Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended						3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013 Project	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013 Backlog	Mar. 19, 2012 Secunda International Limited Vessel	Sep. 30, 2013 Unconsolidated joint ventures	Sep. 30, 2012 Unconsolidated joint ventures	Sep. 30, 2013 Unconsolidated joint ventures	Sep. 30, 2012 Unconsolidated joint ventures	Sep. 30, 2013 Claims Revenue	Sep. 30, 2012 Claims Revenue	Sep. 30, 2013 Claims Revenue	Sep. 30, 2012 Claims Revenue	Sep. 30, 2013 Claims Revenue Estimates at Completion	Sep. 30, 2012 Claims Revenue Estimates at Completion	Sep. 30, 2013 Minimum	Sep. 30, 2013 Maximum	Sep. 30, 2013 Atlantic	Sep. 30, 2012 Atlantic	Sep. 30, 2013 Atlantic	Sep. 30, 2012 Atlantic	Sep. 30, 2013 Atlantic Backlog	Sep. 30, 2013 Atlantic Deferred profit recognition contracts	Sep. 30, 2012 Atlantic Deferred profit recognition contracts	Sep. 30, 2013 Atlantic Deferred profit recognition contracts Project	Sep. 30, 2012 Atlantic Deferred profit recognition contracts	Sep. 30, 2013 Asia Pacific	Sep. 30, 2012 Asia Pacific	Sep. 30, 2013 Asia Pacific	Sep. 30, 2012 Asia Pacific	Sep. 30, 2013 Asia Pacific Project One of Two	Sep. 30, 2013 Middle East	Sep. 30, 2012 Middle East	Sep. 30, 2013 Middle East	Sep. 30, 2012 Middle East	Sep. 30, 2013 Middle East EPCI projects	Mar. 19, 2012 Charter Fleet Business Vessel
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of vessels operated																																							10
Number of vessels							14
Unapproved change orders	$ 468,000,000		$ 468,000,000			$ 138,000,000
Percentage of completion to recognize expected profit	70.00%		70.00%
Number of projects accounted under deferred profit recognition policy																											1
Revenues	686,856,000	1,028,745,000	2,141,594,000	2,645,671,000				0	9,000,000	3,700,000	14,000,000	17,600,000	7,000,000	56,900,000	45,000,000	186,300,000	78,600,000			116,871,000	125,317,000	451,609,000	335,225,000	151,300,000	36,000,000	16,000,000	79,000,000	29,000,000	190,231,000	468,200,000	746,122,000	1,103,699,000		379,754,000	435,228,000	943,863,000	1,206,747,000
Cost of operations	686,415,000	889,823,000	2,122,488,000	2,246,961,000				0	9,000,000	3,700,000	14,000,000	17,600,000	7,000,000	56,900,000	45,000,000	186,300,000	78,600,000								35,000,000	16,000,000	77,000,000	29,000,000
Claim amounts																				8.00%	11.00%	8.00%	11.00%						41.00%	10.00%	41.00%	10.00%		51.00%	79.00%	51.00%	79.00%
Number of Projects in Loss Position			4
Changes in project estimates																													66,000,000		66,000,000		132,000,000					38,000,000
Changes in estimated cost of completion																													33,000,000		33,000,000
Increased estimated costs of project																				9,000,000		21,000,000							33,000,000		99,000,000
Equity method of accounting investment ownership																		20.00%	50.00%
Accounts receivable - other	110,252,000		110,252,000		75,461,000
Allowance for doubtful accounts	0		0		0
Contracts in progress			586,120,000		560,154,000
Advance billing on contracts			312,268,000		241,696,000
Income (loss) from continuing operations before provision for income taxes and noncontrolling interests	(46,769,000)	84,207,000	(135,373,000)	257,151,000
Provision for Income Taxes	12,278,000	29,916,000	45,493,000	87,004,000
Net operating loss carry forwards, valuation allowance	76,000,000		76,000,000
Deferred taxes related to net operating loss carry forwards	85,000,000		85,000,000
Deferred taxes expected to be realized through future taxable income	9,000,000		9,000,000
Deferred taxes related to net operating loss carry forwards	$ 135,000,000		$ 135,000,000