Work zone crashes drop 9 percent in Michigan
The lousy economy took its toll on some of the largest Michigan-based construction contractors, as many dropped in their positions - or dropped off the chart - of the top 400 contractors as ranked by the Engineering News Record.

Released last month, the annual list puts Barton Malow at the top of the rankings for Michigan-based firms. Overall, the Southfield-based company was the 39th largest contractor by revenue in 2008, climbing four spots. Not far behind was Detroit-based Walbridge, ranked 48th, eight spots better than 2008.

Barton Malow and Walbridge are perennially at the top of the list for Michigan-based companies.

With the horrific drop in the U.S. market not taking place until October, the ENR said overall, 2008 was still a good year for large U.S. contractors. "With the economy in recession and the market in decline, many large contractors are thankful that 2008 was booming, giving them one last chance to build backlogs," the ENR said.

It was a bit of a different story for the rest of the top Michigan-based contractors in the top-400 for revenue. Angelo Iafrate Co., Warren climbed on the list (#131, +8 from 2008).

But other big contractors dropped: The Christman Co., Lansing (#172, -8); Rockford Construction Co., Grand Rapids (#248, -53); Clark Construction, Lansing (#324, -27); Owens-Ames-Kimball, Grand Rapids (#361, -56); Aristeo Construction Co. Livonia (#365, -23); Granger Construction Co., Lansing #369, -115), and Roncelli, Inc., Sterling Heights (#371, -73).

Nationwide, the top-six largest contractors in 2009 didn't change from 2008: Bechtel, Fluor, The Turner Corp., KBR, Kiewit, and Skanska USA, Inc.

Top-400 contractors that have a presence in Michigan include Alberici (#47); The Boldt Co. (#86); Miron Construction (#106), and Lunda Construction (#213).

The Engineering News Record reported that its top 400 contractors earned $338.38 billion in contracting revenue in 2008, up 11.2% over the $304.36 billion that the Top 400 took in during 2007.

The ENR said of 375 contractors on this year's list that submitted surveys last year, 245 had revenue increases, 128 saw declines and two were virtually unchanged.