2011

Stanley Gale: Developer Makes Big Waves With World's 'Smartest' Eco-City

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Stanley C. Gale's grandfather made waves by moving east from New York City and building summer homes along Long Island Sound. Nine decades later, his grandson is making even bigger waves by moving even farther east to create the world's largest private development.

Ryan Gravel: Architect's Big Idea is Transforming His Hometown

judys@enr.com (Scott Judy) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Inspired by his studies in Paris, Ryan Gravel wrote his master's thesis at the Georgia Institute of Technology on his idea of converting Atlanta's abandoned 22-mile-long freight-rail corridor, which encircles the city's urban core, into a "belt line" that would reconnect the city's neighborhoods.

Gary Almeraris: Subway Star Helps Shape Manhattan's Transit Lines

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

He has walked through the bowels of some of the East Coast's biggest tunneling jobs, from Boston to Washington, D.C., and beyond.

Matthew W. Wallace: Cutting-Edge Simulator Translates 'Video Games' Into Valuable Skills

vanhamptont@enr.com (Tudor Van Hampton) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

As the construction industry struggles to grow jobs, Matthew W. Wallace and his company, VRSim Inc., are blazing a new trail for how the industry recruits and trains young people.

Steven Plate: Stepping Up to the Task at the World Trade Center

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Workers got to the finish line early for 80% of the "Reflecting Absence" plaza of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, just in time for the 10th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Susan Martinovich: Dedicated Transportation Chief

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Maybe it's her training as a runner, but it is clear Susan Martinovich is a woman in a hurry—both as the chief, since 2007, of Nevada's $800-million-a-year transportation department and, in her role that ended in November, as the first female president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Digby R. Christian: Taking Integrated Project Delivery to New Extremes

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Digby R. Christian plans to take a three-week vacation in his native England after his Sutter Medical Center, Castro Valley, team hands over its $320-million hospital in early July.

G. Brent Darnell: Transforming Alpha Males

rubind@enr.com (Debra K. Rubin) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Describing one participant in his pioneering construction leadership program, Brent Darnell says, "He was a very tough guy, a driver of results and a valuable employee, but he was leaving dead bodies in his wake."

Gregory Hauser: Veteran Tunneling Expert Rescues Faltering Brightwater Project

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Gregory Hauser laughs when he tries to recollect all the tunneling jobs in his 40-plus-year career. However, nothing compares to job No. 27, he says.

David Sherman: Water Wizard Saves Indianapolis Millions

McFarlandP@enr.com (Pam Hunter McFarland) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Water industry veteran David Sherman had been working in the water sector for close to 40 years when the new Indianapolis mayor, Greg Ballard, asked him to come on board in 2008 to be the new director of public works for the city.

William G. Dorey: Raising the Bar on Ethics and Compliance

tuchmanj@enr.com (Janice L. Tuchman) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

In the world of construction industry ethics and compliance, "we have a duty to lead by example," says William G. Dorey, the founding chairman of the Construction Industry Ethics and Compliance Initiative.

Bruce Bennett: Leader Demands Innovation on Vital River Passage

abaffyl@enr.com (Luke Abaffy) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

When Bruce Bennett became executive project director for the joint venture of URS Corp., San Francisco, and Alberici Constructors, St. Louis, his task was to build the dam section of Olmsted Locks and Dam.

Theodore Zoli: Engineering 'Genius' Builds Bridges Across Communities

choa@enr.com (Aileen Cho) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

The Lake Champlain bridge between New York and Vermont is the only viable crossing for 3,000 residents, as well as one of the first continuous truss road bridges built in the nation.

Ed Mumm: Las Vegas Heavy Equipment 'Theme Park' Brings Bulldozing to the Masses

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Thrill seekers can drive life-size Tonka toys and move massive mounds of earth thanks to Ed Mumm's $1-million heavy- equipment theme park in Las Vegas.

Matt Gillen: Safety Scientist Helps Industry Reduce Occupational Hazards

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Since joining the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in 2000, Matt Gillen has worked to coordinate and plan a variety of construction safety research efforts while also building stronger relationships between scientists and the construction industry.

Michael Walsh: It's More Than Blowing Levees

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Making the decision to blow almost four miles of Mississippi River levee to operate the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway was one of the most difficult decisions of Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh's 34-year career as an Army officer.

H. Kit Miyamoto: All About Disaster Mitigation

sawyert@enr.com (Tom Sawyer) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

H. Kit Miyamoto, a structural engineer and an expert in seismic-resistant design, has enormous experience bringing engineering relief to the scenes of disasters and helping local leaders restore safety and order amid danger and chaos.

Analyzing Tsunami Forces to Develop Resistant Designs

sawyert@enr.com (Tom Sawyer) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Gary Chock is the inspiration, driving force and leader of an American Society of Civil Engineers' committee that began work in January 2011 on a new addition to the society's engineering standards.

Alan Rauch: Coal-Ash Disaster Pushes Engineer to Design New Fix

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Soon after a failed coal-ash pond at a Tennessee Valley Authority powerplant in 2008 spewed waste onto 300 surrounding acres, Stantec Inc. senior engineer Alan Rauch was on a plane to Tennessee.

Julian Clayton: Apps for Smaller Guys That Make a Big Difference

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Julian Clayton isn't out to compete head-to-head with big providers of enterprise software for construction projects.

D. Kent Smith: Cutting Corners Is Not an Option

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

D. Kent Smith is well aware there are no shortcuts when it comes to cleaning up 60 years of radioactive and other wastes at the U.S. Energy Dept.'s Hanford former nuclear-weapons site in Washington state.

Mark Hanson: Directing Ultraviolet Disinfection

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

It took teamwork to build the New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection's $1.4-billion, 2-billion-gallon-per-day Catskill/Delaware Ultraviolet Disinfection Facility—the world's largest—on time, on budget and with less than 2% change-order costs.

Jack P. Moehle: 'Seismic' Skyscraper Engineer

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

A decade ago, Jack P. Moehle got a bee in his bonnet about the sorry state of the approvals process for performance-based seismic design of tall buildings.

Daniel Lax: Leading the Way to Safer, More Efficient Jobsite Lighting

sawyert@enr.com (Tom Sawyer) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

While working in his family's plastic molding business making traffic signals and LED crosswalk lights, 31-year-old Daniel Lax decided to start a new division that would make jobsite lighting units for subway track work and construction.

Marshall Zotara: PR Guru Motivates Industry to Build Schools for Free

blairs@enr.com (Scott Blair) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0500

Inspired by the one-room schoolhouses of a bygone era, Marshall G. Zotara is bringing an array of construction industry giants together to perform old-fashioned barn raisings for low-income, Title 1 school districts around the country.

Saluting the Newsmakers

tuchmanj@enr.com (Janice L. Tuchman) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:00:00 -0400

Their remarks came from the heart. Some were passionate, some were funny. Sharing their awards, they all thanked the teams that helped them achieve this recognition, as everything in this industry requires enormous collaboration.

2011 Award of Excellence Winner: Jeffrey M. Baker: Conservation Crusader

postn@enr.com (Nadine M. Post) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:00:00 -0400

The U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Jeffrey M. Baker, the visionary behind the nation’s newest symbol for sustainability, loves to recount the tale of the dreaded Kobayashi Maru test. For Baker, the fictional test from the “Star Trek” series is an allegory that became a guidepost during his 15-year crusade to develop a replicable model for the design and construction of affordable, ultra-green buildings.