https://www.enr.com/rss/627 en-us tuchmanj@enr.com (Janice L. Tuchman) To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ENR Award of Excellence, Newsmakers and winners from across the years joined this year’s class and winner, Anvil Builders’ CEO HT Tran, on stage at the gala in New York City on April 16.

]]> 0420-newsmakers-past-and-present-take-the-stage.asp Mon, 20 Apr 2015 12:00:00 -0400 https://www.enr.com/articles/7439-newsmakers-past-and-present-take-the-stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage TECH CULTURE Almost all Anvil employees work without walls to foster a team environment, similar to Bay Area high-tech firms; but the company's growth is putting pressure on the open-space setup for its execs. Photo Courtesy HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage HT Tran, (in red shirt) was born and grew up in California after his parents fled war-ravaged Vietnam.   Photo Courtesy of HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage HT Tran was a weapons team leader in the US Army 10th Mountain Division, Anvil company serving in Iraq. He learned construction and teambuilding skills when assigned to remote Kirkuk. Photo Courtesy of HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage TRADITION  HT Tran's great-uncle and family patriarch Commodore Tran Van Chon (far left above) was South Vietnam's naval operations chief in the 1960s and early 70s; here he inspects Vietnamese sailors with US Navy Adm. Thomas H. Moorer in 1969. Photo Courtesy HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage RECOVERY HT Tran (left) and platoon leader Clayton Hinchman both were severly injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) in 2008 while on night patrol in Iraq.   Photo Courtesy HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage BALANCING ACT  HT Tran, 35, now relishes life in the San Francisco suburbs with wife Nadine and son Clayton, 2.   Photo Courtesy of HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage SKILLBUILDING   HT Tran (third from right) got an early start on project management in erecting needed Army facilities in northern Iraq as a non-commissioned officer in Anvil company. "My experience was built on survival skills," he says. Photo Courtesy HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage POWER BASE  Anvil CEO HT Tran (far left) and co-founders Allan Guy, (center) now chief operating officer, and business development exec Richard Leider, nicknamed the "Holy Trinity," review a key San Francisco residential project site.   Photo by Eric Millette Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage On San Francisco's multi-billion-dollar Transbat transit hub, Anvil Builders is a "competitive and competent" small-business subcontractor, says Jess Pederson, CEO of project contractor Webcor.   Photo Courtesy TransBay Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage LOW BID, HIGH PROFILE  Anvil Builders won an early job as general contractor for the upgrade of San Francisco's 1920s icon, Coit Tower. Photo Courtesy Anvil Builders Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage ENR 2015 Award of Excellence Winner HT Tran, CEO of Anvil Builders Inc. and a wounded Army vet, executes a new mission as a next-gen leader to build a construction firm and advocate for why veterans make great hires. Photo by Eric Millette Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage LOOKING FORWARD   Contractor startup has won early sitework on a planned private redevelopment of a former U.S. Navy base that is set to generate construction of up to 20,000 housing units and commercial projects in the years ahead.     Photo: Courtesy Lennar Urban Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage HT Tran has been key to the veteran hiring push by United Contractors, a 450-member Bay Area union contractors group.   Photo Courtesy of United Contractors Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage MENTOR  Tran family patriarch Tran Van Chon, now in his 90s, is a former South Vietnamese naval officer who spent 12 years in a Communist "re-education camp" after Saigon's fall, before US officials helped rescue him and join his family already in California.  Photo Courtesy of HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage HT Tran's recovery at a U.S. military hospital from the loss of an eye and other serious wounds caused by an IED explosion in Iraq in 2008 sparked his transformation to a construction entrepreneur. Image Courtesy of HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage rubind@enr.com (Debra K. Rubin) While hanging out with friends in his California living room one day in 2006, HT Tran had an epiphany that changed his career path and the direction of his life. The wounded Army veteran whose family fled Vietnam went on to start a fast-growing construction firm that's building San Francisco and careers for fellow veterans.

