NEWS/PRESS

March 26, 2009
Engineering News Record recognizes AmQuip for Spearheading a Local Safety Standard for Tower Cranes

On March 26, 2009, Frank Bardonaro Jr. received one of 25 Top Newsmaker Awards from Engineering News-Record (ENR) – McGraw-Hill Construction’s prestigious news magazine, which is part of the McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP) at the 44th annual Award of Excellence dinner held March 26 at the New York Marriott Marquis. It was attended by more than 1,000 construction industry leaders.

Bardonaro, president and chief operating officer of AmQuip Crane Rental LLC in Bensalem, Pa., was recognized for raising the bar on crane safety. Contractors do not usually ask regulators to impose more restrictions, but a trend in fatal crane accidents last year prompted Bardonaro to act swiftly to clean up safety lapses. After hearing of initial regulations drafted in Philadelphia, he assembled industry groups, including a local steel erector, labor unions and a rigging company, to help the city craft a more intelligent policy.

The Philadelphia tower-crane standard, signed into law in December 2008, had unanimous support, and is the most comprehensive crane regulation in the U.S., addressing safe operations, rigging, signaling and inspections, and may be amended later to include mobile cranes. Other cities and states are looking at it as a model.

Bardonaro also serves as chairman of the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association’s tower-crane committee and is working on an international effort to standardize rules.

ENR’s top honor, the Award of Excellence, was presented to Bernard Amadei, Ph.D., NAE, professor of civil engineering, and director of the Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities program at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Amadei was selected for his work in launching Engineers Without Borders-USA in 2002, a group that now not only delivers needed infrastructure to developing communities around the world, but also allows young engineers and others to build on their academic skills to become better managers of people and projects earlier in their careers.

The recipient of the Award of Excellence and the other 24 Newsmakers, also honored at March 26 award ceremonies, were selected from a large pool of nominees judged by ENR editors to have made the most important contributions to the industry and the public in 2008. ENR magazine and its website, ENR.com, are the primary trusted sources of news, analysis, commentary and data for the building, design and construction industry.

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