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Project Delivery - Featured Headline

Water Asset Management Practices Could Help Utility Contractors
05/02/13 By Harvey M. Bernstein and Donna Laquidara-Carr
The shift by utilities to using asset management has potential implications for wet-infrastructure contractors.

Graph courtesy of MHC Dodge

Rio Soccer Stadium Shut Down After Engineering Report Reveals Roof Flaws
04/09/13 By Nildo Carlos Oliveira, Magazine O Empreiteiro
Winds exceeding 63 km per hour could topple the roof, according to structural engineers SBP.

Photo: Ricardo Moraes / Reuters

More News

05/22/13	Population Spike Driving Robust Recovery in Edmonton By Nicholas Zeman Tthe recession is over in Edmonton, where the unemployment rate is 4.4%.
05/22/13	Former 'Star' Countries Slip in Capacity to Create Infrastructure By Richard Korman A dismal decline in infrastructure capacity at former development star nations is described in a presentation made at World Risk Day.
05/21/13	Fluor Settles With Utilities in U.K. Wind-Farm Construction Dispute By Peter Reina Agreement terms were not disclosed, but the owner now is confident in the structure's long-term structural integrity.
05/20/13	GAO: VA Deserves Blame for Problem Projects By Scott Judy Four major veterans hospital projects are roughly $1.5 billion over their original budgets and about three years behind schedule, on average.
05/07/13	Contractor and Parish Still Plug at Pact To Propel Project By Jonathan Barnes Performing arts center, plagued by design changes and other issues, has stalled with clock ticking and cost meter running.
05/01/13	St. Croix Low Bidder Sues Minnesota Over DBE Requirement By John Gregerson Low bidder C.S. McCrossan came in nearly $6 million under the winner, Ames/Lunda.
04/24/13	L.A. Schools May End Small-Firm Payment Bonds By Erin Richey Proposed legislation in California would allow small businesses to enroll in a self-insurance program instead of acquiring a surety bond for public works projects with the Los Angeles Unified School District.
04/08/13	San Francisco To Build West Coast's Tallest Tower By ENR Staff Construction Week
04/02/13	Anchorage Port Expansion Problems Spark Dissension on Project Team By Tim Newcomb The $700-million Port of Anchorage expansion project is stalled in court, and both the contractor and the engineer are blaming each other.
03/27/13	Report Details Litany of Problems with Silver Spring Transit Center Project By Pam Hunter Project is two years behind schedule.
03/20/13	New York State Authorities Rack Up Big Debt By Esther D'Amico Taxpayers will be left to foot the bill as state and local governments use public authorities to plug budget gaps, NYS official says.
03/14/13	Report Says Confusion Ensued After State Decided to Design Pontoons By Richard Korman, with Tim Newcomb A review of the decision to use a hybrid project delivery process contains clues to potentially costly floating bridge pontoon design errors in Seattle.
02/04/13	VA Again Threatens To Terminate Contract at Orlando Hospital By Scott Judy A$300-million veterans hospital project in Orlando that has been dubbed a "multimillion-dollar debacle" for cost and schedule overruns faces the potential for further delay after Birmingham, Ala.-based Brasfield & Gorrie received its second threat of contract termination in January.
01/30/13	CH2M Hill Aims to Cut Costs with New DOE Subcontracts at Hanford Nuclear Cleanup Site By Tim Newcomb Contractor will open work to more prospective bidders and is set to put subcontractor employees on its own payroll.
01/29/13	Job Order Contracting Proponents Seek Market Growth By Aileen Cho Unit pricing for construction tasks entices owners, cuts bidding time and reduces disputes.
01/23/13	DOE Looking at Cost, Schedule Problems at S.C. Nuclear Site By Pam Radtke Russell Costs will rise from S400 million to $900 million, says GAO. Others peg the hike at $2 billion.
01/03/13	Israel Widens Permitted Materials Exports to Gaza By Neal Sandler in Jerusalem, with ENR staff Supplies for private construction can now be exported for first time since 2007 and other changes are likely in the future.
01/03/13	Growth in India's Infrastructure Markets Projected By Neelam Mathews in Delhi But contractors want better government decisionmaking on projects and adherence to contract terms.
12/12/12	Cost Pressures, Delay Worries Sour Two Southern Co. Projects By Housley Carr Cost pressures and possible start-up delays on coal and nuclear projects in Mississippi and Georgia open the utility's management to criticism.