]]> 0420-enr-2015-award-of-excellence-ht-tran-is-an-inspired-ceo.asp Thu, 16 Apr 2015 12:00:00 -0400 https://www.enr.com/articles/7436-enr-2015-award-of-excellence-ht-tran-an-inspired-and-inspiring-ceo Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage TECH CULTURE Almost all Anvil employees work without walls to foster a team environment, similar to Bay Area high-tech firms; but the company's growth is putting pressure on the open-space setup for its execs. Photo Courtesy HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage HT Tran, (in red shirt) was born and grew up in California after his parents fled war-ravaged Vietnam.   Photo Courtesy of HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage HT Tran was a weapons team leader in the US Army 10th Mountain Division, Anvil company serving in Iraq. He learned construction and teambuilding skills when assigned to remote Kirkuk. Photo Courtesy of HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage TRADITION  HT Tran's great-uncle and family patriarch Commodore Tran Van Chon (far left above) was South Vietnam's naval operations chief in the 1960s and early 70s; here he inspects Vietnamese sailors with US Navy Adm. Thomas H. Moorer in 1969. Photo Courtesy HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage RECOVERY HT Tran (left) and platoon leader Clayton Hinchman both were severly injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) in 2008 while on night patrol in Iraq.   Photo Courtesy HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage BALANCING ACT  HT Tran, 35, now relishes life in the San Francisco suburbs with wife Nadine and son Clayton, 2.   Photo Courtesy of HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage SKILLBUILDING   HT Tran (third from right) got an early start on project management in erecting needed Army facilities in northern Iraq as a non-commissioned officer in Anvil company. "My experience was built on survival skills," he says. Photo Courtesy HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage POWER BASE  Anvil CEO HT Tran (far left) and co-founders Allan Guy, (center) now chief operating officer, and business development exec Richard Leider, nicknamed the "Holy Trinity," review a key San Francisco residential project site.   Photo by Eric Millette Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage On San Francisco's multi-billion-dollar Transbat transit hub, Anvil Builders is a "competitive and competent" small-business subcontractor, says Jess Pederson, CEO of project contractor Webcor.   Photo Courtesy TransBay Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage LOW BID, HIGH PROFILE  Anvil Builders won an early job as general contractor for the upgrade of San Francisco's 1920s icon, Coit Tower. Photo Courtesy Anvil Builders Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage ENR 2015 Award of Excellence Winner HT Tran, CEO of Anvil Builders Inc. and a wounded Army vet, executes a new mission as a next-gen leader to build a construction firm and advocate for why veterans make great hires. Photo by Eric Millette Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage LOOKING FORWARD   Contractor startup has won early sitework on a planned private redevelopment of a former U.S. Navy base that is set to generate construction of up to 20,000 housing units and commercial projects in the years ahead.     Photo: Courtesy Lennar Urban Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage HT Tran has been key to the veteran hiring push by United Contractors, a 450-member Bay Area union contractors group.   Photo Courtesy of United Contractors Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage MENTOR  Tran family patriarch Tran Van Chon, now in his 90s, is a former South Vietnamese naval officer who spent 12 years in a Communist "re-education camp" after Saigon's fall, before US officials helped rescue him and join his family already in California.  Photo Courtesy of HT Tran Newsmakers Past and Present Take the Stage HT Tran's recovery at a U.S. military hospital from the loss of an eye and other serious wounds caused by an IED explosion in Iraq in 2008 sparked his transformation to a construction entrepreneur. Image Courtesy of HT Tran rubind@enr.com (Debra K. Rubin) What started as an effort by Bob Nilsson, a U.S. Marine vet with a broken leg to help other Vietnam War wounded heal at a Navy hospital in Queens, N.Y., has grown decades later into a nationwide crusade to transition veterans, injured and not, into entrepreneurs in the construction sector—and beyond.

]]> 0420-guru-to-veterans-shapes-startups.asp Thu, 16 Apr 2015 12:00:00 -0400 https://www.enr.com/articles/7437-contractor-guru-helps-veterans-shape-startups rubind@enr.com (Debra K. Rubin) The Obama administration made construction careers for veterans a high-profile initiative, announced last year by First Lady Michele Obama, that asks industry firms to hire 100,000 vets in the next five years.

]]> 0420-industry-firms-seeking-vets.asp Thu, 16 Apr 2015 12:00:00 -0400 https://www.enr.com/articles/7438-industry-firms-are-actively-seeking-vets rubind@enr.com (Debra K. Rubin) George J. Pierson has had his share of kudos for engineering the sale last October of global design firm giant Parsons Brinckerhoff in what many consider an impressive $1.35-billion deal.

