Top Construction Firms Work At Furious Pace

A few weeks ago, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey authorized an initial $1 billion, with a second allocation of $1 billion by the end of the year, to build a proposed $7.2-billion commuter train tunnel under the Hudson River - from North Bergen to a new station under Macy's on 34th Street

The scope of this project - the planning and engineering, permitting, the duration of it, the colossal challenges of construction and the massive manpower and materials involved - represents the epitome of the gargantuan undertakings by our state's major heavy duty construction firms. Their work is evident throughout the state, from Xanadu in the Meadowlands to the new skyline of Jersey City and the string of Atlantic City casinos.

Our big construction firms tackle the long-term, intricate jobs at airports, marine facilities, tunnels, bridges, dams, highways and toll plazas, hospitals, educational facilities, petrochemical plants and power generating stations, among a myriad of other projects that impact the way we live and travel. The Port Authority undertaking is unrelated to the $286.4-billion transportation funding in Washington, which will send some $8 billion to the Garden State for work on highways, bridges and tunnels. Some $5.6 billion is for highway, road and bridge construction and $2.45 billion is for transit aid over the next six years. This is welcomed news to the heavy construction industry.

All the companies in this survey appear in "The Top 400 Contractors" as reported by McGraw-Hill's Engineering-News Record (ENR) for 2006. ENR, considered the bible of the industry, says the 400 posted a record $235.6 billion in revenue, up 12.3 percent.

The 21 contractors with New Jersey operations are sharing in the good times. Here are the highlights, in descending order of revenue, of those firms:

The Turner Corporation, Dallas, is ranked 5th in the nation and is 1st on our listing with $7 billion in revenues, up from $6.5 billion a year ago. Turner Construction Company, a division, has been building in New Jersey since its first project in 1903 - a concrete floor for the Central Lard Company in Jersey City. Since then, Turner has completed more than 500 projects across the state. It opened a full-service office in Somerset in 1984, which has grown from a staff of 35 to 230 in 2006.

It is doing a major job for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals on Route 53 in Morris Plains that involves 244,000 square feet of new construction and fit-out of lab and office space with a construction volume of $70 million. A $15-million, 5-story parking garage and pedestrian walkway were also added to Turner's scope of work.

It also did the pre-construction and construction work for Capital Health Systems, Trenton, for 55,000 square feet of new construction and 18,000 square feet of renovations at the Emergency Trauma Center at the Helene Fuld Medical Center.

Turner offers a full complement of in-house construction management services, general contracting, construction management, design/build, and consulting, estimating, purchasing, scheduling and mechanical and electrical services.

Some outstanding projects completed by Turner include the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Liberty View Towers, Princeton Stadium, Capital Health Systems' emergency room addition, restoration and renovation of the State House Annex and the Trenton War Memorial, the Marriott Conference Hotel at Lafayette Yard in Trenton, Bridgewater Crossing, the AT&T Network Operations Center and many buildings at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Skanska USA Building Inc., with American headquarters in Parsippany, had revenues last year of $5.26 billion, ranking it 6th in the nation. and 2nd on our New Jersey listing.

Perhaps its most prominent undertaking has been a 100,000 square-foot addition and substantial renovations to the existing 196,000 square-foot Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, which is still ongoing.

Its handiwork is seen all over the state, from the multi-phased expansion by Aventis Pharmaceuticals in Bridgewater, which included two new laboratory buildings, to a new air cargo facility at Newark Liberty International Airport. It won the "New Good Neighbor" Award from this magazine and New Jersey Business & Industry Association for its work in transforming an old Asbury Park site into a new 45,000 square-foot, three-story NJEDA office building as well as renovating an existing 5-story, 100,000 square-foot parking garage.

Bovis Lend Lease, New York, has a major regional office at 821 Alexander Road, Princeton, first established in 1986, which has 150 professionals on staff. Bovis Lend Lease Princeton is well known for managing prominent projects in all building sectors, providing customized planning, project/ construction management and consulting services.

