Turner Construction is an American

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

company with presence in 20 countries. It is a subsidiary of the German company

Hochtief Hochtief AG is a German construction company based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

as of 2020, with a revenue of $14.41 billion in 2020. Turner Construction was founded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in 1902 by Henry Chandlee Turner. Its first project was a $690 concrete vault in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, followed by concrete staircases for the New York City Subway. By the late 1920s, Turner was constructing buildings for large businesses in the United States. Turner's stock began trading on the

American Stock Exchange NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was kno ...

in 1972. Turner's projects have included large buildings and numerous sports stadiums. Then, in 1999, Hochtief purchased Turner. In 2010s, the company was involved in a multi-year bid rigging scheme related to interior work at Bloomberg L.P. resulting in its then vice president Ronald Olson to plead guilty to federal charge of tax evasion on accepting $1.5 million in bribes from subcontractors and then project superintendent Vito Nigro to plead guilty to grand larceny. They were both also convicted of federal tax crime from this matter.

History

Early years

In 1902, Henry Chandlee Turner (1871-1954) founded Turner Construction Company with $25,000 in start-up capital, at 11 Broadway, in New York City. Turner's first job was a $690 project to build a concrete vault for Thrift Bank in the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle ...

. In 1904, a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

industrialist named Robert Gair hired Turner Construction to build several concrete buildings in Brooklyn, including a plant that was recognized as the largest reinforced concrete building in the United States at the time. Around the same time the company was developing plans for the Gair building, Turner began building concrete staircases for the New York City Subway. The original design showed the stairs were to be made of steel, but Turner persuaded Gair to use concrete as an alternative. His proposal was applauded and led to contracts for staircases and platforms for the

Interborough Rapid Transit Company The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT ...

's first subway line. The company established branch offices in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 1907, followed by Buffalo in 1908, and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

in 1916. Within the first 15 years, Turner Construction Company constructed buildings for some of the country's largest businesses, including a building for

Western Electric The Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company officially founded in 1869. A wholly owned subsidiary of American Telephone & Telegraph for most of its lifespan, it served as the primary equipment ma ...

and for

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co- ...

. From World War I to the Great Depression, the company's billings grew to nearly $44 million. Like most industries, construction suffered during the economic collapse and Turner's volume fell to $2.5 million by 1933. The company recovered and revenues increased to $12 million by 1937. The company suspended commercial construction during the war years, focusing instead on the construction of military camps, factories, and government buildings. In 1941, Henry Turner stepped down as president to serve as chairman and make room for his brother, Archie Turner, as president. In October 1946, Henry Turner retired as chairman, handing the post to his ailing brother. For his replacement, Archie Turner selected Admiral Ben Moreell, the individual responsible for forming the

Seabees , colors = , mascot = Bumblebee , battles = Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Phi ...

. One month after Moreell's appointment, Archie Turner died of a heart attack.

1950s–80s

Turner, together with three other main contractors Fuller, Slattery, Walsh built the United Nations Secretariat Building in New York, which was completed in 1952. Also in same city, Turner built the

One Chase Manhattan Plaza 28 Liberty Street, formerly known as One Chase Manhattan Plaza, is a 60-story International style skyscraper in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City, between Nassau, Liberty, William, and Pine Streets. The building was designe ...

in 1956. During the 1960s, notable projects included the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

and

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsyl ...

in 1967. From the early 1950s to the late 1960s, the company opened offices in Cincinnati, Los Angeles,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

, and San Francisco. In 1969, Turner issued over-the-counter stock and in 1972, the company's stock began trading on the

. Throughout the 1970s, the company added offices in locations such as Atlanta, Seattle, and Portland. Notable projects included the

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Medical Center Hospital in 1974 and the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library in 1977. Howard Sinclair Turner became president in 1965, and was chairman from 1970 to 1977, when he was succeeded by Walter B. Shaw. In 1984, Shaw appointed Herbert Conant as president.

1990–present

Turner Construction Company erected several professional sports stadiums during the 1990s. Sports construction was not new to the company: Turner's first sports contract was construction of the promenade at

Harvard Stadium Harvard Stadium is a U-shaped college football stadium in the northeast United States, located in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The stadium is owned and operated by Harvard University and is home to the Harvard Crimson foo ...

in 1910, followed by

Pitt Stadium Pitt Stadium was an outdoor athletic stadium in the eastern United States, located on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1925, it served primarily as the home of the uni ...

for the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

in 1925.Turner News: Centennial edition
Turner Construction, 2002 In 1995, the company completed construction of the Rose Garden in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

. In 1996, they built

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

's Bank of America Stadium, followed by completion of Sports Authority Field at Mile High in 2001. In August 1999,

Hochtief Hochtief AG is a German construction company based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.Washington, D.C. area by acquiring J.A. Jones-Tompkins Builders, Inc., the former subsidiary of J.A. Jones Construction Company. Tompkins Builders, Inc., a new entity, is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Turner Construction. By 2016, Turner had 45 office locations around the world. In August 2017, Turner Construction flouted permit regulations and unlawfully closed two lanes in middle of downtown

. In response, the city withheld inspection until the fine was paid off and the behavior prompted city transportation commissioner Dan Saltzman to issue the following statements:

"Amidst one of the busiest summer construction seasons in recent memory, I’m disappointed at the blatant disregard for the public," "For a private construction company to block a lane during rush hour, delaying thousands of people and undermining our efforts to reduce traffic congestion is unacceptable," Saltzman said in the statement. "We will hold them accountable."

Bid rigging scheme

In February 2018, investigators with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office started looking into Turner Construction and Bloomberg LP over suspected construction fraud by employees in each company and 22 subcontractors. There was conspiracy, bribery and kickbacks involved which occurred between 2010 and 2017. In the multi-year bribery and bid rigging scheme involving Turner, a former Turner vice president, Ronald Olson, pleaded guilty to bribery in July 2020. Olson pleaded guilty to tax evasion for US$1.5 million he received in connection with Bloomberg jobs while he was working for Turner. He received bribes from subcontractors in exchanging for awarding them contracts for Bloomberg L.P. projects. He was one of 14 individuals facing charges over this scandal.

Operations

Turner has 46 offices in the U.S., is active in 20 countries around the world, and averages 1,500 projects per year. Turner services include construction management, general contracting, consulting, construction procurement, insurance, and risk management. According to ''Engineering News-Record's'' 2014 Top 400 Contractors Sourcebook, Turner is the largest "Green contractor" in the United States.

2019 Cincinnati Center City Development site death

One worker was killed and four were injured in a partial collapse on November 25, 2019, in the 14-story luxury apartment at 4th & Race under construction in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

that is being built by Turner for

Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) is a private, non-profit real-estate development and finance organization focused on strategically revitalizing Cincinnati's downtown urban core in partnership with the City of Cincinnati and ...

(3CDC) and Flaherty & Collins. Concrete was being poured onto the seventh floor which was being supported from below on a temporary structure called "shoring" placed on the sixth floor. Workers were inspecting for seepage from the sixth floor when the floor above collapsed from the weight of the concrete. A worker who had gone missing in the collapse was found dead more than a day later in the rubble. Turner's previous fatality was in 2012 in Hillsboro, Oregon.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.turnerconstruction.com Companies based in New York City Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1902 Construction and civil engineering companies of the United States 1902 establishments in New York City