Lend Lease Explains How Crews Replaced a Crane at 1,100 Feet
In an unprecedented engineering feat, New York City high-rise crews on May 11 successfully hoisted a 150-ft-long replacement luffing boom to the roof of One57, a 1,100-ft-tall residential building under construction in midtown Manhattan, and attached it to an existing tower-crane mast.

The 2013 Top 400 Contractors: Despite Growth, Firms Worry
The market grows, but uncertainties persist. Contractors see signs of improvement in the market, amid troubles with regulation and other costs of doing business.

Sydney's $6.1-Billion Barangaroo South Planned as Grand Model for Carbon-Neutral Development
Laying the foundation for the ambitious Barangaroo South project, sited on 7.5 hectares of public land, is part of a scheme to create a replicable model for cradle-to-grave, grand-scale carbon-neutral development.

Industry Women Weigh In on the New Normal
Ten women editors from Engineering News-Record and Architectural Record spent a day in the life of 10 women in the industry to find out what they think about their careers, about breaking stereotypes and about how to get ahead.

The Top 500 Design Firms: A Slow Recovery
Construction has been mired in a sluggish market for nearly five years, and large design firms have been struggling to adapt or face dire consequences.

Masterful Management Delivers Surge Defenses: 2013 Award of Excellence Winner Wayne E. Jones
Imaginative work planning and steady leadership support complex assembly of New Orleans barrier wall.

The World's Largest Oil-Fired Powerplants
While oil plays a commanding role in global energy markets, its position as a fuel source for electric powerplants ranges from dominant in certain countries to modest or non-existent in others.

Port Of Miami Tunnel Project Features Big Challenges
A $1-billion Miami tunneling effort is short in length, but enormous in innovations and complexity.

Senior Moments: Are Older Workers at Greater Risk of Injury?
An aging workforce is the construction industry's demographic phenomenon, with many workers now approaching or over age 60 and pressing on through aches and pains that would have sidelined their elders a decade ago.

$2.1B United Nations Renovation Complicated by Working Within Operational Campus
Though the project is 12% over budget, the team has managed to avoid major disruption to regular UN activities, including 8,000 conferences and 1-million visitors annually since 2008.

Rio's Olympic Park Construction Nears Starting Line
The sprint to finish Rio de Janeiro's Olympic Park in time for the 2016 Summer Games began in February, when contractors began earthmoving work and demolition of a racetrack at the site's center.

The New Guard: RFID and Other Tracking Technology on Jobsites
Construction sites around the world are breaking ground with technological systems that automate security, provide real-time productivity information and increase worker safety.

New Climate Cycle Marked by Storms, Floods & Drought
As extreme weather events push infrastructure beyond limits, engineers make strategic adjustments.

A Bold Individual Surety Claims His Coal-Backed Bonds are Rock Solid
The biggest provider of individual surety bonds backs his bonds with hard-to-verify coal assets, and corporate surety wants to end the practice.

Woes at Home Drive More Spanish Contractors Abroad
Spanish construction giants are facing a brutal reality. The 2008 economic collapse and resulting ripples have caused massive losses and bankruptcies, Today, the largest firms are now making the bulk of their money outside of Spain.

The 2012 Best of the Best Projects
From nearly 1,000 submissions to ENR's regional competitions, panels of independent judges picked winners in 19 categories, including a new one for safety. Our editors also chose one project as "Editors' Choice" for overall excellence.

In New York City, Alexander Hamilton Bridge Gets Complicated Rehabilitation
A major effort from the contractor gets the span's $407-million rehabilitation back on schedule.

The Top 25 Newsmakers of 2012
Chosen for their innovations and achievements, for giving back to their professions and the public, and for going beyond their day-to-day jobs, ENR Newsmakers represent the very best of the engineering and construction industry. Read the profiles of the Top Newsmakers of 2012.

Low Water Disrupts Mississippi Traffic
Extraordinarily low water levels in the middle reaches of the Mississippi River have complicated barge service and forced companies that supply, deliver and use aggregate and other barge-delivered construction materials to scramble and get creative.

ENR's 2012 The Year In Construction Photo Contest Winners
Each January, Engineering News-Record publishes the very best construction photographs taken in the previous twelve months. Overseen by a panel of industry judges, these contest winners represent the most memorable images from jobsites all over the world.

The World's Tallest Freestanding Towers
The essential function of all tall towers is to enable broadcasters to transmit signals, but they also do much more.

For Panamax Port Expansions, The Freight Wait is Almost Over
The impending opening of the Panama Canal's third set of locks, new federal legislation requiring national freight councils, trends in import-export trade balances and other factors are coming together to thrust freight infrastructure to the forefront of the industry.

2012 In Review: Critical Infrastructure, GigaProjects and New Records
ENR's editors have rounded up some of the biggest stories and themes of the year in construction.

Global Risk: Better Safe Than Sorry
There's a flip side to the success story of booming construction in emerging markets such as India. At the moment, construction is the most dangerous industry in India, recording the world's highest accident rate among workers.

Indian Market Takes a Breather
India's construction market in 2012 swallowed a bitter cocktail of policy paralysis, tight liquidity, rising inflation and increased activism.

4Q Tech Report: What You Don't Know About Your (Big) Data Can Hurt You
How to know if you've got a big data problem -- and how to fix it.

Will Proposed Anti-Bullying Laws Bring a Wave of Lawsuits?
Proposed workplace anti-bullying laws could add men to those protected from harassment and cost employers big money.