12/03/12	Construction Week: Integrated Project Delivery On Steroids'; Chernobyl Enclosure Half Finished By Tim Grogan and ENR Staff Sutter Hospital built using an 11-party contract opens on time, within budget and with no claims
11/28/12	Jacobs Engineering Settles Long-Running Power Project Battle By Tony Illia Firm agrees to $54-million pact with California city in design-build dispute involving unit Carter & Burgess.
11/28/12	Contractors Confront the Growing Costs of Rework By Paula Moore Rework costs are staggering and can also affect a contractor’s reputation and its ability to attract new business.
11/21/12	Construction Risk Experts Outline Looming Changes By Debra K. Rubin and Scott Judy in Orlando Attorneys, insurance executives and contractor risk managers note need for more industry vigilance.
11/13/12	Bankrupt Jefferson County, Ala., Raises Sewer Rates By Candy McCampbell The rate increase will add less than $2 monthly to most bills, commissioners said.
11/09/12	Post-Sandy Repair Crews Push On After Ten Days By Debra K. Rubin, Aileen Cho, Erin Joyce, Pam Hunter, Tudor Van Hampton, Nadine Post, Tom Ichniowski, Esther D’Amico, Lisa Wood and Mary Powers Ten days after Superstorm Sandy struck, construction industry participants from across the country continue to work with overwhelmed public officials to restore crippled infrastructure and reshape an altered landscape in New York and New Jersey.
10/03/12	Much-Disputed New Orleans Flood Control Job Goes to Kiewit Team By Debra K. Rubin The $629.5-million Corps of Engineers award is 18 months late—delayed by bid protests, a court challenge and re-procurement.
09/24/12	Las Vegas Sands Corp. Planning $65-Billion Casino Complex in Spain By Tony Illia Madrid, the Spanish capitol, recently beat-out Barcelona as host city for the proposed 12-hotel, four-mile-long "EuroVegas" development.
09/19/12	Target Value Design Makes Lean Construction Work Better By Jim Parsons The latest iteration of lean offers the potential to ensure that owners get what they pay for, often much more.
09/12/12	$1.5B Health-Care 'Village' Eyed To Aid Nevada By Tony Illia Mixed-use project, funded with public and private funds, is a hoped-for fix for state’s ailing construction market.
08/22/12	Ms. President Goes for the Gold By Andrew G. Wright The World Cup and Rio Olympics offer the South American powerhouse a chance to showcase itself, but time may be running out.
08/14/12	Congress Grills Contractor, VA About Troubled Orlando Project By Scott Judy Will the VA terminate the contractor or figure out the project differences and get it done?
08/08/12	CII Sees Room To Improve Industrial Project Performance By Janice L. Tuchman in Baltimore After analyzing the performance of 975 light and heavy industrial projects in its benchmarking database, the Construction Industry Institute found that only 5.4% met “best in class” predictability in terms of cost and schedule.
07/23/12	Contractors Should Beware of Recovery Risks By Richard Korman Contractors face recovery risk when they take on too much work after they’ve depleted their staff, cash and other resources.
07/23/12	Industry Protests Increased Use of Single-Step Design-Build by Army Corps By Mark Shaw Critics argue that the use of single-step proposals is expensive and counterproductive.
07/16/12	Concerns Over Specialty Contractor Failures, Economy Abound at CFMA's Annual Conference By Scott Judy An increase in subcontractor failures, a trend toward more reliance on contractor-obtained project financing and the nation’s continuing economic sluggishness highlighted concerns facing members of the Construction Financial Management Association as they met at their annual convention June 23-27 in Orlando.
07/16/12	Haitians Boost Local Projects with CM Skills Gained in Boston By Johanna Knapschaefer Wentworth Institute of Technology has trained 125 engineers and architects who have shared knowledge with more than 600.
07/16/12	Health Care Law Just Upheld by Supreme Court Could Boost Design and Construction of Medical Facilities By Pam Hunter, with Esther D’Amico, Mark Shaw and Robert Carlsen But many industry companies and lobbying groups still see rising employee health care costs.
06/27/12	VA Threatens to Terminate Builder in Orlando By Scott Judy The Dept. of Veterans Affairs has threatened to terminate the contractor building its Orlando medical center project.