Bovis Lend Lease recorded revenues of $3.85 billion in 2005 to rank it 7th on the Top 400 national listing and 3rd on our state compilation. It also has more than $7 billion in new contracts.

Among its New Jersey undertakings have been the Abbott District Schools, The ACE Club, GlaxoSmithKline's Automation Laboratory Facility, Rowan University, Underwood Memorial Hospital's emergency department expansion and the Princeton Township Municipal Building.

The Woodbury-based Underwood-Memorial Hospital project is a $35-million contract, due for completion this year, which includes phased construction of: two 3-story additions expanding the emergency department; installation of two 7stop staff elevators; additional parking for the emergency department; relocation of the Family Practice Center and Nurse Education operations into a new freestanding Family Practice Center; and construction of a parking garage.

Washington Group International, Boise, Idaho, has a regional office at 510 Carnegie Center, Princeton, which serves such markets as power, life sciences and infrastructure.

It is listed 13th among the Top 400 with revenues in 2005 of $2.48 billion and comes in 4th among New Jersey operations.

Washington Group international received a contract from New Jersey Transit to deliver a light rail transit system and operate and maintain it for 15 years, under a design/ build/ operate/ maintain (DBOM) contract. Washington Group is the majority owner of 21st Century Rail Corporation (70 percent) and the prime contractor. Much of the Hudson-Bergen system's 20.5-mile line is already in operation. Eventually, it will extend from Bayonne to the Vince Lombardi Service Center and commuter parking facility in Bergen County.

Gilbane, Inc., one of the largest privately-held family-owned companies in the construction and real estate industry, is based in Providence, Rhode Island, and has its Northeast Regional Headquarters in Lawrenceville. It ranks 14th on the 400 listing and comes in 5th on our list.

Gilbane's Lawrenceville office at 3150 Brunswick Pike serves a wide variety of clients across the state. It has worked in New Jersey since 1966 and has managed approximately $5 billion of construction here. Its full-service office offers estimating, scheduling, purchasing and other disciplines in relation to its construction and management programs.

Gilbane's biggest profile job in the state is the new 360,000 square-foot, 7-story replacement hospital at The Jersey City Medical Center. The facility is a 360-bed hospital with numerous medical and technical departments. The 15-acre campus presently includes two facilities, the Wilzig Hospital and the Provident Bank Ambulatory Center.

Foster Wheeler Ltd., with headquarters in Bermuda and operational headquarters in Clinton, is ranked 30th on the Top 400 listing with $1.44 billion in revenues last year, while it comes in 6th on the state compilation. Some $1.31 billion in revenue is derived from overseas projects. It's worth noting that it has a whopping $2.87 billion in new contracts underway. It operates through two business groups, The Global Engineering and Construction Group and The Global Power Group.

The company was formed in 1927 from a merger of the Power Specialty Company, created by the Foster family in 1884, and the Wheeler Condenser & Engineering Company, whose roots go back to 1891.

Panattoni Construction Inc., Sacramento, California, with a regional office in Edison, is 75th on the national listing and 7th on the New Jersey one, with $557.8 million in revenue. It is a design build construction firm for commercial, industrial, office and manufacturing facilities.

The firm was founded in 1986 by Carl Panattoni, who is chairman. In the past five years, it has averaged some 10 million square feet of development annually. It develops and manages facilities in more than 100 markets across the country.

It has $665 million of work in the hopper.

HRH Construction, LLC, White Plains, with a regional operation based at 1 Harmon Place, Secaucus, ranks 82nd on the Top 400 listing and is 8 th on our rankings, with $528 million in revenue last year. It has $750 million in new work on the books.

The firm was founded in 1925 when the Horowitz and Ravitch family businesses, which began in 1888, were merged. In 1977, HRH merged with Starett Corp., a major real estate developer, construction and project management firm.

