, planning and construction.A certified professional constructor, Byrne was a fellow of the American Institute of Constructors and
Related Links: AltaCorp. Capital Credit Suisse Even with some bumps in results released in recent weeks, large public engineering and construction firms still offered investors and industry observers overall good news for year-end numbers and strong optimism for global market trends in 2013.Write-offs on problem projects nicked earnings for Fluor Corp. and KBR; their reports, released in late February, prompted a 2% falloff for the group of E&C firms tracked by Credit Suisse. But senior analyst Jamie Cook was encouraged by evidence "that labor markets in the U.S. are tightening, driven by energy infrastructure spend, while the industry is also