Scott Lewis

Nyack

Associate Editor at Engineering News-Record (ENR)

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Articles

From the Archives: November 5, 1964

3 weeks ago | enr.com | Scott Lewis

This 1964 image is perhaps the closest ENR ever came to dabbling in Op Art. It shows two workers standing inside a large conical depression with fluted sides, which is a plastic form made of glass-fiber-reinforced polyester resin. The form will be used to cast tree-like concrete members to frame the IBM Garden State Office Building in Cranford, N.J. Each concrete tree roofs a 22.5-ft square.
Saudi Buildout Launched Many US Firms into Global Markets

3 weeks ago | enr.com | Scott Lewis

Saudi Arabia was an underdeveloped country in the 1960s when its ruler, King Faisal, embarked on a far-reaching modernization drive. Faisal’s initiatives involved constructing all kinds of infrastructure and the creation of now-essential industries such as petrochemicals, iron, steel, cement and mining.
From the Archives: October 22, 2025 | Concrete Mixing Plant

1 month ago | enr.com | Scott Lewis

This 1925 cover image depicts a concrete mixing plant (one of three) for a vital project in downtown Chicago, in which South Water Street was transformed into Wacker Drive, a major multilevel street running along the Chicago River in the Loop. The project entailed 300,000 cu yd of excavation and 120,000 cu yd of concrete placement. To achieve the desired quality of concrete the uncommon practice of sand inundation was employed.
From the Archives: October 22, 1925 | Concrete Mixing Plant

1 month ago | enr.com | Scott Lewis

This 1925 cover image depicts a concrete mixing plant—one of three—for a vital project in downtown Chicago, in which South Water Street was transformed into Wacker Drive, a major multilevel street running along the Chicago River in the Loop. The project entailed 300,000 cu yd of excavation and 120,000 cu yd of concrete placement. To achieve the desired quality of concrete the uncommon practice of sand inundation was employed.
Building the Hoover Dam Drove Engineers to New Heights

1 month ago | enr.com | Scott Lewis

The Colorado River was a fault line of near-tectonic political forces by the 1920s, as the seven states within its basin continued to grow in population. A 1922 compact allocated water rights from the river, but farmers in California’s Imperial Valley suffered from unpredictable flows and called for a dam that would provide flood control and a consistent supply of irrigation water.
From the Archives: February 6, 1941

1 month ago | enr.com | Scott Lewis

This 1941 cover image shows workers on top of the drum gates of the mile-long Grand Coulee Dam in Washington State. During the 1920s there was a bitter debate over whether to build a 290-ft tall “low dam” which would generate electricity without supplying irrigation, or a 550-ft tall “high dam” which would provide sufficient electricity to pump water into the Columbia basin for irrigation.
The ‘Race Into the Sky’ That Built the Empire State Building

1 month ago | enr.com | Scott Lewis

New York City’s Woolworth Building, at 792 ft, was the world’s tallest tower in 1929, but two skyscrapers under construction across town were in a dead heat to take the crown. One was 40 Wall Street, first planned to be 840 ft. The other was the Chrysler Building, originally intended to be 808 ft but then announced to be 925 ft. The owners of 40 Wall Street then raised the building height to 927 ft., while Chrysler architect William Van Alen was allowed to install a 125-ft spire.
Confronting Racial Bias Was a Heavy Lift for Construction

1 month ago | enr.com | Scott Lewis

*This is part two of a two-part series. Read part one here. In the summer of 1969, protesters shut down over a dozen projects in Chicago, resulting in the Builders Association of Chicago and the unions holding a closed, five-hour negotiating session. Weeks later, white construction workers there went on a rampage, breaking up a Labor Dept. hearing on the dispute.
From the ENR Archives: August 24, 1944

2 months ago | enr.com | Scott Lewis

NewsConstruction methods This 1944 cover image shows a crew of Navy Seabees placing steel mats for an airstrip somewhere in the Pacific. Known as Marston mat or pierced planking, and developed by the Corps of Engineers, this product proved invaluable to the war effort. It consisted of steel sheets 1/4 in. thick, 16 in. wide, and 10 ft long, pierced with 3-in.-dia cupped holes and fringed with a series of slots and hooks so they could be interlocked to form a tight, smooth mat.
From the Archives: The Fight to Racially Integrate the US Construction Industry

Mar 14, 2025 | enr.com | Scott Lewis

The structure of the U.S. construction industry in 1960 could be compared to a stone-walled bastion. Union locals had ironclad control over their recruitment process, which was steeped in nepotism and cronyism. Contractors, dependent on unions for their labor supply, were afraid to press them to open their ranks to Black workers.