HRH provides the New York New Jersey region with solutions to its construction needs. As one of the nation's top construction managers and general contractors, it is noted for its work on such jobs as the Jacob Javits Convention Center, AT&T's World Headquarters, Citicorp Center and many others.

ABB Lummus Global, Bloomfield, is ranked at 100th on the Top 400 listing and 9th on the state compilation, with $459.1 million, most of it ($448.3 million) in international work. It has some $698.7 million in new contracts.

ABB Lummus Global is an international organization that focuses on the oil and gas, petroleum refining and petrochemical process industries. Its projects and services extend from gas processing plants and refineries to petrochemical, chemical and polymer facilities. It operates in 100 countries and employs about 105,000 people around the globe.

Torcon, Inc., which for many years was in Westfield, is now based in a new facility at 328 Newman Springs Road, Red Bank. The firm is listed 105th among the 400 Top Contractors, and 101 on the New Jersey listing, with $425 million in revenue. It has $434 million in new contracts.

"Although we have proudly called Westfield our home for over 40 years, the company's continuing growth necessitated that we take a strategic look at our operations and office space needs," explains Joseph A. Torcivia, copresident of Torcon.

Torcon provides construction management and general contracting services to leading corporations and private institutions. It was founded in 1965, and is now one of the most active construction management firms in the MidAtlantic states, as well as one of Puerto Rico's leading pharmaceutical specialists.

In the past decade, Torcon has completed more than $4 billion of construction.

Kajima Construction Services, Atlanta, Georgia, with regional offices in Rochelle Park, is 122nd on the Top 400 Contractors in the U.S., and is ranked 11th in the state, with $380 million in revenue. It is owned by Kajima Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1840, which provides contracting services around the globe. It is involved in construction, architecture, real estate development, engineering, environmental engineering, global support and research and development. It employs more than 13,000 people.

It started its U.S. operations in 1961 as a full-service designbuild provider for Japanese clients here. Since then, Kajima has expanded to a total solutions provider with a group of U.S. companies that span the facilities development, design and construction industries.

Commercial Developments International, Inc. (CDI) was incorporated in 1989 as part of a corporate-wide program by Kajima U.S.A. Inc. to streamline operations. One of its key projects was the CNBC News Headquarters Building, Englewood Cliffs, developed in two units of 300,000 and 200,000 square feet which contain 17,000 square feet of studio and 40,000 square feet of technical support space.

Weeks Marine, Inc., Cranford, with $356.7 million in revenue, is listed 137th, of the 400 construction firms nationally and 12th among New Jersey operations. It has $398.7 million in new contracts signed. Weeks Marine has, over the past 75 years, responded to the many changes which have transpired in the marine industry and the ports that serve that industry. Originally formed in 1919 as the Weeks Stevedoring Company, it has grown into six divisions: dredging; construction; stevedoring; marine transportation; heavy lift and salvage; and equipment charter-rentals.

Weeks Marine operates hydraulic, hopper and clamshell dredges throughout the U.S. and the Caribbean. It is also the largest bulk stevedore in the Port of New York/New Jersey and one of the largest on the U.S. East Coast. It specializes in marine-related construction projects including piers, jetties, pipelines, bridges and offshore platforms.

Joseph Jingoli & Son, Inc., Lawrenceville, reported revenues last year of $265.1 million, to place it 198th on the 400 listing and 13th on our ranking. It also has more than $309 million in new contracts.

The firm is a multi-disciplined company specializing in heavy civil/ mechanical projects, infrastructure, thermal distribution, power plants, general contracting, construction management and design/ build projects.

Founded in 1922, the company is a fourth-generation familyowned firm with over 300 employees. It is headed by CEO Joseph R. Jingoli, Jr., CFO/COO Michael D. Jingoli and President Robert E. Reager.

It recently completed work on the $72-million Child Health Institute for UMDNJ and Devco in New Brunswick. It was also the construction manager on the $50-million Children's Specialized Hospital, completed in June this year. The new hospital is connected to the Bristol-Myers Squibb Childrens Hospital and is adjacent to the newly constructed Child Health Institute.

