Editors' Picks: ENR's Top Stories of 2011
The best, the biggest and the most important stories of the year: Readers told ENR which stories generated the most traffic and comments, and ENR Editors added their insights on the top events, trends and news of the 2011. Here’s the lineup.

Why Sharing the Float is No Utopia, But Should Be
With the cost of delays and project harmony hanging in the balance, float-sharing is common but so are alternatives. Is float ownership absurd?

Korea's Songdo IBD is Model for Sustainable, High-Tech Living
$35-billion development to take interconnected technology-enabled lifestyles to new extremes.

Make Way for App Builders in Construction
Smaller firms are looking for ways to create apps for niche sectors in construction.

A Bridge's Massive Mission
The Galena Creek crossing is at the center of a freeway job with much at stake: safety, the environment, morale.

New U.K. Airport Proposal Fuels Debate
Team led by architect Norman Foster proposes construction of an $80-billion international airport in the Thames Estuary.

Disappearing Act: Submerging Bulky Dam Shells in the Ohio River
Olmsted Dam moves ahead with its ‘in-the-wet’ construction, using some of the highest capacity lifting equipment ever made.

Meet the $17-Billion Man of the MTA
Michael Horodniceanu wields both civil engineering and 'civil social engineering' to keep a behemoth project moving

Staying Smart: Engineers and Universities Advance Career-Long Learning
More universities and other learning providers are reaching out to practitioners at all career stages, and employers see value in offering or supporting lifelong learning as a retention tool.

Hashtag This: Social Media Risks and Rewards in Construction
What’s the secret to a solid approach to social media platforms for construction firms? In this special report, ENR editors report on how to close business, keep your brand safe, and tell the world more about what you do — without hurting relationships. It starts with an understanding of the risks and rewards of social media.

ENR's Top 600 Contractors: Awaiting a Recovery
To remain competitive in a market that continues to be tough, many large specialty contractors and subcontractors are exploring new markets and implementing new technologies and techniques that have been developed over the past 10 years.

D.C. Water's Blue Plains Undertakes Three Major Environmental Projects
DC Water is in the early stages of projects that will help meet stringent regulatory requirements for nitrogen and improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.

OVERVIEW: Rail Ramps Up as Global Development Tool
Despite a gloomy outlook for the global economy, developing nations continue to pursue ambitious railroad network plans.

New Orleans' Twin Span Bridge Raises Bar On Embedded Sensor Technology
When sensors on the I-10 Twin Span Bridge go into service in New Orleans in October, engineers expect a surge of data.

An Unprecedented 11 Partners Propel Integrated Project Delivery at $320-million California Hospital
First 11-party relational contract, for $320-million California hospital, gives new meaning to collaborative construction.

Tablets Take Off
The iPad changed the game, and construction sites are now buzzing with tablets. How will they play into your mobile strategy?

For a Downgraded Storm, Irene Leaves Her Mark on East Coast Infrastructure
Hurricane Irene's late summer trip Aug. 27-30 along the East Coast from the Carolinas up to Manhattan and through New England was anything but restful for people and infrastructure in the storm's path.

Massive Gigaprograms Come with Layers of New Risk
Untapped stores of natural resources around the world and greater demand from growing economies are fueling bigger construction programs to extract them, such as Mongolia’s big Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine. But ‘gigaprojects’ carry new risks.

Low on Gas Taxes, Florida Accelerates Contractor Financing
Despite uncertainty over future funding, the Florida Dept. of Transportation is banking on low bids and private-sector financing as it accelerates an estimated $1.2 billion in projects.

At New York’s New World Trade Center, Uncommon Cooperation
Espirit de corps buoys World Trade Center teams during coordination challenges inside Ground Zero’s 16-acre shared ‘bathtub’

$7B Rail Extension Project Under Way in London
The $7.4-billion Thameslink project will double the capacity of London's only north-south surface rail line.

Cleanup from TVA Coal Ash Disaster Breaks New Ground
As John Kammeyer, P.E., Tennessee Valley Authority's vice president for coal combustion, drove up to the TVA's Kingston coal electricity plant at 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 23, 2008, and “saw all that crap across the road”—to be specific, 5.4 million cu ft of coal ash from the plant's ash pond—Kammeyer knew at once there had been an engineering failure.

How Andrew Buckley Is Shaping the Future of Australian Engineer Cardno
The Brisbane-based design firm is reaching into new markets, such as road construction in Papua New Guinea, and boosting its profile as an international player.

A Traditionally Homogenous Industry Takes Strides
The idea of workplace diversity is nothing new, but its progress in the engineering and construction world is, well, diverse.

Construction Industry Has Stake in GPS Fight
Did GPS industry players leave themselves vulnerable to a new broadband network?

