Global design and construction firms were again caught up in increasingly violent protests in the Middle East, this time in Libya, as companies scrambled to shut down projects and evacuate expatriates amid much uncertainty as to when or whether they would return to restart work—and under what government. Photo: AP Worldwide Turkish construction workers evacuating from Libya as projects shut down amid mounting turmoil. Industry firms from Turkey were particularly hard-hit, since Libya ranks, after Russia, as the second most important market for Turkish contractors, industry sources say. The estimated value of firms’ ongoing projects there is between $15 billion
AECOM has recorded a charge related to the shut down of its work as program manager of Libya’s estimated $50-billion upgrade of housing and other infrastructure. The company announced March 1 an expected 8-cent-per-share charge in its second quarter. AECOM has evacuated expatriate managers and staff. Michael S. Burke, the company’s chief financial officer and senior vice president, said the charge was related to “demobilization, shutdown and operating impacts.” But he said that the company year-end projection of $2.25 to $2.35 earnings-per-share is unchanged, “due to continued strength in the remainder of our business.” Based in Los Angeles, AECOM has
The recession has taken a toll on members of the Associated Builders and Contractors and on the “merit shop” group itself, but officials hope recent local victories against union-only construction mandates will push Congress to enact similar changes. Photo: Garvin Smith, Courtesy Of ABC ABC’s new CEO Bellaman addresses group’s more business-focused convention. ABC members were updated on markets and initiatives at “BizCon,” a new-format conference for “strategic leaders,” held on Feb. 24 in Orlando, Fla., that attracted about 350 attendees. ABC Chairman Michael Uremovich, president of Great Lakes Energy Consultants LLC, Manhattan, Ill., admitted the format’s “big risk” but
A new global engineering and design-build giant is set to emerge at month�s end as CDM, the Cambridge, Mass.-based design firm-constructor specializing in environmental infrastructure acquires Wilbur Smith Associates, the Columbia, S.C., transportation engineer. The transaction, under way since early 2010, will create a $1.2-billion company that meshes in culture, specialties, employee ownership and international presence, its executives say. The acquisition, which is set to wrap on Feb. 25, creates a company with about 5,700 employees, about 25% of whom are based abroad, says Richard D. Fox, CDM chairman and CEO. SMITH FOX M. Stevenson Smith, Wilbur Smith’s chairman and
A new global engineering and design-build giant is set to emerge at month’s end as CDM, the Cambridge, Mass.-based design firm-constructor specializing in environmental infrastructure acquires Wilbur Smith Associates, the Columbia, S.C., transportation engineer. The transaction, under way since early 2010, will create a $1.2-billion company that meshes in culture, specialties, employee ownership and international presence, its executives say. The acquisition, which is set to wrap on Feb. 25, creates a company with about 5,700 employees, about 25% of whom are based abroad, says Richard D. Fox, CDM chairman and CEO. SMITH FOX M. Stevenson Smith, Wilbur Smith’s chairman and
GAUL Jonathan Gaul, an industrial painter and union member since age 18, considered leaving the union after earning a B.S. degree in computer science in 2004. But Frank MacKinnon, his 66-year-old predecessor, changed Gaul’s course by appointing him training manager; last year, MacKinnon handpicked him over more senior candidates to run the 1,000-member local, which spans four maritime provinces. Related Links: Millennials Bring New Attitudes Who Is a ‘Millennial’? The Millennials: Who They Are, And Why They Are A Force to be Reckoned With Conrado Rodrigues Elizabeth McAndrew-Benavides Ellina Yin Jonatan Schumacher “I wanted someone who would do a better
Investigators will require months to determine the causes of accidents in two cities that killed three union ironworkers on Feb. 8. The family of the ironworker who died in suburban Chicago has filed a wrongful death suit, alleging contractor negligence in the collapse of a steel structure that struck him at a hospital project site. In the other accident, in New York City, it is not clear whether two workers who fell 65 feet were wearing protective equipment. The family of the Chicago ironworker, Kenneth Puplava, 43, has filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, naming contractors at the Glenbrook
More than ever, industry firms expect their boards of directors to set strategies for the challenging times ahead and are revising what characteristics they want a potential director to possess, according to a new survey of industry governance trends. Respondents appear to be getting more adept at defining what they want in board candidates, says the survey, conducted by management consulting firm Oberman & Associates Inc., Irvine, Calif. It points out that 42% of respondents in architecture, engineering, construction and management firms want directors who are “strategic thinkers” and “forward-looking.” Candidates with strong financial skills were valued by 40% of
Investigators will require months to determine the causes of two accidents that killed three union ironworkers on Feb. 8. Photo: Courtesy of Goldberg, Weisman & Cairo Ltd. Wrongful death lawsuit alleges that defective welds were a factor in fatal beam collapse. The family of the Chicago ironworker, Kenneth Puplava, 43, has filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging contractor negligence in the collapse of a steel structure that struck him at a suburban hospital construction site. The suit names the project’s general contractor, Pepper Construction Co., Chicago, and its steel erector-fabricator, Lejeune Steel Co., Minneapolis, which employed Puplava. Puplava
Investigators will require months to determine the causes of two accidents that killed three union ironworkers on Feb. 8. Photo: Courtesy of Goldberg, Weisman & Cairo Ltd. Wrongful death lawsuit alleges that defective welds were a factor in fatal beam collapse. The family of the Chicago ironworker, Kenneth Puplava, 43, has filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging contractor negligence in the collapse of a steel structure that struck him at a suburban hospital construction site. The suit names the project’s general contractor, Pepper Construction Co., Chicago, and its steel erector-fabricator, Lejeune Steel Co., Minneapolis, which employed Puplava. Puplava
