Firms bracing for DoD cuts

With the funding for Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) pretty much dwindling away, Giants firms that perform work for the Pentagon and the military branches can expect fairly significant cuts in project spending in the next year or so.

The proposed military construction budget for FY2013 is $11.2 billion, down 24% from the previous fiscal year. Election-year politics could also have a chilling effect on spending, adding to the uncertainty.

Nonetheless, the military remains a huge consumer of design and construction services. DoD’s portfolio of 300,000 buildings totaling 2.2 billion sf is six times larger than the General Services Administration’s. With energy costs running at $4 billion a year, the Pentagon is taking aggressive steps to cut operating costs for its facilities.

These efforts include pilot programs for net-zero energy, water, and waste in military facilities, as well as improved living facilities for bachelor personnel and military families. Construction of VA hospitals and long-term care facilities likely will also be ramped up. +

TOP 25 MILITARY SECTOR ARCHITECTURE FIRMS

Rank	Company	2011 Military Revenue ($)
1	HDR Architecture	$99,700,000
2	Heery International	$43,475,000
3	RTKL Associates	$17,173,273
4	Leo A Daly	$14,753,871
5	RSP Architects	$11,000,000
6	VOA Associates	$9,590,331
7	LS3P Associates	$9,224,882
8	Sherlock, Smith & Adams	$8,830,000
9	HOK	$8,749,412
10	Gensler	$7,500,000
11	EwingCole	$7,000,000
12	Reynolds, Smith and Hills	$6,300,000
13	HNTB Architecture	$6,059,352
14	Flad Architects	$6,000,000
15	ZGF Architects	$5,137,746
16	EYP Architecture & Engineering	$4,764,411
17	Tetra Tech Architects & Engineers	$4,525,000
18	KZF Design Inc.	$3,913,026
19	PGAL	$3,607,900
20	CTA Architects Engineers	$3,003,900
21	Fentress Architects	$2,909,000
22	RNL	$2,793,000
23	Rosser International	$2,592,113
24	Cooper Carry	$2,140,420
25	Hammel, Green and Abrahamson	$2,031,000

TOP 25 MILITARY SECTOR ENGINEERING FIRMS

Rank	Company	2011 Military Revenue ($)
1	Fluor Corp.	2,123,247,000
2	URS Corp.	431,776,114
3	Science Applications International Corp.	97,512,998
4	Jacobs	91,000,000
5	Michael Baker Jr., Inc.	69,450,000
6	Burns & McDonnell	54,856,212
7	Atkins North America	48,350,538
8	Clark Nexsen	41,000,000
9	Allen & Shariff	38,323,273
10	STV	15,475,000
11	Eaton Energy Solutions	12,169,598
12	Dewberry	11,401,250
13	BRPH	10,500,000
14	Parsons Brinckerhoff	8,592,246
15	Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon	8,000,000
16	Guernsey	6,467,256
17	Smith Seckman Reid	6,400,000
18	KCI Technologies	5,795,000
19	Newcomb & Boyd	4,696,144
20	KPFF Consulting Engineers	4,000,000
21	H&A Architects & Engineers	3,906,402
22	Rolf Jensen & Associates	3,000,000
23	Coffman Engineers	2,800,000
24	TLC Engineering for Architecture	2,748,782
25	Simpson Gumpertz & Heger	2,604,000

TOP 25 MILITARY SECTOR CONSTRUCTION FIRMS

Rank	Company	2011 Military Revenue ($)
1	Clark Group	1,090,166,857
2	Balfour Beatty US	790,265,417
3	Gilbane Building	552,002,000
4	BL Harbert International	547,000,000
5	Lend Lease	515,594,471
6	URS Corp.	431,776,114
7	Hensel Phelps Construction	381,090,000
8	Walsh Group, The	371,979,780
9	Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., The	346,805,961
10	Tutor Perini Corp.	292,764,000
11	Hunt Companies	263,617,817
12	Mortenson	262,560,000
13	JE Dunn Construction	245,661,074
14	Weitz Co., The	227,710,000
15	Turner Corporation, The	227,184,376
16	Manhattan Construction Group	214,768,000
17	Sundt Construction	172,519,845
18	Walbridge	134,300,000
19	Yates Co., Inc., The	133,900,000
20	CORE Construction	117,844,700
21	Coakley & Williams Construction, Inc.	103,386,324
22	Haskell	94,752,188
23	Jacobs	91,000,000
24	Suffolk Construction	85,766,599
25	McCarthy Holdings	70,000,000

Earlier this month, my colleague and I presented a session to a group of civil engineers and transportation agencies about the tech trends in the AEC space. Along with advice on how to prepare your plan for controlled collaboration, we also talked through some practical use cases. One such use case was especially interesting, as it outlined a challenge not unfamiliar to government agencies who are contemplating the leap from paper to digital processes: how to securely migrate workflows.

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