06/25/12	Corps Resumes Rebid of Protested New Orleans Flood Project By Angelle Bergeron in New Orleans Action is upheld by Court of Claims, after judge denies effort by contract winner to force Corps to proceed with the original award.
06/25/12	Despite Transparency, Dispute Erupts on California Library Project By Erin Richey Contractor's bid was $8 million low, but hundreds of change orders followed on Palo Alto structure.
06/25/12	Despite Transparency, Dispute Erupts on California Library Project By Erin Richey Contractor's bid was $8 million low, but hundreds of change orders followed on Palo Alto structure.
06/18/12	Report: 40% of World Cup Projects Behind Schedule By Andrew G. Wright/ENR and Augusto Diniz/O Empreiteiro Fans may have to budget extra time to get to matches; 41 of 101 projects, including airport, transit and port improvements, are behind schedule or not yet under way.
06/15/12	Analysis: Did Design-Build Fail on Route 20 in Oregon? By Richard Korman The project principal for the design-build joint venture suggests tough terrain and design-build don’t mix, but the answer isn’t clear
06/15/12	London Olympics Committee Holds the Line on Costs By Peter Reina The final cost for work by the Olympic Delivery Authority, charged with procuring the venues and infrastructure, is now $10.5 billion.
06/04/12	?DOE Defends Uranium 'Barter' With Firms for Cleanup Work By Mary B. Powers The Dept. of Energy says that the transfer of 2,400 metric tons per year of uranium to a joint venture of Fluor Corp. and Babcock & Wilcox as payment for cleanup of a Cold War-era nuclear fuel plant would not adversely affect the domestic uranium industry.
05/28/12	Global Firms Still Dealing With Impacts of North Africa Turmoil By Shem Oirere Companies measure their losses and liabilities on projects halted and cancelled by changing governments
05/28/12	Rising Material Costs, Corruption Take Toll on India's Construction By Neelam Mathews in Delhi But officials hope foreign investment and boosted infrastructure spending will move growth rates up again
03/28/12	Public-Private Partnerships Advance in Maryland By Jim Parsons State legislators are set to wrap action on bill and possibly approve offshore wind farm by April 9.
03/14/12	Building Professionals Form Advocacy Group for Bridging By Scott Judy The Bridging Institute of America will educate and certify designers and other project-delivery professionals.
03/12/12	Qatar, CH2M Hill Advance Nation’s $4-Billion 2022 Soccer World Cup Program By Debra K. Rubin Qatar's $4-billion construction program for the 2022 World Cup will involve nine new stadiums with modular components and upgrades to transportation and other infrastructure.
02/13/12	Want to Invest in Bridges in Canada, U.K., Germany and Australia? By Debra K. Rubin New global fund for P3 project assets launched.
01/30/12	Private Funding Finds A Way Into Other Public Spaces By Debra K. Rubin Alternative finance gains traction on “social infrastructure” projects—public health care, educational and justice facilities, among others, with a key focus on long-term “life cycle” value.
01/30/12	Special Report: Which Way the Winds are Blowing on P3s By Jim Parsons, Debra K. Rubin, Bruce Buckley and Dan O'Reilly A special package of stories evaluates the progress of public-private partnerships as a project finance approach to infrastructure.
01/30/12	Transport P3s Take Lessons Learned Into New Unknowns By Jim Parsons, with Debra K. Rubin Public officials and firms grapple with P3s as a way to fill wider funding gaps and drive growth.
01/30/12	U.K. Takes Hard Look at Cost of Private Finance Initiative By Bruce Buckley Great Britain's Conservative government calls for innovation in private financing of public works, but at a lower cost, too.
12/20/11	Report: Solid Risk Management Must Go 'Beyond Checklists' By Richard Korman Bigger companies and owners are keenly aware of risk management, but they carry it out in different ways, says a new report by McGraw-Hill Construction’s research and analytics unit.
12/19/11	Why Sharing the Float is No Utopia, But Should Be By Richard Korman, with Tony Illia With the cost of delays and project harmony hanging in the balance, float-sharing is common but so are alternatives. Is float ownership absurd?
12/12/11	Joplin Rebuilding Stymied by Dispute Over Wage Rates By John Gregerson Local contractors say the prevailing-wage rate for public-works projects has in some cases nearly tripled.
11/17/11	Biennial Engineering Prize Established by UK Foundation By Peter Reina The $1.6-million Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering will recognize developments that significantly benefit humanity.