Storm Surge Barriers Work
Storm surge barriers work, up to a point; that point being the surge height for which they are designed. But even when overtopped, experts are banking on the barriers mitigating the kind of run-away disaster that befell New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Storm Surge Switches the Grid to 'Off'
Superstorm Sandy revealed the weakness of an aging electrical grid in the Northeast.

49ers Use Collaborative Delivery 'Special Teams' To Speed Stadium Construction
For five uneasy years, the team responsible for building the San Francisco 49ers' $1-billion new home had hung together through three work hiatuses, a recession and a regrouping caused by a site relocation 45 miles to the south—from San Francisco's Candlestick Point to Silicon Valley's Santa Clara.

Industry CEOs Weigh Business Highs and Lows Ahead
Engineering firms are optimistic about growth in 2013, but their CEOs say big business risks ahead could well impact whether they achieve rosy projections of a 6.9% average boost in revenue and a record 12.2% profit margin.

Education Report: Engineering Community's Licensing Debate a Lesson in Degrees of Separation
Engineering groups, academics and firm leaders ramp up campaigns for and against more education for professional licensing.

The Top 600 Specialty Contractors: Watching, Waiting for Work
Companies that have trained themselves for downturns have managed to keep plugging away, pacing themselves until they can see the finish line: a strong recovery.

Engineers Push Envelope to Make Shale Gas Extraction Safer
As the shale gas industry evolves, engineers look for solutions to make shale gas extraction safer.

The World's Biggest Supercranes
For the first time, ENR has assembled a list of the world's top supercranes, which we found hard at work on almost every continent building powerplants, refineries and other large-scale infrastructure and industrial projects.

Aging U.S. Bridges in Need of Maintenance Funds, Advocates
Five years after the I-35W bridge collapse, industry strives to improve management, repairs and replacements of critical links.

Elwha River Restoration Project Involves Largest Dam Removal Effort in U.S. History
National Park Service oversees $325-million program to restore steelhead and salmon migration to a river in Washington state's Olympic Peninsula.

Data-Center Green Movement Gains Ground
Data-center owners are trying to control skyrocketing utility costs by reducing water and electricity use in their resource-thirsty facilities.

African Airport Work Poised for Takeoff
A booming economy fueled by growing tourism numbers and commodity trade volumes has spurred a flurry of airport construction in Africa, with at least four major projects currently under way.

Going for Gold: Can Brazil Finish in Time for the World Cup and the Olympics?
The South American powerhouse has a chance to showcase itself, but time may be running out.

D.C. Bridge Project Gets $90-Million Add-On
Design-build is key to 11th Street bridges project.

Lessons From the Hudson RIver PCB Cleanup Project
The river's industrial past has spurred one of the nation's largest and most complex environmental cleanup projects to date. But questions linger over whether the current $1-billion PCB remediation project goes far enough

India Blackout Affects 600 Million People
By Neelam Mathews in New Delhi
The blackouts left roughly half of India's total population without power.

Nitrogen Diet Reduces Arizona County's Drinking Water Threat
In an effort to bring nitrogen levels in its wastewater down following an Arizona DEQ ruling, Pima County's Regional Wastewater Reclamation Dept. embarked on a $720-million plan to improve the quality of its effluent.

Dramatic Digs Mark Panama Canal Expansion Progress
The Panama Canal's $3.1-billion third set of locks, the centerpiece of a $5-billion expansion, is taking distinct shape even as an international workforce continues to wrestle with tough materials, geology and logistical issues.

Atlantic Yards: Contested, Delayed, Trimmed
Brooklyn's controversial sports village has survived myriad lawsuits and the recesssion.

Skymeadows: The World's Largest Green Roofs
With green roofs gaining acceptance in dozens of countries, ENR decided to take their measure and present the ten largest by square footage.

North Dakota Is Bakken Business
Inside the construction boom in the Bakken Oil Shale.

Manufacturing Makeover
Cheap natural gas is reviving the manufacturing sector of the economy as the petrochemical industry takes advantage of low-cost feedstock.

South African Powerplant Will Get More Environmental Monitoring
World Bank panel criticized Medupi powerplant for its environmental impact. But project and its funding will continue, though with additional bank and government monitoring.

New CEO Lisa Larrabee Helps CM Harris & Associates Change Direction
When referring to Larrabee and the corporate and cultural changes she has implemented, staff members use the phrase "breath of fresh air."

How to Avoid e-Discovery Disasters
Is your retention policy going to break your bank? New search techniques may ease the skyrocketing costs of e-discovery.

As Far as Challenges Go, Iraq Stadium's Geometry Is Only Iceberg Tip
Iraq sports complex has wild roof.

Construction Industry Boardrooms Raise the Bar
Firms reach into their ranks, and outside, for directors with financial smarts, vision and leadership on governance and accountability.

The Top 400 Contractors
Is the construction industry finally coming out of the recession? Among contractors, it depends.

Natural Gas Boom Drives Pipeline Upgrades
Calls are rising for more domestic natural gas and crude-oil transmission infrastructure, but environmental and safety reviews are also mounting.

Panama Channels Top Talent
The centerpiece of the canal expansion project - the $3.25-billion third set of locks - is 22% complete, while the Pacific- and Atlantic-side programs are nearing the finish line.

The Top 500 Design Firms
The market for large design firms has stabilized, and for designers working for private-sector clients, business is improving. but public clients still are struggling with funding issues, leaving many designers worried.

A Zest for Bridges: 2012 Award of Excellence Winner Theodore Zoli
With his mastery in methods, Zoli repeatedly combined innovation with practicality to address a vast array of issues—and make bridges safer around the world.