J. Fletcher Creamer & Son, Inc., Hackensack, is ranked 225th of the Top 400 Contractors in the U.S., with $235 million in revenue last year and is 14th on NJB's listing.

The firm, with new contracts totaling $187.4 million, is a fullservice, multi-faceted contracting company serving the business community; governmental agencies and utilities throughout the U.S. Although it specializes in the installation of fiber optic cable as well as underground transmission lines for communication, cable TV, electric, gas and water systems, it also undertakes numerous other projects under the broad heading of heavy and highway construction. it handles rock excavation, highway construction, pile driving, bridges, dams, demolition, cleaning and lining of potable water mains, boring, jacking and tunneling.

Barr & Barr Inc., New York City, with offices in Franklin Lakes and Toms River, had revenues last year of $234.7 million to rank it 226th on the Top 400 list and 15th, on the New Jersey list. It also had $531.3 million in new contract work. Glenn Kiefer, senior executive vice president of Barr & Barr, notes that the firm is already constructing another new building for the extraordinary 460,000 square-foot campus completed for Stryker Orthopaedics in Mahwah in 2003. Now under construction, with scheduled completion in January, the 40,000 square-foot Stryker Education Center is a training facility for doctors from around the world who will learn the most advanced procedures in the application of Stryker Orthopaedic joints and implants.

The new $12-million building, Kiefer explains, will house a conference center, tiered classrooms and teaching labs for sophisticated teleconferencing and video broadcasts.

The initial $80-million segment of the campus won numerous honors, including the "New Good Neighbor" Award.

According to Barr & Barr Executive Vice President Keith Stanisce, most of the $100-million expansion and modernization of Community Medical Center in Toms River has been accomplished. Most recently, Phase One and Phase Two of a new 90,000 square-foot emergency department were finished. The final Phase Three is expected to be ready during the first quarter of 2007. Once fully on line, Community Medical Center's emergency unit will be the largest in New Jersey.

Barr & Barr has worked successfully on a host of landmark projects at Princeton University for more than two decades. Stanisce relates that in 2006, three projects have been concluded: the Guyot Teaching Labs, Clio Hall renovation and the historic Boiler House remake. The three comprise some 75,000 square feet of space.

Now in the pre-construction stage is a new, 100,000 squarefoot operations, research, finance and engineering building, which will include offices, conference rooms and lecture halls. Stanisce says he expects to launch construction in the first quarter of 2007.

The Conti Group, South Plainfield, which this year marks its centennial, includes Conti Enterprises, Inc. Conti Environment & Infrastructure, Inc., Contico Corp., Conti Remediation, Conti of New York and Citadel. It is a fourthgeneration company. Kurt G. Conti now heads the firm that is heavily involved in the construction, remediation and physical securities industries.

Conti is ranked the 229th largest of the 400 listing and is 16th largest in New Jersey, with $230.8 million in revenue and $380.4 million in contracts. The firm, founded in 1906, has evolved into an industry leader. It has expanded its size and scope of civil and remediation projects as well as its geographic reach throughout the Northeast. In 2002, Conti established Citadel, LLC to provide physical security to clients. It has performed facility design-build, conducted vulnerability assessments and performed numerous security upgrades at federal, state and local agencies.

Conti entered the power industry field in 2005 with two new businesses: AlterNet Power for on-site clean energy generation processes; and Conti Power & Industrial, which provides construction services to the power industry.

VRH Construction Corp., Englewood, a privately-held corporation, provides preconstruction, general construction and construction management services in the New Jersey-New York area. Founded in 1958, it is ranked 320th on the 400 list and 17th among New Jersey firms, with $163.5 million in revenues for 2005. It has handled projects from $10,000 to $250 million in the fields of aviation, transportation, general building and food.

