Construction and Program Management a Win-Win

It was startling to see in the very same issue of ENR both a portrait of a booming construction management/program management business and an article that fundamentally misunderstood the nature of that business.

"Agency CM Project Delivery Stalls, While Program Management Soars" (ENR 6/11 p. 44) assumes a dichotomy that does not exist in the marketplace. Program management is the application of professional construction management principles and techniques to multiple projects, from conception to completion.

The growing prevalence of PM means simply that professional construction managers are providing more services on larger and more complex assignments than ever before. This growth is not being achieved at the expense of anything else. It is pure "plus," and it would not be happening if professional CM services had not convincingly proved their value in projects of all kinds, regardless of delivery method.

That owners are embracing agency CM practices as a means of managing their most important undertakings is a story of success, not stagnation.

BRUCE D'AGOSTINO
President, Construction Management Association of America
McLean, Va.

LeMessurier Displayed Exemplary Behavior

You inadvertently did a disservice to the memory of the late William LeMessurier in "LeMessurier, an Innovative Structural Engineer, Is Dead," (ENR 7/2-9 p. 25). The obituary cast a shadow on his professionalism by the statement, "The ethics of the way the issue was addressed have been debated ever since."

LeMessurier's own disclosure of the defect in his structural design of Citicorp tower, built in 1977 in New York City, which he did in light of the possible catastrophic consequences but which must have been excruciatingly difficult in light of the possible personal and business consequences, is a lesson in exemplary professional behavior.

The issues of professional ethics had to do, as far as we know, with the self-serving, opportunistic comments and activities of one or more of the other engineers who were brought in to advise the city of New York. LeMessurier's ethics were lauded and never questioned.

LeMessurier was not only an outstanding and innovative engineer but also a mentor and role model to young structural engineers in his office. The successful careers of many of his once junior staff attest to that.

ROBERT T. RATAY, PE
Manhasset, N.Y.
MATTHYS LEVY, PE
Burlington, Vt.