2015

Chosen by The ENR Editors: Meet the Top 25 Newsmakers

Wed, 03 Feb 2016 23:30:00 -0500

Construction projects start with an idea, but it takes the patience, persistence, and pushing and pulling of great industry leaders to turn those ideas into reality.

Bringing real-time precision tracking to the jobsite

sawyert@enr.com (Tom Sawyer) — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Three years ago, the construction industry was the last thing on Chunjie Duan’s mind.

Industry vet wraps complex tunnel job 7 months early

blairs@enr.com (Scott Blair) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 08:00:00 -0500

A longtime project manager of complex infrastructure projects, Jim Stevens led his team of contractors to complete the first large-bore tunnel ever constructed underneath the San Francisco Bay seven months ahead of schedule and below budget.

Putting an end to individual surety fraud

kormanr@enr.com (Richard Korman) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

All the words spoken by Mark H. McCallum about surety bonds could fill a library.

Water industry veteran pivotal in fate of milestone desalination plant

McFarlandP@enr.com (Pam Hunter McFarland) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

San Diego County water chief Bob Yamada points to Peter MacLaggan as a true visionary and persistent leader in moving to completion the nation’s first large-scale seawater desalination plant, in Carlsbad, Calif., and offering a template for other water-strapped municipalities in North America.

Materials scientist gives new life to old buildings with a geopolymer mortar

abaffyl@enr.com (Luke Abaffy) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

A growing number of steel-frame structures are using a new carbon-fiber-reinforced geopolymer mortar for cathodic protection (CP).

McLennan Creates a Deep-Green Building Movement

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Jason F. McLennan thinks of himself as a green warrior.

Blocher spearheaded early risk management on nation’s largest non-vehicle multi-modal bridge

Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Don’t let the elegance of the $135-million, 1,720-ft cable-stayed Tilikum Crossing bridge in Portland distract you from the ingenuity that occurred before construction even started, in 2011, on Portland’s first bridge over the Willamette River since 1973.

Poeppel designs world's trickiest supertall-skyscraper foundation

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Alan Poeppel was inspired to become an engineer by his poor performance in a high school bridge-building competition.

Restoring chicago's skyline after a crippling recession

vanhamptont@enr.com (Tudor Van Hampton) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

In many cities, commercial building came to a virtual standstill after 2007’s financial collapse.

Reininger leads rebirth of privately funded passenger rail

judys@enr.com (Scott Judy) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

When, on Aug. 5, the Florida state board of All Aboard Florida’s request was approved to issue $1.75 billion in tax-exempt bonds to fund its planned 235-mile passenger-rail project, it signaled a key milestone for the company developing the Miami-to-Orlando transportation system.

Becher guided the upgrade of the world's longest floating bridge

Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Building the world’s largest anything is always tricky enough, but doing it on water adds a wrinkle that is always bobbing in the current.

Superintendent navigates cleanup of a landslide that claimed 43 lives

ENRSouthWestEditor@enr.com (John Guzzon) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

On the night a massive landslide swamped State Route 530 near the community of Oso in Snohomish County, Wash.—killing 43 and seriously injuring 10—IMCO superintendent Brent Richards acted quickly to mobilize equipment and personnel to the area.

Barr wrangled with the world's busiest border crossing

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Randall L. Barr ranks the $299-million first phase of the overhaul of the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry linking Mexico and California—the world’s busiest border crossing—as a standout among his projects during a nearly 42-year career with contractor Hensel Phelps.

Bailey Created a Unique Elevator System for Transporting People and Cars

judys@enr.com (Scott Judy) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

When Porsche-obsessed South Florida developer Gil Dezer told builders he wanted his 60-story condominium to have a car-elevator system so that residents could park their luxury vehicles inside their respective units, he was asking for something that had never been done.

Jetter helps develop a revolutionary ropeless elevator

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Thanks to problems with elevator-cable girth, weight and sway, supertall-building specialists often get hung up on the ropes when designing towers taller than 500 or 600 meters.

Managing safety in real time pays dividends

vanhamptont@enr.com (Tudor Van Hampton) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

One of Brazil’s go-to rigging contractors, Makro Engenharia, needed to reduce highway accidents when its mobile cranes were traveling from site to site.

Construction veteran guides successful construction of Kentucky's largest design-build bridge project in Louisville.

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Robert Harris, construction manager for Louisville’s $1.2-billion Downtown Crossing, downplays his role in coordinating a team of state engineers and design-build team members on Kentucky’s largest-ever project, a 2,100-ft-long, three-tower cable-stayed bridge connecting downtown Louisville to points north.

South Carolina's Christy Hall Takes Big Road Fix and DOT by Storm

Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

The “1,000-year” flood that wreaked havoc on South Carolina infrastructure last October took many residents and politicians by surprise, but Christy A. Hall spent a career getting ready for it.

Designer leads detailed fix of iconic D.C. church after rare quake

Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Designing the complex repair of a century-old religious icon, damaged by a rare magnitude-5.8 earthquake in the nation’s capital, may have needed the hand of God or the patience of a saint, but its success is credited to the talents of a trained engineer.

Mix master tselebidis concocts better, greener concrete

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

If not for a family trip to his parents’ native Greece in 1997, when he was a civil engineering student in Germany, concrete mix master Andreas Tselebidis would have missed his life’s calling.

Ayerdi-Kaplan propelled a san francisco infrastructure hub

blairs@enr.com (Scott Blair) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Developing the Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco has been a nearly two-decade crusade for Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan, executive director of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA).

Bringing artificial intelligence to asphalt compaction

rubenstonej@enr.com (Jeff Rubenstone) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Proper asphalt compaction is the key to ensuring the life of roads, and finding new ways to measure that compaction is seen as the key to improving infrastructure construction.

Arioglu pulled together a global team building a complex tunnel under the bosphorus strait

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Basar Arioğlu was restless. Attending Bosphorus University in Turkey in 1985, he was studying with the same friends he’d had in high school.

Rigging engineer raises profile of critical industry profession

vanhamptont@enr.com (Tudor Van Hampton) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Few projects are completed without a crane, yet more lift training is found on the jobsite than in a classroom.

Wackrow's work-arounds bolster hudson yards mini-city

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0500

In 2010, when Ronald W. Wackrow was about four months shy of completing the rescue of the troubled 6.5-million-sq-ft Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, his boss, Related Cos. Chairman Stephen M. Ross, suggested his next assignment: Relocate to the East Coast to steer design and construction of the developer’s 17.5- million-sq-ft Hudson Yards—a 26-acre mini-city primarily sited over the Long Island Railroad yard on the far West Side of Midtown Manhattan.