Rental Market on the Rise
Contractors are facing tough times. Many have scaled back and cut costs. As a result, equipment rentals are flourishing as a means of lowering overhead expenses, taxes, insurance and maintenance.

The Top 10 Biggest Wastewater Treatment Plants
The wastewater sector is a growing market around the world as more communities require modern sanitation.

Industry Sees Recovery Ahead After Four Years of Gloom
The slow-but-steady recovery of the U.S. economy has many firms in the industry now believing that the worst is behind them and that a broad recovery is poised to begin.

Fitting Together the Pieces of a Rubik's Cube at City Creek
A ‘vanishing’ retractable skylight over the heart of Salt Lake City’s 23-acre urban village ends co-developers’ long logjam.

Hot Tech Topics: What's on Your Wishlist?
The information technology satisfaction index among ENR readers is high, but if past is prologue, users' bullish expectations for the future may be too optimistic, particularly with respect to their greatest desire: true interoperability of all their software and systems.

Designers Apply Lessons From World's Tallest Tower To Improve Future 'Megatallest'
Designers say lessons learned from Burj Khalifa will boost constructibility of planned 1-kilometer-plus Kingdom Tower, near Jeddah.

Fixing Kentucky's Wolf Creek Dam a High-Risk Priority
If Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House flooded with 20 feet of water, the best seats in the house would be in the balcony.

Tensioning Eases Stress on a 13-Story Sustainability Showcase
A resilient concrete structure, with post-tensioned core walls, helped save a budget-challenged building project in seismic San Francisco.

The Best Projects of 2011
A panel of independent judges selected from over 700 entries projects that represented excellence in construction, teamwork, safety and community value. The editors of ENR selected one of the projects as the Editors’ Choice because it represents the pinnacle of design and construction excellence.

Seismic Training Sessions Help Haitians Help Themselves
Haiti's second largest university is planning to start a master's in earthquake engineering, jumping off a series of seminars that trained some 500 local designers in the fundamentals of seismic design. An American manufactured homebuilder expects to get approval to construct a plant to build earthquake-resistant structures in Haiti.

What’s Ahead for P3 Projects?
Public-private partnerships are moving in new directions in the U.S., U.K. and Canada as participants build on successes and failures over two decades.

Newsmakers of 2011
Teamwork is an essential ingredient in most success stories. But every team is made up of individuals. Here is ENR's annual salute to the individuals that led the way to success in 2011.

Some Leeway in New Pipeline Safety Law
Sharply higher fines kick in right away, but deadlines for regulations are many months off and will take costs, other factors into account.

ENR Showcases Great Shots of 2011
ENR's annual photo contest brings attention to inspiring construction photographs and the workers and projects they depict. But the contest is also designed to show appreciation for the people who take their cameras onto jobsites, often under difficult conditions, and capture great images. The construction industry simply wouldn't have these pictures otherwise.

The World's Top 10 Longest Cable-Stayed Bridges
China holds title to seven of the world's longest bridges of this type, often praised for their engineering and elegance.

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.

No Walk On the Beach
A building team triumphs over the challenging sculptural shapes inside Frank Gehry?s first Florida job?a $160-million Miami performing arts center that opens in January.

Abu Dhabi Ambition
Collaborating with the West, an emirate?s plans for a sustainable economy hinges on airport, road and transit expansions

A Russian Cable-Stayed Transformation
Japan and China have cornered the market in major cable-supported bridges in recent years. But now another East Asian rival is on the rise.

Nuclear Rebirth
Dept. of Energy financing and a rise in natural-gas prices have sparked a second life for the U.S. nuclear power industry. But can it keep pace with the world?

Green Building Thrives in Shaky Economy
Like a runaway recycling truck, green building?s momentum hasn?t been stopped by the economic recession and will keep speeding through the recovery, according to a report released just prior to the construction industry?s annual green-building conference.

Uncalculated Risks
The Gulf disaster raises questions about whether licensed engineers could have made a difference at the Deepwater Horizon site.

Hot-Linked Sites Bring Data Home
Innovators leverage the advances in mobile devices, wireless connections, software and services to bridge the 'last mile' in electronic data exchange: the path from job trailer to the workface.

2012 Games Are Stepping Stones in Grand Scheme
Shapers of the 2012 London Olympics are transforming a 250-hectare brownfield into an $11.5-billion Olympic Park and then turning it into a ?green? mixed-use community intended to last for generations.

Rio Negro Bridge, $400-Million Economic Link, Opens in Amazon Basin
Brazil?s Manaus-Iranduba Bridge, scheduled for completion by year?s end, will straddle the river close to where the waterway merges with the Amazon River.

Borderless Learning
Borderless learning is not new to college engineering and construction programs, but study-abroad options are growing, along with benefits to students and prospective employers.

Hot Commodities
Counterfeit construction goods pose a huge safety threat. Which knockoffs are lurking on your jobsite?

Hanging On Despite Hard Times
Revenue plummeted for most firms, but many have adopted strategies to protect their bottom line.

Rock-Fiber Rebar Gets First Big Test
Researchers in Northern Ireland report promising results from a demonstration project that used rods made with basalt fibers to reinforce a 22-meter-long concrete-deck section of a $1.5-million replacement bridge in County Fermanagh.

Race Against Time
In preparation for the next big quake, seismic upgrades of San Francisco’s massive water system move into high gear.

Toll Road Treading Lightly
Maryland highway officials directed that 15% of a $2.6-billion toll-road project’s budget would be dedicated toward meeting environmental standards.

