Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 15, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Loss contingency litigation			On January 13, 2014, one of our subsidiaries, J. Ray McDermott de Mexico S.A. de C.V. (“JRMM”), filed separate arbitration proceedings against Atlantic Tiburon 1 Pte. Ltd. (“AT1”) and Atlantic Tiburon 3 Pte. Ltd. (“AT3”) in the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (the “ICC”) for damages, including amounts due on unpaid invoices for rig repair work on the drilling rigs Atlantic Tiburon 1 and Atlantic Tiburon 3. On February 26, 2014, AT1 filed a separate arbitration proceeding against JRMM with the ICC generally alleging, among other things, breach of contract, fraudulent inducement, negligence and denial of access to the rigs, and AT3 filed a counterclaim against JRMM with the ICC containing similar allegations to the separate arbitration proceeding filed by AT1. In January 2015, the claims between JRMM and AT3 were resolved by agreement of the parties.
Environmental accruals, Noncurrent			$ 2	$ 4
Aggregate possible liquidated damage due to failure to meet specified contractual milestone dates, offshore oil and gas construction segment			76
Liquidated damage contingencies, accrued			7
Total rental expense			$ 40	$ 107	$ 117
AT1 [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Claims settlement amount	$ 17
AT1 [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Alleged damage claims amount		$ 170