http://enr.construction.com/people/blogs/korman/default.aspRichard KormanUS-ENThe McGraw-Hill Companies 2006Thu, 24 May 2007 15:32:12 GMTWed, 18 Jul 2007 16:32:27 GMThttp://enr.construction.com/people/blogs/imgs/richard_korman-def.jpghttp://enr.construction.com/people/blogs/korman/default.asphttp://enr.construction.com/people/blogs/korman/070717.aspThe word from a couple of different sources is that Germany's Hochtief AG, which owns Turner Corp., may be deepening its U.S. investment by negotiating to buy Flatiron Construction Corp.{636682aa-7316-e666-12e1-d5cfcb50feda}Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:32:27 GMThttp://enr.construction.com/people/blogs/korman/070703.aspIf you are working behind a drafting table for $60,000 a year, you may want to turn your head away and not read this.{c4905e8b-b5ca-311f-97fa-30dfc708f682}Tue, 03 Jul 2007 20:40:11 GMThttp://enr.construction.com/people/blogs/korman/070611.aspThe deals never seem to end. The managers of Hillier Architecture, the big Princeton, N.J.-based design practice, have decided to sell the company, sources have told ENR’s Debra Rubin. The company, which declines to confirm the possible sale, has been on the block for some time, industry sources say.enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.com{d0736ed5-c03c-f84-6515-dc86c3a1c35}Mon, 11 Jun 2007 18:11:05 GMThttp://enr.construction.com/people/blogs/korman/070607.aspThere’s only one reason not to build the 700-mile-long barrier that is an integral feature of the new immigration legislation being hammered out in the Senate.enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.com{59b4a5f4-1367-f0ac-2b11-b65dc66864d0}Thu, 07 Jun 2007 18:57:31 GMThttp://enr.construction.com/people/blogs/korman/070524.aspWhat Susan wants, she usually gets. For weeks leading up to our trip to Arizona, my girlfriend Susan wanted to know why we couldn't go visit the Skywalk, the glass-bottomed walkway, while we stayed at the Grand Canyon. The Skywalk had received a lot of publicity prior to its opening.enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.comEngineering{86bb5e5b-3919-d205-e26b-12e4919abf2c}Thu, 24 May 2007 15:32:08 GMThttp://enr.construction.com/people/blogs/korman/070419.aspI met Martin M. Koffel, the chairman and chief executive of URS Corp., briefly many years ago, at URS Corp.'s Manhattan offices, and I saw him on television once since then.enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.comEngineering{2a89827-9d31-80eb-e936-5f9ed1fd5817}Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:50:03 GMThttp://enr.construction.com/people/blogs/korman/070406.aspOur video aggregator, Clip Syndicate, pulled in a story about cranes coming down on a big Texas Department of Transportation project in the San Antonio area near the airport early on the morning of April 1st.enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.comEngineering{5ed5ac02-fe1a-602f-cf7e-bc0993d8ac7}Fri, 06 Apr 2007 18:23:16 GMThttp://www.enr.com/people/blogs/korman/070316.aspWe have a colleague here at ENR who used to work for Guy F. Atkinson, the big contractor that keeled over suddenly in 1997. Cost him plenty. He's still not over it.enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.comEngineering{1b788934-533a-5445-eaeb-be511e864bcb}Fri, 16 Mar 2007 16:10:18 GMThttp://www.enr.com/people/blogs/korman/070223.aspLook at this video of a fallen crawler crane with a reported 350-ft-long boom wrapped around a building belonging to a utility in Port Sheldon, Mich. Winds were blowing hard, reports Rick Raef, Willis' eagle-eyed email safety blogger.enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.comEngineering{d8a0b220-4cfd-3666-8cb5-a4aa7a4f7a}Fri, 23 Feb 2007 21:27:11 GMThttp://www.enr.com/people/blogs/korman/070116.aspNo-bid contracts. All those fat federal contracts awarded to corporate executives who have their snouts buried deep in the feeding public works trough. Disgusting, right?enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.comEngineering{6b182124-9843-28f7-1c38-33f3c50e6de6}Tue, 16 Jan 2007 20:56:15 GMThttp://www.enr.com/people/blogs/korman/070101.aspIs there a locomotive pounding down the tracks and heading straight for you? When one company is writing $1 billion to $2 billion dollars or so of annual surety premiums, providing guarantees for as much as a couple hundred billion dollars worth of construction, is that a problem? enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.comEngineering{d446c1ff-50a5-22d9-bce8-21d1ca19e083}Tue, 02 Jan 2007 08:37:17 GMThttp://www.enr.com/people/blogs/korman/061128.aspAt a holiday party the other week I ended up talking to my girlfriend's sister's father-in-law, a retired architect, a lanky man with waves of distinguished white hair and black-framed glasses. I was trying to demonstrate some competence on the subject of architectural practice so I said something about computer modeling, meaning building information modeling. The words got stuck in my teeth with a chunk of chicken parmesan and I didn't make myself clear enough.enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.comEngineering{f2b83ad1-4f-1e62-d60c-1155583a4dba}Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:17:25 GMThttp://www.enr.com/people/blogs/korman/061116.aspConstruction contractors are deeply conservative and Republican and in 2000 members of the Associated Builders & Contractors felt like they had helped put George W. Bush in the White House. At ABC's national convention in New Orleans early in 2002—not long after the terrorist attack in New York—I felt like I had been dropped onto a planet of successful business men and women with an unusually paranoid political fixation. While the national focus was on terrorism, ABC members pledged to stay vigilant against domestic foes. Kirk Pickerel, the association's staff chief and a talented speaker, compared the national fight gearing up against terrorism with ABC's mission of battling unions and liberal elected officials who threatened them with project labor agreements and salting. "We won't be intimidated," said Pickerel.enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.comEngineering{50c7f6bf-1dd6-3232-65f1-f06f74f9227d}Fri, 17 Nov 2006 19:27:01 GMThttp://www.enr.com/people/blogs/korman/061103.aspDon't get yourself killed without company if you want me to write about you on ENR.com. If you are taking a 17-story plunge on your own, as a 25-year-old immigrant from Ecuador did in New York City the other day, I'm not your guy. enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.comEngineering{3f48e8e5-da22-8321-334a-7bdfc3bbef6}Fri, 03 Nov 2006 21:31:24 GMThttp://www.enr.com/people/blogs/korman/061003.aspIf you see something unsafe and verging on collapse, aren't you obligated by your ties to society to try to stop it? Here's what I'm getting at. A few days ago I asked PSBJ Corp., the big Florida-based engineer, if the three former employees who had recently pleaded guilty to stealing $36 million of company money were providing to federal prosecutors information about illegal company campaign donations in hope of gaining leniency. PBSJ's spokeswoman didn't want to get into the matter and PBSJ's attorney, Mark Schnapp, said the few violations PBSJ committed didn't amount to much and the company should not be charged with any crime or violation. enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.comEngineering{8fd089a1-ad5b-21d3-fd7-6772bc5b6b8f}Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:12:17 GMThttp://enr.construction.com/people/blogs/korman/060907.aspI love the American Society of Civil Engineers' journals, especially the ones concerned with management and leadership. Although some of the articles are limited academic explorations, some contain fresh ideas.enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.comEngineering{41e8b49b-5c00-16b1-6ffc-528e2f7cd3ee}Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:12:07 GMThttp://www.enr.com/people/blogs/korman/060922.aspI’ll get to the point. Many contractor foremen don’t know squat about how to manage or work with people.enr_web_editors@mcgraw-hill.comEngineering{d2dfad8f-382d-d84a-954f-be69ea1216ed}Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:12:03 GMT