Racking Up Big Points For Prefab
An innovative, $152-million project in Ohio led by Skanska and Shook Construction is propelling multitrade prefabrication of hospital components to a new level.

Surge Busters Delivering in New Orleans
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ $14.6-billion drive to bring New Orleans’ hurricane defenses to 100-year levels of protection by June 2011 could fundamentally change the way U.S. civil-works projects are funded and delivered, project leaders say.

Making 1 + 1 = 3
Newly linked contractor Balfour Beatty and professional services heavyweight Parsons Brinckerhoff are seeking their sweet spot as a global infrastructure firm.

Sacramento Campus Warms to Green Central Plant
Starting next month, California’s state capital campus, a complex of 23 buildings encompassing 5.5 million sq ft, will be cooled by water chilled in a 4.25-million-gal thermal-energy storage tank.

The Prize Predicament
Federal regulators concerned about underreporting of injuries take a long hard look at incentive programs. Does "paying" for safety help produce safer sites?

In U.K., Offshore Wind Power?s Rising Tide Tempered by Wave of Rising Costs
More than any other European nation, the U.K. is pinning its hopes for a low-carbon-electricity future on offshore wind power.

Running on Empty
Now nearly 30 years old, the cash-strapped Superfund program is struggling to clean up roughly 1,270 hazardous waste sites, some of which pose a major health risk.

Sheer Innovation
A 121-story skyscraper’s designers craft a steel-and-concrete structure and also deliver the model building code for China’s supertall structures.

A Private Consortium is Fast-Tracking a Beltway of Billions
Virginia’s $2-billion I-495 expansion packs plenty into 14 miles.

Top 10 Largest Projects Under Construction in the World and Beyond
ENR has tried to obtain the most accurate information possible for this report, from project owners, program managers and master planners.

Interactive Project Delivery Critical to Success of Serpentine Cliff-Hanger
In San Francisco, a wild laboratory design at a steep site in a high seismic zone presented a formidable challenge. Interactive project delivery proved critical to the project's ultimate success.

Getting Down To Business
Managing a booming base construction program for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and others is a tough mission for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command.

Redesign Launches Canadian Crossing
Construction is set to begin this month on a 1,045-meter-long bridge over the Mackenzie River near Fort Providence in Canada’s Northwest Territories—a project that required a substantial redesign, adding $18 million to the total cost.

Seeking New Directions By Raising the Bar on CM
Mansour Aliabadi, CEO of Sacramento, Calif.-based Vanir Construction Management, sees high CM practitioner standards and market diversity as key to the 30-year-old company weathering the downturn.

CEO John Fish Has 'Big, Audacious' Goals For Suffolk Construction
Suffolk Construction Co.?s hardcharging CEO and owner, John Fish, wants to lead his company from success in three regions to the status of a national brand.

Highway Paint Is in Short Supply
Outages reduced supply of key ingredient as stimulus work kicked up demand.

Dozens of Test Projects Later, Advocates Still Have Durable Dreams
Fiber-reinforced polymers have moved from the laboratory to the nation’s roads and bridges over the past 10 years, offering a light, sturdy alternative to steel and concrete.

The Top 400 Contractors
Contractors increasingly are concluding that the industry recession will be a long one and are crafting management and marketing strategies to survive and come back stronger when the market rebounds.

Integrated-Project-Delivery Boosters Ignore Many Flashing Red Lights
Owners, designers, contractors and lawyers provide insight and advice about the legal and business issues raised by the no-fault environment of integrated project delivery.

Haiti?s Plan Includes New Ports, Highways
Engineering News-Record?s Senior Tom Sawyer, and Jenna McKnight, deputy news director for McGraw-Hill Construction, spent a week in Haiti in mid-April staying with a local family and traveling throughout the Port-au-Prince area to meet with Haitian refugees and others already engaged in the start of reconstruction, as well as with representatives of foreign aid organizations and U.S. officials.

The Top 500 Design Firms
The industry is looking for signs as to when the deep recession will end for construction. However, uncertainty about the markets, the regulatory environment, project financing and the state of the economy have the country?s largest design firms worried that recovery may be a long, drawn-out process.

Next Round of Federal Regulations Has Suppliers Retooling Clean Diesel
The next round of regulations covering airborne emissions for offroad diesel engines takes effect in nine months. Tier 4 rules promise improved health for millions of people, but there will be a price tag.

Award of Excellence Winner 2010: John Hillman
This year's winner, John Hillman, toiled for almost 15 years to create a structural beam that could swiftly and economically bolster thousands of aging American structures.

South Africa Toasts Itself With 2010 World Cup
Sixteen years after ending apartheid and investing billions in infrastructure, the nation hosts the World Cup, hoping to put its best foot forward.

New York?s Tallest Residential Tower Is Frank Gehry ?Demystified?
New York City?s tallest residential tower, with a draped stainlesssteel curtain wall, is under budget and on schedule. So far, there are only 100 RFIs and no claims.

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Break Down Data Silos
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems entice firms with visions of seamless operations and powerful flows of data. But are they worth the pain of implementation?

Pressure, Layoffs and Long Hours Generate Post-Traumatic Construction Disorder
A culture of self-sacrifice facing a recession may produce the prolonged stress that turns engineers and project managers into exhausted, indifferent and cynical workers.

Chile’s Quake Damage Mitigated by Past Lessons
Temblors in 1960 and 1985 triggered an overhaul of building codes and construction practices, improving structural performace in Chile’s recent seismic events.