11/14/11	Happy Ending in Honolulu: Once-bankrupt Residential Tower Project Gets to Finish Line By Nadine M. Post Honolulu tower restarts after a year in bankruptcy.
10/31/11	TVA Removes Bechtel as Construction Manager at Watts Bar By Mary B. Powers TVA is cutting the workforce at the East Tennessee site by 800 while it reviews the project’s cost and schedule.
10/19/11	Pulse By Scott Lewis Project Leads
10/05/11	CH2M Hill Eyes Global Spread With Buy of U.K. Firm Halcrow By Debra K. Rubin The deal, set to close in November, would expand CH2M Hill's global footprint and engineering strength as well as improve cash flow for privately held Halcrow, which is struggling in some markets.
09/26/11	Construction Week: Gang's MacArthur, New Holland Withdraws, TBW Agreement Snagged, AAA Pushback News briefs for the week ending Sept. 26, 2011
09/26/11	Sustainability Infrastructure Ratings Merge By Laura Mirviss in Cambridge Two competing approaches now being developed to measure infrastructure sustainability will merge
09/14/11	Sutter's Improved Relational Contract on Its Way By Nadine M. Post The Sacramento-based non-profit healthcare system, in the midst of a 5.5-billion capital program, is culling lessons learned from its IPD projects to improve the form, making it more user-friendly.
09/14/11	An Unprecedented 11 Partners Propel Integrated Project Delivery at Sutter's New California Hospital By Nadine M. Post 70% complete hospital is on budget and six weeks ahead of schedule thanks in part to Sutter Health’s expanded relational contract
09/14/11	Hospital's Steel Contractor Collaborates without Signing a Relational Contract By Nadine M. Post Herrick Corp., not a signatory on the Castro Valley hospital but a signatory on two other Sutter hospitals, says sharing risk with others can have advantages and disadvantages.
08/24/11	Massive Gigaprograms Come with Layers of New Risk By Debra K. Rubin Growing economies and fast-changing needs around the world make megaprojects passe. But today's resource development gigaprograms also have new risks.
08/15/11	GAO Upholds Bid Protests for New Orleans Flood Project By Angelle Bergeron The Corps of Engineers procurement for a $675-million New Orleans flood defense job had flaws, says the GAO.
07/13/11	Construction Week: End of an Era for 'Bucyrus' Construction Week news from ENR for the week of July 18th.
06/29/11	Construction Week Progress energy will renovate rather than shut down its Crystal River nuclear powerplant.
06/15/11	Afghanistan Reconstruction Contract Administration Needs Overhaul, U.S. Senate Committee Warns By Pam Hunter Since 2002, the U.S. has spent $17.3 billion to rebuild Afghanistan. U.S. government reports say contracts are poorly managed and undermined by endemic corruption and security risks.
06/08/11	State Dept. Gets Flack on Iraq By Pam Hunter Members of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan were sharply critical of the State Dept’s handling of private contractors in Iraq and questioned whether the agency is prepared to take over responsibility for overseeing contracting in Iraq when the military pulls out in October.
05/18/11	Sudden Delay in Japan-Funded Work on Guam Worries Bidders Firms bidding for $3 billion of Japanese-funded work on the island of Guam were unnerved by a cryptic U.S. Navy announcement released just before the original May 16 proposal deadline saying that it was delaying the procurement “indefinitely.”
05/11/11	IRS Will Delay to 2013 Its Rule On 3% Contractor Withholding The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has approved a one-year delay—to Jan. 1, 2013—of a requirement that government agencies must withhold 3% of their payments to contractors. Design and construction groups oppose the mandate. The extension was published on May 9 in an IRS final rule and will apply to federal, state and local agencies' payments. The mandate, part of a 2006 statute, originally was to take effect at the start of 2011. The 2009 economic stimulus act extended the deadline until Jan. 1, 2012. The mandate applies to agencies whose total annual spending on goods and services is $100 million or more. Construction and other business groups have criticized the 3% requirement for holding up funds needed to complete projects and for increasing administration costs. Three bills are pending in Congress to repeal the mandate.

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