Louis Berger Group

Not to be confused with Louis Berger & Co.

The Louis Berger Group is an American architectural and engineering design firm based in Morristown, New Jersey. As of September 2011, the Louis Berger Group ranked as the third largest USAID private-sector partner,[1] and has contracted some of the government’s largest post-conflict redevelopment projects in Iraq and Afghanistan.

History

Louis Berger was a graduate of Tufts College with a B.S. degree in civil engineering; an M.A. (soils and geology) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and doctorate (soil mechanics) from Northwestern University. He also served as a faculty member of Penn State's engineering department, and with his colleagues designed a large portion of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the first turnpike in the United States. After completion of the contract, from his office in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he opened a second office, and -- often employing local labor to fulfill international contracts -- was involved in the designing and building highways, railroad, bridges and airfields in 120 countries.

In November 2010, Louis Berger Group agreed to pay a record $69.3 million to settle charges of fraud against the government brought under the False Claims Act. The case, filed by a whistleblower, alleged that the company billed the government for internal costs unrelated to its rebuilding contracts in Afghanistan. This is the largest fraud settlement paid by a war-zone contractor to the U.S. government.[2]

In December 2010 the Discovery Science Channel production team filmed 30-hours of footage of the works for the construction of a new bridge over the Sava River in Belgrade, Serbia.[3][4]

In 2014, the State Department began expanding into the Navy Hill Complex across 23rd Street NW from the Truman Building.[5] A joint venture consisting of the architectural firms of Goody, Clancy and the Louis Berger Group won a $2.5 million contract in January 2014 to begin planning the renovation of the buildings on the 11.8 acres (48,000 m2) Navy Hill campus, which housed the World War II headquarters of the Office of Strategic Services and was the first headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "devex.com".
  2. ↑ "Phillips and Cohen whistleblower case yields record settlement for fraud by US contractor in Afghanistan" Phillips & Cohen LLP Press Release. November 5, 2010.
  3. ↑ Sava River Bridge, Discovery.com
  4. ↑ Bridge Over the River Sava in the City of Belgrade Project
  5. ↑ This complex is also known as the "Potomac Annex".
  6. ↑ Sernovitz, Daniel J. "Boston Firm Picked for State Department Consolidation." Washington Business Journal. January 14, 2014. Accessed 2014-01-14.

External links