Minneapolis Ballpark Construction Manager Pulls Off Squeeze Play
Building team finished Minneapolis ballpark more than three months before Opening Day, despite a hemmed-in site that prompted unwieldy ?inside-out? construction.

Post-Recession Strategy for Firms Is the New Turning Point
Engineering and construction firms are charting new courses for corporate survival and growth as the recession takes hold. Time will tell if it?s the right path for each.

As Federal Dollars Pour Out, A Second Stimulus Plan Grows
The first part of a special series explores what stimulus funds are left, the prospects for another federal infusion and the elements of economic recovery in key market segments.

2011 Budget Cuts Construction Programs
President Obama has proposed a $3.8-trillion budget for fiscal year 2011 that would freeze total ?non-security? domestic discretionary spending?the category that includes most federal construction programs?and result in cutbacks in most of the key construction accounts.

Roller-Compacted Concrete Delivers Rapid, Efficient Dam Rebuild
Roller-compaced concrete dam is built to contain the Taum Sauk Upper Reservoir atop Missouri's highest peak. The pumped-storage reservoir replaces one that failed in 2005.

Crane Owners Step Up Inspections to Meet Tighter Quality Controls
As new regulations hit the jobsite, two large hoisting companies are making the case for even tighter inspection, maintenance and repair standards for lifting machines.

The Top 25 Newsmakers of 2009
ENR Editors have chosen 25 individuals for their achievements and innovations in serving the best interests of the construction industry, featured in ENR and ENR.com in 2009.

Spain?s Contractors See Green in Ireland
Spanish construction logos are among the first to be seen by visitors to the Irish Republic as they drive into Dublin from the city?s airport.

Images of the Year in Construction
The winners of ENR?s Annual Photo Contest prove there is a story behind every picture.

Building Abroad Has Corps of Engineers Working Hard To Adapt
By Tom Sawyer
The Europe District of the Army Corps of Engineers is the vanguard of U.S. efforts to build green abroad, but the effort is beset by cultural translation issues at every turn. Every country has different rules for the game.

Recession Spreads To Nonresidential Buildings:
Little Room For Costs To Move
By Timothy Grogan
The deepening recession in nonresidential building will keep a cap on costs, frustrating producers who are trying to take advantage of any signs of life in homebuilding. There will be some ups and downs, but in the end, there is too much idle capacity and too little demand to allow prices to stray beyond this year?s bottom.

Design Team Held to Competition Promises
By Nadine Post
Masdar Initiative reconvened competition jury halfway through design of its sustainable headquarters in Abu Dhabi to keep on positive-energy track.

Buffeted by High Winds and Setbacks, a Bypass Is Making History Near Hoover Dam
By Tony Illia and Aileen Cho
Contractors are building a longspan, single-arch bridge to take traffic off Hoover Dam. The project has been plagued by delays, including the collapse of its cableway system.

As More Buildings Go Geothermal, Project Teams Are Thinking Outside the Borehole
More crews are installing geothermal systems as building owners look to reduce energy costs, impact on the grid and emissions. But the technology still has some growing up to do.

By 2020 China Will Pass U.S. As Preeminent Construction Market
China will push the U.S. into second place as the world's biggest construction market before the end of the next decade, according to a new Web-based report called Global Construction 2020.

Stimulus Funds Kick Off A Slow Comeback After Market Bottoms
Stimulus funds will start to kick into high gear next year just as the housing market rebounds to 2008 levels. This gain will be counterbalanced by a deepening decline in nonresidential building markets.

Military Construction Is in High Gear As Big Jobs Hit Their Stride
Corps of Engineers becomes more flexible in project delivery to handle burgeoning workload.

Academia Takes On Tougher Times
Engineering and construction academic programs are weathering the recession, coping with budget cuts and helping students navigate a tough job market with stronger skills.

Delayed Russian Dam System Nears Reality
Flooding has been a continuing and even predictable problem in Saint Petersburg, ever since Peter the Great founded the city that became the Russian capital in 1703 on low-lying land within the Neva River estuary.

A Snapshot of Top Shovel-, Wrench- and Pencil-Ready Projects
Stimulus-funded projects from across the U.S. show the diversity of work funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The Top 600 Specialty Contractors
The recession is taking a toll on subcontractors and specialty contractors, and most are struggling to find creative ways to deal with it.

Breathing New Life Into Old Facilities
Removing greater levels of phosphorus and nitrogen from wastewater is driving a new round of construction as old plants are fitted with new technology and new plants are built.

Competition Intensifies as Recession Deepens
The drop in materials prices is starting to bottom out, but that is being followed by fierce competition that is cutting margins and driving construction costs well below last year?s levels. As the recession grabs hold of the non-residential building markets, this competition will intensify.

Shanghai’s Sunken Treasure
Only the giant cruise ships sidled up against the riverbank offer any hint of what lies below Shanghai’s newest stretch of green along the Huangpu River in the resurgent North Bund district.

Traylor Bros. Tackles Tough Projects By Building Up An Iron Army
Traylor Bros.? equipmentrebuilding program takes wellworn machines and transforms them into better-than-new equipment for a variety of tough infrastructure projects.

Where Are the Jobs?
Construction employers are boosting payrolls with federal stimulus money to tamp down unemployment. But funding is still slow and may not solve all industry woes.

Peaceful Transition: Native People and Hydro-Québec Share Benefits of Big Project
Hydro-Québec’s James Bay project is rolling smoothly because the utility is respecting the indigenous people’s needs. It’s a new experience for both.

