Over the past few months a lot has been said about the delays, postponements and cancellations of casino developments in the United States because of the present economic climate. This week it is criticism of ongoing construction works that is making news. In Atlantic City the Revel Entertainment Group is under fire for its building of a beachfront casino entertainment resort on twenty acres of land along the Atlantic City boardwalk, and in Las Vegas Perini Corporation faces questions about its practices at building sites on the Strip.

The Revel property in Atlantic City has Tishman Construction Corporation serving as Construction Manager of the project, the company that is overseeing the giant CityCenter commercial development in Las Vegas and was also Construction Manager at Boyd Gaming’s Echelon complex where work has now been postponed. According to the Atlantic City Engineer’s Office, the US$2 billion Revel development has already caused around US$800,000 of damage to city streets, walkways and other property.

The speed of the construction, due to be completed in 2010, is blamed for the damage through lack of care. There have been spills of concrete throughout the city and broken curbs along sidewalks as well as breakage to granite inlets that provide storm water drainage and if not repaired could lead to flooding. Revel has pledged to make the necessary repairs but the Engineer’s Office plans to send inspectors out to the site four or five times a day instead of the usual once.

Doing too much too fast has been suggested as compromising worker safety at Perini building sites where, as general contractor, the company has overall responsibility for safety. In the last two years nine men have died on Las Vegas Strip developments, including six at CityCenter. The company says that poor judgement of workers contributed to some deaths and that safety is high priority. The Boston Globe reports that state and county lawmakers are considering new laws to protect workers, and that at one point 6,000 workers staged a walk-out until Perini negotiated safety initiatives with labour unions. Perini has increased training, employed safety consultants and increased the number of safety engineers. (E-09.10.08)

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