Diggerland USA Revamped JCB excavator, called Spindizzy, takes Diggerland USA visitors on a 360-degree aerial ride. Related Links: Diggerland USA Website ENR: Las Vegas Heavy Equipment 'Theme Park' Brings Bulldozing to the Masses Modeled after a successful U.K. enterprise, Diggerland USA hopes to provide some family fun and get kids introduced to—and enthused with—big construction machinery.The construction equipment-themed amuse park opened in June in New Jersey as a family-centric attraction featuring machines revamped for adults—and kids— to ride and operate.Diggerland USA, in West Berlin, N.J., 30 miles east of Philadelphia, was launched by the Girlya family, owners of Sambe Construction
Photo Courtesy of ESA Bucknell U. Engineering Success Alliance students trek through New York subway site. Courtesy of ESA ESA Program offers selected students mentoring, tutoring and industry connections to boost engineering graduation rates. Related Links: Engineering Success Alliance at Bucknell University Graduating from an under-resourced high school in Canoga Park, Calif., a predominantly Hispanic section of Los Angeles, Oswaldo Galicia knew an engineering college major would be a challenge."There are very few AP courses offered, and most of them did not prepare you adequately to pass the exams, especially in math and science," he says. "In AP Calculus and
Ohio State University Former students praised Merry's skill in teaching complex topics and connecting to aspiring engineers. Related Links: American Society of Civil Engineers' Tribute to Carolyn Merry On line Obituary and Tributes Ohio State U. College of Engineering Mourns Death of Professor Emerita Carolyn Merry; Link to Carolyn J. Merry Scholarship Fund A June 3 highway accident has killed Carolyn J. Merry, former Ohio State University civil engineering chair and noted remote sensing researcher. She was 63.Merry's husband Robert K. Redfield confirmed to ENR that tractor-trailer driver Adrian Rogers, whose vehicle slammed into a car driven by Merry on
EERI Craig E. Taylor developed new natural hazard modeling and disaster risk assessment strategies. Related Links: Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Tribute Second International Conference on Vulnerability and Risk Analysis and Management/Sixth Intl Symposium on Uncertainty Modeling and Analysis Website Craig E. Taylor, 68, an expert in multihazard risk management who shaped new directions in catastrophe modeling and risk simulation, particularly for earthquakes, died on May 31 in Torrance, Calif., after a brief undisclosed illness, the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) confirms.A research professor at the University of Southern California and long-time consultant to insurers and federal agencies, Taylor was a
Related Links: Pemex to Go for FPSO to Develop Ayatsil-Tekel in Gulf of Mexico Mexican officials are investigating an accident earlier this month at a fabrication yard owned by a joint venture of Fluor Corp. and Empresas ICA, S.A.B. de C.V. that caused workers working in a man-basket to fall 130 ft to the ground, killing five instantly. Two others later died from their injuries.The firms also confirmed that one worker is in serious condition after the June 11 accident at the Matarredonda facility in Veracruz state.ICA-Fluor’s work there is part of its $95-million contract, awarded in 2012, to build
Devotion to work and technical prowess may not be enough to boost women up the ranks among construction industry employers; they also need to beat their own drums for better roles on jobsites and in boardrooms. Women executives from industry firms urged more than 300 mostly younger female attendees at the ENR Groundbreaking Women in Construction conference to seek ways to raise their profiles to coworkers, bosses, clients and outside peers.
Gilbane Building Co. has chosen its first non-family member—who also is a company outsider—as its next president and chief operating officer, contractor Chairman and CEO Tom Gilbane confirmed on June 11.McKelvyMichael E. McKelvy, chief delivery officer at CH2M Hill Cos. in Denver and a 26-year veteran of the firm and a unit it acquired, will take the new roles at Gilbane Building on July 7. He will succeed Bill Gilbane Jr., who becomes vice chairman. Gilbane had been in his prior roles since 2004.In his CH2M Hill role, McKelvy was responsible for profit-loss and delivery for global regions and served
Related Links: Firms See Some Uncertainties in Hot Global Energy Market Amid the ongoing growth opportunities of the U.S.-Canada energy boom, engineers and contractors are seeing new—or renewed—growth potential in non-U.S. markets, say CEOs of publicly held E&C firms.MULLENFluor Corp. CEO David Seaton told investors at a Credit Suisse-sponsored event in New York City that, of the 20 large oil-and-gas project awards the firm is tracking over the next two years, 17 are overseas."It's a big world out there," added Patrick Mullen, president of the engineering, construction and maintenance group at CB&I. He sees growth in LNG and gas-fired power
Related Links: Leadership Shakeups Set for Construction Equipment Sector Contractor Sues Fluor Team Over DOE Site Project Design Arch Record: Q&A with Lynn Richards, incoming president of the Congress for the New Urbanism as of July 1 Stephen M. Redding has joined Sparks, Md.-based KCI Technologies Inc. as vice president and regional practice leader, following its May 29 purchase of Redding Linden Burr (RLB), a Houston mechanical-electrical-plumbing and energy services engineer. He has been that firm’s president.HegabLouisiana Tech University, Ruston, named Hisham E. Hegab dean of the College of Engineering and Science, effective July 1. Formerly interim dean and professor
Related Links: Complacency is the Enemy: A Viewpoint by Jim LaMantia, PRIDE executive director (2009) PRIDE of St. Louis Inc. In 1972, union construction work in St. Louis was in turmoil, with the industry facing hundreds of restrictive labor work rules, frequent disputes among craft trades and disrupted projects.MantiaENR reported that "after just 12 days into construction of an Anheuser-Busch modernization project, a jurisdictional dispute erupted despite a nonstrike agreement among all unions. Work stalled for five months." Richard Mantia, then executive secretary-treasurer of the St. Louis Building Trades Council, and Alfred J. Fleischer, managing partner in a local contractor,