Canadians Commit To Concessionaire Contracts for Infrastructure and Buildings
In just a decade, the "big four" Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec have embraced public-private partnership (P3) projects to the point where they are almost a mainstream construction-delivery method.

Proposal For Portable Safety Records Is Generating Dialogue and Controversy
A proposal that workers carry personal safety records as part of their employment history touched some raw nerves.

Digital-Modeling Veterans Want Data for Life Cycles
Virtual design and construction began with the creators of process and chemical plants. Today, their goal is to integrate, manage and share facilities data with consummate ease.

Just-in-Time Dredging Pulls Out Toxins
Innovative dredging process saves millions in world?s largest cleanup of riverbed PCBs at a Superfund site in Wisconsin.

A Public-Sector Success
Keith Clarke has rejuvenated W.S. Atkins, bringing the U.K. designer back to its traditional engineering focus and positioning the firm to make money in a recesssion.

Wrenches Put In Tower?s Works
Builders of the 160-meter-tall Capital Gate tower in Abu Dhabi were slowed down by the complicated geometry caused by offset floors that create an 18° slant from the vertical axis.

Intelligent Compaction Is on a Roll
Intelligent compaction represents a huge cultural shift in project delivery but could save billions of dollars annually in building infrastructure and maintaining vehicle fleets.

Landscape Architecture Rising
Landscape architects are making a comeback by combining nature, engineering and culture to manage stormwater and remove pollutants while creating attractive places.

2Q Cost Report: Hard Bids, Low Costs
In less than a year the construction market has gone from owners fishing for bids to a bidding frenzy.

NASA Fuels for Liftoff
NASA is beginning demolition and construction of launch pads for a new rocket system to return to the moon, but organizational weaknesses threaten the agency?s ability to achieve its goal.

Digging In To Deliver Clean Water
Contractors now are moving quickly to build New York City?s water filtration plant 100 ft below grade. When finished, its roof will be covered and used as part of a golf course.

Staging Machinations
The curtain is going up soon on both an experimental and classical theater in Dallas, thanks to a building team that jumped through hoops to construct the high-rise theater's frame-on-stilts.

Everybody’s in Business
Distributed energy resources, linked and communicating over the smart grid, are transforming the entire country into a virtual powerplant.

Panama Widens Horizons
Massive amounts of earth now are being moved in preparation for building a third set of locks to expand the Panama Canal and double its capacity.

Learning to Live Off Last Year?s Bounty
Contractors believe the current widespread industry recession will last through 2010 and are relying on backlog and good management to see them through a lean year.

Inside a Safety Turnaround
The new worker-safety program at the gigantic CityCenter project in Las Vegas has stopped fatalities but not lost-time accidents. ENR takes a close-up view of the program.

Digging into 3D Modeling Unearths Many Worms
A look at projects being designed and built using multiple buildinginformation- modeling systems shows it can be a bumpy road for all members of the building team.

Long Road to Reality
After years of delays, the new Bandra-Worli Sea Link will cut a trip across Mahim Bay in Mumbai, India, from about 40 minutues to six. The 4.7-km viaduct with two cable-stayed spans is slated to open to traffic in mid-May.

Firms Have One Question: How Long Will the Recession Last?
For large design fi rms, 2008 was the last hurrah before the recession hit. Now that bad times are here, designers are living off backlog, learning to manage and discovering how to become lean and mean.

Dollars Roll Out At Uneven Pace
Construction spending is rising, particularly for transportation work, but the money flow is uneven as agencies still struggle with planning and provisions.

As the Economy Worsens, Machinery Auctions are Swamped
Prices plummeted at one of the largest industry auctions held earlier this year. Despite the mass exodus of equipment, the results were better than many people expected.

Academic Ignites Engineering Talent to Drive Levels of Needed Change
Bernard Armadei, professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado-Boulder, has served the industry and the world with the creation of Engineers Without Borders-USA. It engages students, engineers and companies on meaningful projects.

Tight-Fisted Banks Stall Development
Few building construction companies have seen a market like this one, where weak banks hesitate to lend to anything involving real estate. Patrick Cebelak, controller of Granger Construction Co., Lansing, Mich., is resigned to the fact that "this isn't going to be a fast recovery." Most of the experts on real estate finance would agree.

Engineers Focus On Big Delta Threats
Deltas house great ports and centers of industry, but they perch on fragile land, buffeted by the rivers that made them and threatened by the seas. They will take the brunt of sea-level rise and climate change, which is fueling concern.

Best of the Best - 2008
Judges selected the most outstanding design and construction projects of 2008 from McGraw-Hill Construction?s regional publications. Learn who won and what the judges said.

Modeling Pathfinders Impatient To Have A Much Fuller Digital Toolbox
Software developers know product capabilities, but user needs influence where technology goes.

Unwrapping the Big Package
Industry officials are scouring the voluminous stimulus bill, looking not only for how much money it has for individual programs but also for critical details on exactly how and when the funds will be disbursed.

San Francisco-Oakland Crossing Starts To Take Shape
Preparatory and temporary construction is in full swing for the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge?s signature element, a self-anchored suspension bridge.

America May Gain from Materials Designed To Stretch Your Stimulus Dollars
As infrastructure begins drawing attention on Capitol Hill, venture capitalists are looking for firms with innovative products and materials to bring to market.

For Contractors and Their Advisers, A Sinking Feeling Is Good in Busan
Tunnels and bridges form $1.8- billion, 8.2-kilometer-long project that some believe paves the way for future links between Korea and its neighbors.

