Archive for the ‘Construction’ Category

As Professional Engineers, we are mandated by statute to maintain certain professional standards and ethics to protect the integrity of our profession and the common welfare.  The same can be said for Registered Geologists, Land Surveyors, Certified Hazardous Material Managers, or whatever professional registration you have.  That same sense of professional integrity and ethics is [...]

Hesitation kills opportunity.  Some say patience is a virtue, but only if you know exactly what you are waiting for.  Do not confuse the virtue of patience with the bad trait of hesitation.  If you don’t know what you are waiting for, or are stuck in a rut, and you are presented with a new [...]

R. Skip Black CEO of the Double Eagle Group announces that his firm has been selected as the lead search and placement firm to staff the largest development project in The Kingdom Saudi Arabia. This  ambitious project includes a Five (5) Billion dollar development  with twenty-six (26) five (5) Star Hotels. Since 2005, the Double [...]

Out With the Old ‘Ground Zero’ – In With a New World Trade Center 09/06/2011 The New York Post Text size: AABy JOSH MARGOLIN Deep in the bowels of the most closely watched construction site in the nation there is a phrase that is forbidden: Ground Zero. Those words describe a lifeless pit filled with [...]

For workers raising the Western Hemisphere’s soon-to-be tallest skyscraper, “fast food” has an extra dollop of meaning. With hundreds of eateries in Lower Manhattan, crews erecting the frame of the $3.2-billion One World Trade Center—on schedule to stand 1,776 ft when substantially complete in fall 2013—have only two options when the lunch bell rings: They [...]

There has recently been a lot of talk about innovation, and how innovation will be one of the major keys for pulling the United States out of this global recession.  CNN’s Fareed Zakaria devoted a whole program on how Technological Innovation will help restore the “American Dream”, and how both private enterprise and federal government [...]

A professor of mine once said “If you want to ‘understand’ a problem ask a scientist, but if you want to actually SOLVE a problem, ask an engineer.”  Both have their place, both are necessary – but in our current economic and political climate, tight budgets will be allocated more towards DOING, and less towards [...]

I personally work with numerous design-build firms which produce buildings of major size and scope. The BIM tool has been heralded and cautiously criticize with equal vigor. As more BIM work is pushed, make sure your follow-up is in place with all subcontractors. Below is a brief overview of a BIM project not handled properly with the MEP sub. [...]

In my professional work I speak with architects and engineers daily.  The topic of sustainable design and LEED seems to be noticeable when discussing projects with civic clients, but many commercial developers and owners are not presently interested in the application process of LEED certification, or the additional initial costs related to sustainable design. It [...]

(Reuters) – U.S. manufacturing grew in February at its fastest rate in nearly seven years as companies’ willingness to hire improved at the strongest pace in decades. WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy homes in January, the latest evidence that the housing market continues to struggle. The National Association of Realtors said [...]