Constructing a Curvy Museum in an Arkansas Ravine
Builders of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark., meet the challenges of constructing in a gouged-out streambed.

2nd Quarterly Cost Report
Unions face a tough collective bargaining environment this summer amid a continuing recession and open-shop gains. Deals will tend to be short term, with workers fighting to hold onto their benefits.

Afghanistan Reconstruction Contract Administration Needs Overhaul, U.S. Senate Committee Warns
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.

One-of-a-Kind Problem Solvers
Construction manager McDonough Bolyard Peck balances the interests of construction participants on programs of all shapes and sizes, including the new, $1.7-billion National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s East Campus.

Don’t Blame The Workers
How do measurement-minded companies discover and attack time-wasting management flubs that frustrate workers and slow jobsite production? They collect and scrutinize mountains of data gathered while applying the evolving science of activity analysis.

Heavy-Duty Playground Opens in Las Vegas
The newest Las Vegas Strip attraction isn't another mega-resort or Cirque du Soleil show. Rather, it is a heavy equipment playground that lets visitors operate life-size Tonka toys.

Searching for Clues in Quake-Maddened Seas
A 630-mile-long undersea geologic feature in the Pacific Northwest has engineers and emergency planners concerned that a deadly quake and tsunami could strike at any moment. What are they doing to prepare?

The Top 400 Contractors
Contractors are holding on despite a recessionary market by focusing on diversification, smart bidding and helping to find project financing. But some contractors fear that, without a market recovery, this could be the year when firms begin to fail.

On Her Precipice
Blooming 'starchitect' Jeanne Gang thrives on sustainable design, craves construction, is mad for materials and builds community.

TEPCO Maps Fukushima Shutdown
Five weeks into the Fukushima nuclear powerplant crisis, Tokyo Electric Power Co. on April 17 announced a road map leading to a cold shutdown that will minimize radioactive emissions and allow emergency evacuations around the plant to be lifted.

The Top 500 Design Firms
With the privatesector market seemingly on the verge of recovery, many large design firms worry that the market might be faltering.

Drilling for Treasure
There are depths of gas yet to be plumbed, but concerns persist over an economical yet controversional extraction method: hydrofracking. Enviromentalists believe the technique is poisoning the land.

2011 Award of Excellence Winner: Jeffrey M. Baker
Jeffrey M. Baker’s odyssey triggers a transformation in the nation’s building energy future.

The ‘Shard,’ U.K.’s Tallest Skyscraper, Tops Out Core on Time
Even without the spire that will make London’s Shard the tallest building in Western Europe, its recently topped-out core, reaching 72 floors above ground, already dominates the city.

Life after Fukushima
Industry, Wall Street and government officials around the world react to Japan’s nuclear crisis

Down To Earth
Got advice for Caterpillar, the world’s largest machinery producer? Its new CEO, Doug Oberhelman, wants to hear what you really think.

Communicating Risk Is Key to Hazard Mitigation
Industry professionals poured out their passion at a conference in Washington, D.C., about the nation’s need to step up efforts to mitigate natural hazards through more resilient design and construction.

Data for the Life Cycle
Converting construction data into useful info for facilties management is construction’s Rubik’s Cube. Owners, builders and others are solving the puzzle.

Millennials Bring New Attitudes
Their priorities are sustainability, high ethical standards and career fulfillment. They must be managed differently, or they jump ship.

Obama Budget Hikes Transportation But Cuts Other Construction Programs
Highways, transit and passenger rail are the big winners among construction programs in President Obama’s $3.7-trillion fiscal 2012 budget request, which calls for sharp increases in those sectors next year, kicking off a proposed $556-billion, six-year surface transportation bill.

With A Modified Consent Decree, Indianapolis Is Cleaning Up
A federal consent decree is pushing improvements to the city’s combined sewer overflow system. A modified approach yields better efficiencies and cost savings.

Cavernous Crusades
With a variety of construction solutions, $15 billion worth of mass transit construction is well under way in New York City.

Skyscraper Craze Rages On, Led by Asia
Record number of high-rises completed last year; more expected this year

New York’s Ultraviolet Titan
New York City’s UV water disinfectant plant will more than double the installed capacity in the U.S. when it goes into operation.

The Top 25 Newsmakers
Selected annually by ENR editors, Newsmakers are chosen for their remarkable achievements and for going beyond the duties of their day-to-day jobs. Read about this year’s honorees.

Capturing Industry’s Souls
ENR’s 10th annual Year in Construction photo-contest winners superbly link the human element with the process of building.

Builders Hang Glazed Free-Form Jigsaw Puzzle on Florida Museum
Some see a frozen tear clinging to the "cheek" of the new Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Fla. Others see a melting crystal. Depending on the viewer's vantage point, still others say they are reminded of a misshapen potato, a nose, an amoeba and a dolphin in a nosedive.