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The article focuses on issues related to the construction market for large-scale industrial process plants. The market has long since left U.S. shores, but owners are seeking engineers to redesign and realign existing structures to optimize quality, minimize waste and develop niche products. The maturing of the U.S. industrial process construction market continues, with most big greenfield projects going abroad, particularly to the Mideast region or China, where the cost of both financing and feedstock are significantly less, says Michael A. Pears, senior vice president of Fluor Corp.'s chemical business.

The article presents news briefs related to civil engineering from around the world. Dallas, Texas-based Flowserve Corp. has signed a $14-million deal with Al Rushaid Group to build the largest facility in the Middle East for servicing industrial pumps. Marlton, New Jersey-based Hill International Overseas Inc. has been awarded the project management contract for an estimated $27.2-billion tourism development project in Bawadi, near Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The American Society of Civil Engineers convened some 90 construction industry executives, academics and others last month in Leesburg, Virginia, for an invitation-only "summit" on the future of civil engineering.