2024

Robert Wood: Leading the Task of Removing Old Dock Structures Safely Despite Challenges

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

When McCarthy Building Cos. won the $57-million job to demolish a failed dock structure and build a new general cargo dock at the Port of Beaumont, Texas, “we were surprised,” says senior project manager Robert Wood.

Pranaya Shrestha: Brought Caltrain's $2-billion Electrification Project to Completion

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

When Pranaya Shrestha’s father immigrated to the United States from Nepal in 1976, he sacrificed a prestigious government position and worked seven days a week operating a grocery store in Minnesota.

Seth Randall: Regional Safety Director at Clark Construction Rolled Out an Anti-concussion Helmet Program

yodersj@enr.com (Jeff Yoders) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Many contractors today require workers to wear helmets with anti-concussion technology to protect against side, back and front head impacts, as opposed to hardhats that only shield against impacts from above.

Col. Estee S. Pinchasin: Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse Response Showcases Leadership, Teamwork

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Complex, time-sensitive assignments are nothing new to Col. Estee S. Pinchasin.

Mark Pestrella: Originated InfrastructureLA Group to Boost Project Coordination, Maximize Funding and Prep for Calamities

blairs@enr.com (Scott Blair) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Mark Pestrella wasn’t born with a passion for public service, but, as in a proverbial coming-of-age story, fire transformed him at the age of 17.

Logan Mullaney: Introducing a Family-developed, Innovative, Semi-modular Bridge System to North America and the World

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

The InQuik Group is all in the family. Logan Mullaney began working for his father Bruce at a young age, learning carpentry and other construction skills.

Marjorie Mayfield Jackson: Non-profit Founder Used a Collaborative Approach to Address River Pollution and Sea-Level Rise

mcfarlandp@enr.com (Pam McFarland) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Marjorie Mayfield Jackson so loved the Elizabeth River, which she could see from the back porch of her home near Norfolk, Va., that she quit a successful career as a newspaper reporter in 1991 to save it.

Robert J. Mahoney: Denver Water's Chief Engineering Officer Leads an Ongoing Effort to Update Standards

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Around 2009, Denver Water’s capital plan was packed with upcoming work. Major projects—including the Gross Reservoir Expansion, Northwater Treatment Plant and lead pipe replacements—threatened to overwhelm the utility’s engineering department.

Tommy Linstroth: Accelerating Environmentally Responsible Construction with Technology that Automates and Reports Metrics

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

While studying at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Tommy Linstroth began noticing that the forests he had played in growing up in were disappearing, overtaken by urban sprawl.

Josh Levy: Using Artificial Intelligence to Revolutionize Document Review

yodersj@enr.com (Jeff Yoders) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Artificial intelligence is already changing construction, but one of the most adopted uses of the technology comes from Document Crunch

Anthony F. Leketa: Boosting Safety Culture Education in University Engineering and Construction Programs Around the U.S.

tuchmanj@enr.com (Janice L. Tuchman) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Over more than 50 years in construction, Anthony F. Leketa points to several “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities.

Tanya W. Komas: Founding a Program that Speeds Active Military Members Transition to Civilian Life and Construction Careers

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

The journey to founding the Concrete Preservation Institute Foundation was fueled by CEO Tanya Wattenburg Komas “following my passions every step of the way.”

Mateo Jaramillo: Innovator Reimagines Abandoned West Virginia Steel Mill Site for Battery Production

rubind@enr.com (Debra K. Rubin) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Mateo Jaramillo, co-founder and CEO of long-duration battery storage innovator Form Energy, hit the trifecta last year: completing its first factory in West Virginia with plans to expand this year; getting its first U.S. commercial system installations under way; and gaining an eye-catching $405 million in a private funding round.

Tony Ingram: At Unique, Complicated and Diverse Longwood Reimagined Job, No Task is Too Big or Too Small for Bancroft's Senior Project Manager

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

With only his shovel and a squeegee for company, Tony Ingram cut a lonely figure after hours one night last spring, as he cleared runoff from a torrential rain that had turned a section of the rear entrance of the 1,100-acre Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa., into a mud flat.

Karl E. Humberson: Energy Exec Steers Mammoth Offshore Wind Power Project Through Ocean of Challenges

rubind@enr.com (Debra K. Rubin) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Dominion Energy engineer keeps construction of the country’s largest offshore wind energy project—a novel $10-billion, 178-turbine effort off the Virginia coast on track to finish by the end of 2026—demonstrating clean energy's critical role in generating needed power and in confronting US climate change impacts.

Martin Gross: Technology Developer Pushes Needle Forward on Using Algae for Wastewater Treatment

mcfarlandp@enr.com (Pam McFarland) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Martin Gross, co-founder and CEO of Gross-Wen Technologies, has long been fascinated by the possibilities of algae as a sustainability solution.