Proposal in House Fires Up Debate
The Jan. 20 inauguration of Barack Obama as the nation?s 44th president coincides with an $825-billion stimulus proposal now before Congress that includes billions in construction investment and business tax relief. How quickly it is enacted and in what final form is a key industry focus.

Stupendous Setting Is Crummy Site
Vancouver convention center offers great views but is being built on a difficult harborside site that complicated design and construction.

The Top 25 Newsmakers of 2008
In recognition of those who serve the best interests of the construction industry, ENR editors have chosen 25 individuals for their innovations and achievements featured in ENR and ENR.com in 2008.

2008: Images of the Year in Construction
More than 800 photographs flowed into ENR's seventh annual "Images of the Year in Construction" photo contest, and our judges studied them all to select the top shots for this winners' gallery issue.

Recession KOs Inflation in 2009
The economic crisis has gone global, slowing contruction markets worldwide and knocking back inflation both in the U.S. and overseas.

High-Rise Fever Hits Moscow
Economic worries have made some developers jittery but Moscow City, a high-rise development in Russias capital, is growing with what will be Europes tallest building.

Voters Approve Billions For Systems, But It’s Still No Gravy Train
A number of successful ballot measures proved that Americans are willing to pony up for transit projects. But will the feds do their share?

Building Team Views Technological Tools as Best Chance For Change
Building information modeling tools are promoting more collaborative building teams and enabling virtual design and construction.

Radiation Threat Still Permeates Chernobyl's Entombment
Radiation threat, engineering uncertainties permeate work to isolate destroyed Chernobyl reactor.

Huge Cleanup at Bomb-Making Megasite Is The New Atomic Fallout
New generation of scientists, engineers and workers confront Hanford nuclear waste cleanup.

All Sectors Go Negative Next Year As A Real Recession Rattles Markets
Virtually all major construction markets are expected to decline next year. Tight credit and an unfavorable bond market threaten the viability of many projects.

From North to South, New Pipe Delivers Power to Argentina
Argentina is the second-largest country in South America and its sheer size is one of the greatest obstacles it faces concerning its energy supply.

In One Week, Crane Operators Receive A License to Learn
ENRs Tudor Van Hampton takes certified craneoperator training for a road test and makes the grade.

In Challenging Economic Times, Leadership Training Is an Edge
Business simulation games are one way industry employees learn leadership skills. But can being an effective leader be taught?

Tiny Pores, Big Gains
Twenty-first century technology is gaining momentum in the staid business of wastewater treatment. Since the federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 fueled the buildout of the nations current crop of wastewater treatment plants, municipalities have mostly relied on conventional activated-sludge processes to meet secondary-treatment standards.

The Top 600 Specialty Contractors
The Wall Street meltdown and the collapse of the credit markets have worried specialty contractors scrambling to build backlog.

Finance: Lawmakers Try to Revive Rescue Plan
After watching the stock market swoon following their failure to pass a bailout package Sept. 29, lawmakers began to try to pick up the pieces and craft a workable financial rescue plan.

3Q Cost Report: Steel Price Spike Meets Credit Crunch
Record-high oil and steel prices during the first half of the year were just showing up in construction industry cost indexes when the historic financial crisis swept the economy, shaking up the cost picture.

Green Contracting No Longer a Novelty
As sustainable building spreads into new markets, contractors are adapting and embracing the benefits of green.

Tragic Collapse Site Now Houses a Monumental Milestone
Working under a relentless public spotlight and through a cold winter, a design-build team is wrapping up construction of the new Interstate 35W bridge in Minnesota

From Open-Shop Training to New NCCER Goal: Reaching For the 'Stars'
The National Center for Construction Education and Research pushes training into new arenas.

Test Projects Show Great Potential For Tracking
Big research trials at two widely separated construction sites find a combination of radio-frequency identification tags, global positioning systems and smart software can dramatically improve the management of critical components in laydown yards.

Out of This Year's Deadly Accidents, A Critical Mass Is Building
Deadly accidents are reawakening public and industry awareness about the hazards of hoisting. In the absence of solid federal rules, local regulators are taking matters into their own hands.

Byzantine Port, Botched Buildings Put A Brake On Bosporus Link
Istanbul, Turkey tunnel project is set back by underground relics and shaky structures above.

Arizona Workers Are Old Pros At Sweating In The Southwest
Workers in Arizona experience triple-digit temperatures in the summer, so safety managers practice diligence in monitoring crews working Phoenixs airport and a Tucson Interstate.

Infill Hospital In Nashville Requires Patience For Patients
Building an addition to Vanderbilt Universitys medical center is dictated by hospital operations. The job is costing more and will take four months longer to finish compared to the schedule for a greenfield hospital.

Safety-Culture Clash Meant 13 Workers Never Got To Go Home
What went wrong on the Las Vegas Strip? Obsessed with schedules, contractors never scaled up the safety effort to match the dimensions of the work.

Looping, Leaning Tube in Beijing is an Antidote to the Skyscraper
First-of-its-kind structure will link China Central Televisions administrators, producers, technicians and creative team in a spacious new headquarters

Dynamics Duo Gives Forward Push to Giant Kinetic Structures
Self-anointed professional dreamer Cyril J. Silberman and grounded structural engineer Lawrence G. Griffis prove opposites can attract.

Explosive Growth Sparks Brazil's Infrastructure Boom
Bolstered by rising commodities prices, Brazil is spending big on roads and hydroelectric projects to accommodate surging growth in cities and spur development in remote regions of the country.