Among its recent assignments is the 250,000 square-foot FIS Terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport. Another notable job was the installation of enclosures around the suspension cable of the George Washington Bridge and the placement of a dehumidifying system within each of four enclosures.

Railroad Construction Family of Companies, Paterson, was established in 1926 as a family-owned company and provides design, construction, rehabilitation, electrical and mechanical services, steel fabrication, heavy hauling and equipment painting and restoration. With $155 million in revenues in 2005, it is ranked 334th on the 400 Top Contractors listing and 18th, on the New Jersey list. It has $165 million in new contracts.

The 80-year-old company is headed by the founder's grandsons, James J. Daloisio, who runs Railroad Construction Company of South Jersey, specializing in track work; and Alfonso Daloisio, Jr., who runs the Paterson-based operation in cooperation with RCC's executive committee. Railroad Construction Company does railroad work, site work, drainage, bridge and highway work. RCC Builders, Inc., specializes in construction and rehabilitation of buildings, while RCC Electric does electrical rehabilitation and construction jobs. RCC Design, Inc. performs planning, design and survey work. RCC Materials & Equipment performs track maintenance.

The firm, which has completed a number of New Jersey Turnpike toll plazas, is working on the Route 46-Riverside Drive interchange in Totowa/Wayne and the Route 1 & 9Secaucus Road separation. It is also working on the main rail bridge connection in Secaucus.

March Associates, Inc., Wayne, was founded in 1986 by Louis D. March Sr., who has directed the firm to be a major factor in the construction industry in the TriState area. It is involved in general contracting, construction management, consulting, interior construction, tenant fit-ups, preconstruction and financing.

March is ranked 335th of the nation's Top 400 construction firms, with $154.9 million in revenues last year. It is 19" on our listing of Garden State firms.

Some of its projects under construction include: The Promenade, a $100-million residential complex in Edgewater; Riverview @ City Place, Edgewater, a $5.7 million job for K. Hovnanian Enterprises; 1100 Adams Street, Hoboken, an $11-million condominium enterprise; and a $12.5-million affordable housing complex for Tarragon Realty in Hoboken. It has undertaken a number of retail complex constructions, including the $11.5-million Target in North Bergen and the $1-million Bed, Bath & Beyond in Parsippany.

Terminal Construction Corporation, Wood-Ridge, which has been in business for over 60 years, is one of the largest contractors on the Eastern Seaboard. Its projects have included underground tunnels, hospitals, schools, military installations, post offices, office buildings, sewage treatment plants, transportation projects, water pollution control plants, residential complexes and athletic and recreational facilities.

The firm is headed by Donald N. Dinallo, president and CEO.

Terminal is ranked 369 on the 400 List with $140 million in revenues last year and $110 million on the books in new work. It is ranked 20th on our New Jersey list. Among its recent accomplishments are: the Rowan School of Engineering; the Psychiatric Medical Center at the Veterans Administration Building in Lyons; station finishes at the Secaucus Transfer Station; and the automatic people mover remote station at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The Henderson Corp., Raritan, founded in 1953 and incorporated in 1958, provides construction management, general contract and design/build services to clients throughout the country. It delivers services on a specialized range of projects, including pharmaceutical, research and development, corporate office, retail, higher education, assisted living, hospital, warehouse and manufacturing.

Henderson is listed 375th on the 400 List with $136.3 million in revenue and 21th on the New Jersey compilation. It also has $145 million in new contracts.

Some of its current projects include: the Biomedical Engineering Building, Busch Campus, Rutgers University, Piscataway; Camden School District, Early Childhood Development Center, Camden; Long Branch Public School District's New Gregory Elementary School, Long Branch; and two jobs at Seton Hall University McNulty Hall Science & Technology Center (additions and renovations) and Turrell Manor renovations, both in South Orange.

These top construction companies, many of them large corporations and others second and third-generation firms, are universal in saying much of their business is with repeat customers signifying a job well done. All comment that they get the job done on time and under budget.