Vince Granato: Managing a $2-billion Transformation of Portland International Airport

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Joe Schneider recalls when he and Dave Garske approached Vince Granato about a series of near-misses on the construction site of the $1.2-billion TCORE project, the centerpiece of the $2-billion PDX Next program to transform Portland International Airport.

Robert D. Evans Jr.: Off-site Modular Construction, Transport and Placement of 2,800-ton Cracking Furnace

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Robert D. “Danny” Evans Jr. couldn’t help but smile as four lines of self-propelled modular transporters gently backed a new 2,800-ton cracking furnace into position at Chevron Phillips Chemical Co.’s Baytown, Texas, ethylene plant in September 2022.

Jordan Carrier: Assembled an Expert Team and Led its Installation of More Than a Mile of Pipe Under a Busy Shipping Channel

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

As executive vice president of Garney Construction’s eastern U.S. pipeline operations, Jordan Carrier helmed a team that pushed the limits of trenchless construction by conducting a 5,700-ft horizontal directional drill to install 42-in.-dia HDPE pipe for a wastewater force main under a busy shipping channel in Virginia.

Sarah Buchner: Knowledge of Artificial Intelligence Tech and Silicon Valley Business Development Powered this Newsmaker

yodersj@enr.com (Jeff Yoders) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

As artificial intelligence continues to transform everyday activities, an arms race in construction technology AI services has begun, and a site-focused startup called Trunk Tools is leading it.

Nikki Bruno: Massachusetts Utility Commissions First U.S. Geothermal Network Linking Residential and Commercial Buildings in an Urban Neighborhood

jriceenr@gmail.com (Justin Rice) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

When interviewing to work for Eversource Energy in 2020, Nikki L. Bruno was asked if she had experience in the geothermal field. Bruno said no, but offered that she’d taken geology classes and could learn.

Mark Bransom: Veteran Water Engineer Demonstrates Agility and Ability to Adapt and Coordinate on the Nation’s Largest Dam Removal Project

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Mark Bransom, CEO since 2016 of Klamath River Renewal Corp., credits his more than 30-year career in water resources management and engineering for his ability to oversee the successful completion of the largest dam removal project in U.S. history.

John Ballas: Contractor Pushes to Help Longtime Client, Brockton Hospital, Get Back to Full Service after 10-alarm Fire

jriceenr@gmail.com (Justin Rice) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

Driving to his office in Avon, Mass., around 7 a.m. on Feb. 7, 2023, John Ballas received a call from his firm’s site supervisor overseeing two projects at Brockton Hospital in Brockton, Mass.

ENR's 2024 Top 25 Newsmakers

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:00:00 -0500

This year’s ENR Newsmakers clearly demonstrate a throughline between the past and the future—offering solutions to core industry problems and improvements to existing approaches. Read on to learn about their achievements.

Stuart Yanow: Guiding Light During the Tricky Drilling of the 900-well Geothermal Field at the Microsoft Thermal Energy Center

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 08:00:00 -0500

It’s serendipitous for the Microsoft Thermal Energy Center team that young Stuart Yanow decided to take his older sister’s advice and major in mechanical engineering rather than health sciences.

Dale Sinclair: Delivers on the Promise of Industrialized Construction at England's Manchester Airport — and Beyond

yodersj@enr.com (Jeff Yoders) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 08:00:00 -0500

Design firm WSP and UK-based contractor Mace Group have pioneered an industrialized construction method that has now delivered nodes and fixed links for a new airport concourse at London’s Manchester Airport that will expand capacity with 12 new gates.

Award of Excellence Winner Kit Miyamoto Travels the Globe to Help Countries Rebuild From Disaster

mcfarlandp@enr.com (Pam McFarland) — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 18:00:00 -0400

For his tireless drive to engineer enduring solutions for a disaster-plagued world and his persistent push for both technical innovation and seismic design information exchange, ENR’s editorial team has selected Kit Miyamoto to receive its 59th Award of Excellence.

Rouzbeh Savary: The Chemistry Is Just Right for A Mineral Substitute for Portland Cement that Can Save One Ton of CO₂ Emissions for Each Ton of Cement It Replaces

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 15:00:00 -0500

Rouzbeh Savary became hooked on concrete as a youth in Tehran, when he would frequently tag along to jobsites with his developer-father Davood. Even as a 9-year-old, he was mesmerized by crews casting concrete for his father’s multistory buildings.

Brian Witte: Designing Innovation Solutions for a Treacherous Stretch of Highway in Canadian Wilderness

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 15:00:00 -0500

Brian Witte was just a freshman in high school when he launched his infrastructure career. “It was a small town in Iowa, and the teacher’s neighbor was the town engineer for a dozen communities,” recalls Witte, vice president of construction engineering for Parsons Corp. “They needed help.

Terry Williams: Civil Engineer Leads First-of-a-Kind, $3.2B North Dakota Flood Control Project

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 15:00:00 -0500

North Dakotan Terry Williams is helping to manage the $3.2-billion Fargo-Moorhead Flood Diversion project, a first-of-its-kind endeavor.