]]> 0126-investing-big-so-industry-looks-more-like-america.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7424-investing-big-so-industry-looks-more-like-america choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) In 1999, David White accompanied his father, the founder of American Piledriving Equipment (APE), to Shanghai.

]]> 0126-managing-director-of-us-firm8217s-chinese-arm-connected-two-worlds-to-get-piledriving-feat-accomplis.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7425-straddling-east-and-west-to-steer-a-pile-driving-feat blairs@enr.com (Scott Blair) Like the maestro of a Wagnerian opera, Michael Marchesano conducted a chorus of 400 workers, 19 concrete pumps, 208 mixers and eight batch plants to perform a 19.5-hour continuous concrete placement for the Wilshire Grand Center's foundation.

]]> 0126-orchestrated-epic-concrete-placement-in-downtown-los-angeles.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7426-orchestrated-epic-concrete-placement-in-downtown-la judys@enr.com (Scott Judy) Early in the process of building Florida Polytechnic University's $60-million Innovation, Science and Technology building, architect Santiago Calatrava expressed his doubts to Skanska USA Building's project leader, Chuck Jablon, about the ability of U.S. craft workers to deliver the quality the architect envisioned.

]]> 0126-polytechnic-project-team-delivers-for-calatrava.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7427-polytechnic-project-team-delivers-for-calatrava blairs@enr.com (Scott Blair) 0126-project-manager-fostered-spotless-safety-record-in-earth8217s-most-hostile-climate.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7428-setting-safety-precedent-in-a-frozen-environment postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) Few people would get excited about leading a much-needed overhaul of a 500-page building code, even if it is the global bible of concrete design.

]]> 0126-randall-w-poston-led-a-six-year-long-remake-of-the-concrete-code.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7429-randall-w-poston-led-a-six-year-long-remake-of-the-concrete-code judys@enr.com (Scott Judy) Developed and built primarily as a testing and research center for wind-turbine drivetrains, Clemson University's Energy Innovation Center in North Charleston, S.C., is still ramping up operations.

]]> 0126-renewables-research-site-eyes-energy-innovations.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7430-renewables-research-site-eyes-energy-innovations Major disasters have played a significant role in the life of Teddy Phillips Jr.

]]> 0126-teddy-phillips-leads-civil-contractor-phillips-jordan-through-large-disaster-cleanups.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7431-teddy-phillips-leads-civil-contractor-phillips-jordan-through-large-disaster-cleanups vanhamptont@enr.com (Tudor Van Hampton) A history buff who has enjoyed a 36-year career in construction, Charlie Gannon, a project manager for Walsh Construction, certainly appreciates the significance of having delivered the longest-ever bridge slide.

]]> 0126-walsh-project-manager-pulled-off-longest-ever-bridge-slide.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7432-walsh-project-manager-pulled-off-longest-ever-bridge-slide judys@enr.com (Scott Judy) In terms of importance, Georgia Power's $14-billion-plus Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project stands alone.

]]> 0126-william-jacobs-provides-key-insights-on-critical-vogtle-project.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7433-william-jacobs-provides-key-insights-on-critical-vogtle-project tuchmanj@enr.com (Janice L. Tuchman) Early in 2014, the cash-strapped contractor consortium stopped constructing the third set of locks to create a third lane large enough for newer, larger ships to use the Panama Canal.

]]> 0126-working-out-a-process-to-keep-panama-canal8217s-locks-project-moving.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7434-working-out-a-process-to-keep-panama-canal-s-locks-project-moving rubind@enr.com (Debra K. Rubin) Moving from active combat to a civilian career can be a tough transition for returning veterans, especially those who have been injured in service.

]]> 0126-young-iraq-vet-8216walks-the-walk8217-as-ceo-on-a-mission.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7435-young-iraq-war-vet-walks-the-walk-as-ceo-on-a-mission blairs@enr.com (Scott Blair) A decade ago, San Francisco's Public Utilities Commission embarked on a bold plan to prepare for the next earthquake or other natural disaster.

]]> 0126-agency-director-primes-pump-for-stronger-water-reliability-in-san-francisco.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7411-priming-the-pump-for-water-reliability-in-san-francisco postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) HOK looms large in the memory of Bill Johnson—the architect for the daring New Atlanta Stadium—as having set inadvertently, yet fortuitously, his career path.