Regulation, Cost Turbulence Generate a Clean Power Play
Volatile prices for fossil fuels, carbon worries and falling costs for renewable energy are opening doors for wind, solar and geothermal project developers.

San Francisco Museum's Green Redo Keeps Team on Slippery Slopes
Green roof of San Franciscos 410,000-sq-ft California Academy of Sciences, designed to fill a gap in Golden Gate Parks ecosystem, offered the builders some mean topography thanks to steep slopes and a warped skylight.

2Q Cost Report: Inflation's One-Two Punch
Inflation is a relentless boxer and it is throwing its hardest punches when the industry is already reeling from a depression in the housing market. Record high oil and steel prices is a combination that could KO several projects.

Innovation Obsession Makes Mortenson The Heartland Heavyweight
3D and 4D building model tools are a fixture at M.A. Mortenson Co. jobsites. The Minneapolis firm has embraced BIM as a key tool in its growing sphere of projects.

High, Cold Roadbuilding Calls for the Dragon
A high-altitude stretch of South America's InterOceanic Highway calls for innovative paving methods.

Temblor Was Stronger Than Anticipated
The intensity level of the May 12 quake that rocked Chinas Sichuan province was greater than anticipated. Many unreinforced buildings collapsed and seismic forces loosed large rocks that crushed whatever was in their path.

Markets Show Signs of Slowing Down
U.S. contractors have enjoyed a great run of business over the past few years, but many believe the fun is over and are bracing for a market slowdown.

Worlds Longest Cantilever Grows Even Longer
The big question is whether the developer of the 162-story Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates will reveal the superskyscrapers final height when it is topped out this summer. At 668 meters, the tower is already the worlds tallest constructed structure.

Crane Failures Have Industry Looking at Hazards Under the Hook
Chains, slings and shackles are being reviewed as industry experts look at rigging failures in the wake of recent accidents.

$1-Billion Jigsaw Puzzle Has Builder Modeling Supply Chains
Called on to assemble an enormous, 3,200-piece puzzle at high speed, Skanska taps radiofrequency ID tags to track the parts from fabrication to erection.

Watching for Signs of a Market Slowdown
Design firms had a strong year in 2007, generating a total of $80.62 billion in revenue. Thats a 15.8% hike from 2006s total revenue of $69.61 billion.

New Orleans Braces As Mississippi Swells
The Corps of Engineers is preparing to operate flood-control measures to protect New Orleans from a surge of Mississippi River water caused by heavy rains in the North and awards a $775-million contract for a surge gate to Shaw.

ENR Award of Excellence Winner: Clyde N. Baker Jr.
Clyde N. Baker Jr. has pushed deep-foundation engineering to a new level by applying science to a specialty that previously was based on more of a hunch.

Cash and Commitment Rescue Everglades Replumbing
There is progress in restoring the natural hydrologic conditions in the Everglades, but planners are moving cautiously because of the unprecedented nature of the project.

Crane-Accident Probe Targets Nylon Slings
A tower crane that collapsed in New York City while being jumped flipped backward, severely damaging buildings over a two-block area. OSHA announced it now will release its long-awaited crane-and-derrick rule revisions, probably this summer.

Building Sector Needs Reeducation
Tall-building designers say their pursuit of sustainable high-rises is stalled by a lack of performance metrics to validate greenbuilding system modeling. Some are calling on the entire building industry to recognize the need for reeducation.

Las Vegas Machinery Addiction Rises To Heavy Metal Fever
The Las Vegas Strip is booming, and that means an enormous amount of heavy equipment is working around the clock to meet fast, tight schedules.

Uncertainty Over Carbon Has Coal Plants Stymied
Electric utilities are taking their lumps in getting new coal-fired powerplants permitted due to uncertainty over carbon-dioxide emission regulations and ratepayers exposure to soaring construction costs. market.

Alberta's Booming Oil Sands Boast Cold Weather, Hot Market
The first installment of ENRs Extreme Construction series looks at jobsite conditions in frigid northern Albertas red-hot energy market.

DOD and Industry's Big Mission Ahead: Advancing Operation Buildup
The U.S. military is transforming its fighting style and improving its standard of living, fueled by billions of dollars in fast-track construction at bases across the U.S. The building program is a learning curve for both military and industry participants.

DOT Secretary Mary Peters Pushes Big Shift for Roads,Transit
Transportation Secretary Mary Peters is finishing her tenure and pushing for changes in federal transportation policy that puts more funding responsibility on states.

If The Buildings Sector Slows, PCL Has Oil in the Backyard
PCL Construction Group invests heavily in training and has recorded big profits by diversifying but never straying from core construction-related works

Transportation Officials Outline Needs For Linking Modes and Nodes
The long-anticipated National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commissions report to Congress on Jan. 15 confirmed what transportation experts already knew: that movement of freight nationwide, including improved infrastructure, will become a policy priority.

San Francisco's 590-ft Skyscraper Lifts Seismic Design's Stature
A performance-based seismic design allowed the builders of the 590-ft-tall One Rincon Hill in San Francisco to break the speed record for concrete construction on the West Coast, achieving a three-day-per-floor cycle in the tower portion.

Images of the Year in Construction
ENR's 2007 construction photography contest is history but by no means past. The editors' top picks are showcased here, and the door is open on ENR.com to all the rest.

China's Sutong Bridge Moves Into the Record Books
With a 1,088-meter-long cable-stayed main span, the Sutong Bridge over the Yangtze River breaks the world record. It is supported on what builders say are the world's biggest foundations, and 300-m-tall pylons. The bridge is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes and provides a crucial link for China's booming suburbs.