Related Links: ENR's Top 200 Environmental Firms of 2011 The 2011 Top 200 Environment Firms Rankings The green tide seems to be turning in 2011 for the Top 200 Environmental Firms, with overall revenue for list participants rebounding 6.2% to $51.3 billion from last year's recession-driven falloff. In international work, there were strong gains fueled by the needs of growing economies and environmental requirements of natural-resource development projects. Top 200 firms also climbed in the rankings by acquisition, which added significant girth to some list participants.Based on revenue reported in 2010, there was growth in nearly all the markets. Even
Related Links: 2010 Inspector General Report on Iraq Reconstruction Three former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project officials and two foreign contractor employees have been charged with 54 counts of bribery, fraud and conspiracy linked to $50.2 million worth of Corps construction contracts in Iraq, the U.S. Justice Dept. says. The new charges, unsealed on July 14, expand the list of defendants and their alleged offenses brought in a criminal complaint last October.Charged in the federal indictment are John A. Salama Markus and Onisem Gomez, two U.S. citizens and former Corps project engineers in Iraq. Also named is Ammar Al-Jobory,
To cover graffiti, municipal officials in Australia have been slapping beige paint on many public spaces. That trend spurred the graffiti artists to “take their own action against the beige whitewash,” restoring the colorful urban art, as one website demanded. Brisbane-based engineering firm Cardno Ltd. is also in the process of adding color to its beige persona, expanding its traditional geographical reach and offerings and raising its low profile to become a bolder, world-class contender. Wrapping itself in red, white and blue, the firm is making a targeted foray into the U.S. market as a base for ambitious global growth
It's 4:30 a.m., and Ana Taveras is starting her day by flying up the New Jersey Turnpike, likely above the speed limit, to reach the local office of a laborers' union some 75 miles north. There, she officially begins a day of shuttling to meetings and construction sites as a regional labor organizing coordinator. PHOTO BY SCOTT SCHEDIVY RESULTS Ana Taveras, once told she didnt belong here, is now a rising laborers union regional organizer. Graphic by Justin Reynolds A special feature in ENR. Related Links: Lacking Diversity in Race and Ethnicity, the Construction Industry Takes Strides Chinese-Americans in Construction
While neither union or contractor officials have disclosed terms of a newly signed agreement with two operating engineer locals in New York, details are emerging on key work-rule changes, says an industry source. The pact was reached June 30 between Operating Engineers Locals 14 and 15 and the Building Contractors Association, Contractors Association of Greater New York and Cement League.The industry source says one significant change involves cutting overtime pay for workers who run inside and outside elevators at jobsites. Another modification would limit use of supervisory "master mechanics" on sites, the source says. The agreement with union officials still
There had not been a practicing architect as Architect of the Capitol for some 100 years when George M. White took the post in 1971. But during his 25-year term, the former American Institute of Architects' vice president also used his electrical engineering, business and law training to manage large congressional and other U.S. building projects as well as steer design and project management in new directions that were not always supported by industry or his Capitol Hill bosses. PHOTO: COURTESY OF AOC CAPITOL IDEA MAN White created the first master plan for the future U.S. Capitol complex. White died
MCLAUGHLINTimothy L. “Timmy” McLaughlin was set to step down on June 30 as president of the national American Subcontractors Association Inc., but his term ended unexpectedly on June 9 when he suffered a fatal heart attack in Charleston, S.C. He was 62. Active in the Alexandria, Va.-based specialty contractors advocacy group for more than 20 years, McLaughlin was also general manager of Austin Construction Co. Inc., a site and utility contractor in Summerville, S.C. His successor at the 4,500-member ASA is Kerrick Whisenant, president-elect and pre-construction director of Cornerstone Detention Prod-ucts Inc., a Tanner, Ala., detention equipment and security electronics
For 108 years, groups representing New York City's union contractors and building trades have worked under the New York Plan for the Resolution of Jurisdictional Disputes, an agreement used to resolve inter-union disputes and bind union contractors to use organized labor. But at year-end, the era comes to a close. The Building Trades Employers Association, which represents union contractors, voted in May to let the plan expire after this year, giving members the option to use non-union workers. Related Links: View the Full ENR 2011 Second Quarter Cost Report (PDF) Contractors Hold Line on Pay How John Deere's New Hybrid
DELLA ROCCA Michael Della Rocca, regional managing director in North America for U.K.-based Halcrow and president of its subsidiaries in Canada, the U.S. and Caribbean, is set to join AECOM in a similar role, also based in New York City. A company spokesman confirms the appointment but did not disclose his exact title and start date. AECOM announced internally on June 13 that Jim Jaska was named president of its newly combined Americas and government-services unit, effective on Oct. 1. He has led its government operations unit, which includes U.S. federal and global government-services work. Halcrow says Robert Ulrich, development
BENNETTJames P. “Jim” Bennett twice turned down invitations, dating back to 1973, to join Canada's PCL Construction Enterprises Inc. He finally came aboard 15 years later, in 1988, as vice president of its Denver building unit, eventually leading its U.S.-based operations in building and civil construction, which included the contractor's push overseas. A former president of two PCL units, Bennett died on June 9 in Georgetown, S.C., at age 74 of a massive stroke, says the firm. A former vice president of J.A. Jones Construction Co. and president and CEO of Rogers Construction Co., Bennett became PCL Construction building unit
