Dive Brief:

• Lamar Construction Co. shut down general contracting operations Wednesday, idling 180 workers and citing economic conditions in a statement from its headquarters in Hudsonville, Michigan.
• Some workers will stay on as projects wind down, the company said, but work in Michigan, Kentucky and Colorado is basically over, even though the company's structural steel division will keep on.
• Workers had no advance notice of the decision, which the company said made Wednesday a "sad and difficult day" forced by "current economic conditions."

Dive Insight:

Lamar had been in operation for 74 years. Among the structures it had built over the years are health care facilities, big-box retail, schools, stadiums and pedestrian bridges. The company disappeared from the Internet, too, with its site now showing only a note saying, "This site has been removed indefinitely. No further information is available." Its Facebook page, still available, noted in a post last month, "Lamar Construction ranked among the ENR Top 400 contractors for the third consecutive year."