]]> 0126-bill-johnson8217s-design-for-falcons-stadium-sets-a-new-standard.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7412-dramatic-design-for-falcons-stadium-sets-a-new-standard abaffyl@enr.com (Luke Abaffy) 0126-bottling-tornadoes-toinform-structural-design.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7413-bottling-tornadoes-to-inform-structural-design postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) A kid's biology book, devoured when Christine Sheppard was 8 years old, tweaked her interest in science. A professor who helped reestablish the peregrine falcon on the East Coast opened the graduate student's eyes to environmental bird threats.

]]> 0126-christine-sheppard-campaigns-to-stop-buildings-from-killing-birds.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7414-christine-sheppard-campaigns-to-stop-buildings-from-killing-birds choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) "If I don't have 100 balls in the air, I don't work well. I get bored," says David Burrus, referring to his multitasking skills.

]]> 0126-contractor-executive-led-a-team-building-a-complex-unusual-new-transportation-center-for-southern-ca.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7415-contractor-executive-led-a-team-building-a-complex-unusual-new-transportation-center-for-southern-california postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) For Denis Hayes, the journey to a leadership role in the environmental movement has been informed by childhood trauma, youthful disillusionment and an epiphany.

]]> 0126-denis-hayes-developed-a-model-for-office-buildingsto-rely-on-nature-for-their-needs.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7416-developing-a-model-for-office-buildings-to-rely-on-nature-for-their-needs postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) Sept. 19, 1985, was life-altering for Eduardo Miranda.

]]> 0126-eduardo-miranda-forges-a-path-toward-quake-resilient-houses.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7417-eduardo-miranda-forges-a-path-toward-quake-resilient-houses shawm@enr.com (Mark Shaw) Equipment magnate Don F. Ahern says he doesn't believe much in setting goals.

]]> 0126-equipment-rental-giant-ahern-rentals-rises-from-the-financial-ashes.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7418-equipment-rental-giant-ahern-rentals-rises-from-the-financial-ashes vanhamptont@enr.com (Tudor Van Hampton) Over the past three decades, Jim Wiethorn has investigated hundreds of crane accidents and generated a mountain of data on what causes lifting machines to fail.

]]> 0126-forensic-engineer-mines-accidents-for-safety-gold.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7419-forensic-engineer-mines-accidents-for-safety-gold rubind@enr.com (Debra K. Rubin) John J. Struzziery knew it wasn't going to be easy to design a solution for Cambridge, Mass., to meet mandated federal water-quality upgrades and stormwater-runoff control in a tight, state-owned urban space.

]]> 0126-green-runoff-filter-was-engineer8217s-12-year-crusade.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7420-city-s-unique-green-stormwater-filter-was-engineer-s-12-year-crusade McFarlandP@enr.com (Pam Hunter McFarland) As DC Water's assistant general manager of wastewater treatment, Walter Bailey played a key role in the public utility's decision to implement an innovative system to create a better class of biosolids at the Blue Plains advanced wastewater treatment facility.

]]> 0126-guiding-an-innovative-biosolids-project-in-dc.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7421-guiding-an-innovative-biosolids-project-in-d-c Nick Hetrick was AECOM's project manager on a Milford, Del., highway interchange job when he got an urgent call from his boss: A Delaware Dept. of Transportation crew on June 2 had verified an engineer's report that piers supporting an interstate bridge in Wilmington had tilted.

]]> 0126-helping-emergency-bridge-repair.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7422-helping-emergency-bridge-repair-beat-tight-deadline A hoisting first is what Ferndale, Wash.-based Samson Rope pulled off under the direction of Michael Quinn, director of new market development, when it debuted the world's first synthetic hoisting rope—the KZ100—for use on cranes in 2014.

]]> 0126-hoisting-rope-innovator-is-hooked-on-synthetics.asp Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.enr.com/articles/7423-hoisting-rope-innovator-is-hooked-on-synthetics 0519-recognitions.asp Mon, 12 May 2014 12:00:00 -0400 https://www.enr.com/articles/7410-nancy-fitzroy-engineering-pioneer-earns-top-honor-at-rpi