Document and Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Nov. 02, 2018
Document and Entity Information
Entity Registrant Name	TUTOR PERINI CORP
Entity Central Index Key	0000077543
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2018
Amendment Flag	false
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		50,025,996
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2018
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Trading Symbol	tpc
Entity Small Business	false
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false