SPECIAL SECTION: CONSTRUCTION

	Introduction: I-Beams and Ice Cream
	Oil for the Erector Set Construction is booming across the state, but this time around it's being fueled by economic development, not speculative investors. By Bill Edwards
	Building a Bright Future Careers in construction aren't what they used to be: Opportunities abound as the industry embraces advanced technology and faces a worker shortage. By Kathleen F. Phalen
	So Much to Build, So Little Cash If government money materializes for Virginia's vast infrastructure needs, the construction boom may continue well into the next decade. By Dominic Perella

PROFILES:
	Working on Water Tidewater Construction's name reflects its marine-related building abilities and its transatlantic owners. By Lois Carter Fay
	Construction Since Reconstruction From humble beginnings in 1896, Howard Shockey & Sons has become one of the largest builders in the state. By Lois Carter Fay
	Danville's Daniel Stands Alone Focusing on projects within a 100-mile radius of Danville keeps John W. Daniel & Co. on top in its home town. By Catherine L. Traugot
	Measured Against the Golden Rule Kenbridge Construction executives treat customers the way they would like to be treated. By Beth Cooper

When Media General was constructing its new headquarters in downtown Richmond, I had a prime viewing position. For 15 months, I watched the building climb toward the sky from its clay pit.

I saw the construction workers leveling, pouring, measuring, maneuvering, aligning, banging and balancing. But for the most part, I missed all the action. I would look up one day and ask my colleagues: "Hey, when did they put the second floor on?" It was like watching a child grow -- diapers to dating in the blink of an eyelid.

You see, we're kept very busy at Virginia Business magazine producing special sections like this one on the construction industry, which was produced in cooperation with the Associated General Contractors of Virginia. There's not a lot of downtime to gaze out the window in wonderment at the evolution of a five-story building.

But, I'll admit, there were odd occasions when we found ourselves intrigued by the goings-on across the street: Workers confidently walking along precariously narrow I-beams, making our stomachs churn. Cranes swinging huge precast concrete slabs into place with the utmost precision and care, making us hold our breath. Men visiting the bank of port-a-potties in front of our window, making us exclaim: "Eeww, gross!"

As time went by, we began to realize that if we could see them, they could see us. So when a former employee of the magazine sent a bucket of ice cream to the tower crane operator -- bearing a note reading: "From the women of Virginia Business" -- those of us who had no part in the ice cream caper were mortified. Did those burly construction workers now think we had been ogling them for months? Could we ever walk past the building site again without blushing?

In truth, these construction workers were most unlike their cliched image. No one at Virginia Business had cause to complain about wolf whistles, and we didn't hear any cursing or shouting from the site. They all seemed to drive pricey pick-up trucks, and we rarely saw anyone sitting down on the job. When we did catch them taking a break, it was at the local lunch spot, and they were chowing down on far more expensive meals than we had.

And after completing this special section, I now know why: Most of them earned more than us. One of the stories documents the shortage of construction workers around the state and the impact of technology on the industry. It seems that while parents and school guidance counselors have been herding kids into college, they've been missing great opportunities for secure, well-paying and challenging careers in construction.

By all accounts, the construction industry in Virginia is booming. And pundits say this boom has more longevity than the last one in the 1980s. This time around, they say, it's economic development, not speculative investment, that's fueling the upswing. It's not all beer and skittles though: There are murmurings that things might slow down this year.

But in the meantime, from the $200 million MCI WorldCom campus in Northern Virginia to the $400 million Chaparral Steel mill in Dinwiddie County and the widening of Route 58 in Southside, construction sites around the state are flat out building a better Virginia.

Let's all chip in and buy them some ice cream this summer -- from the readers for Virginia Business.