Separate Financial Information of Subsidiary Guarantors of Indebtedness, Condensed Consolidating Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 985,346	$ 819,858	$ 1,897,880	$ 1,435,147
Cost of Operations	898,285	732,648	1,724,660	1,285,474
Gross Profit	87,061	87,210	173,220	149,673
General and Administrative Expenses	64,661	50,175	133,857	94,125
Goodwill and Intangible Asset Impairment	376,574	0	376,574	0
Income from Construction Operations	(354,174)	37,035	(337,211)	55,548
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Other Income (Expense), net	1,082	1,232	(1,226)	785
Interest Expense	(10,603)	(7,252)	(21,685)	(14,407)
(Loss) Income before Income Taxes	(363,695)	31,015	(360,122)	41,926
(Provision) Credit for Income Taxes	15,272	(11,321)	10,496	(15,303)
NET (LOSS) INCOME	(348,423)	19,694	(349,626)	26,623
Other Comprehensive Income:
Other Comprehensive Income of Subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Foreign currency translation	(266)	45	57	89
Change in fair value of investments	5	0	207	0
Change in fair value of interest rate swap	(334)	0	(1,019)	0
Realized loss on sale of investments recorded in Net (Loss) Income	0	0	2,005	0
Total Other Comprehensive Income	(595)	45	1,250	89
Total Comprehensive Income	(349,018)	19,739	(348,376)	26,712
Tutor Perini Corporation [Member]
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME [Abstract]
Revenues	94,440	67,629	163,565	152,987
Cost of Operations	83,035	57,737	145,729	128,653
Gross Profit	11,405	9,892	17,836	24,334
General and Administrative Expenses	16,830	15,247	35,739	30,564
Goodwill and Intangible Asset Impairment	0		0
Income from Construction Operations	(5,425)	(5,355)	(17,903)	(6,230)
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	(339,844)	27,297	(322,312)	38,343
Other Income (Expense), net	535	77	(1,529)	1,103
Interest Expense	(9,613)	(6,693)	(19,684)	(13,329)
(Loss) Income before Income Taxes	(354,347)	15,326	(361,428)	19,887
(Provision) Credit for Income Taxes	5,924	4,368	11,802	6,736
NET (LOSS) INCOME	(348,423)	19,694	(349,626)	26,623
Other Comprehensive Income:
Other Comprehensive Income of Subsidiaries	(261)	45	264	89
Foreign currency translation	0	0	0	0
Change in fair value of investments	0		0
Change in fair value of interest rate swap	(334)		(1,019)
Realized loss on sale of investments recorded in Net (Loss) Income	0		2,005
Total Other Comprehensive Income	(595)	45	1,250	89
Total Comprehensive Income	(349,018)	19,739	(348,376)	26,712
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME [Abstract]
Revenues	906,260	763,017	1,767,955	1,309,511
Cost of Operations	834,481	691,348	1,620,375	1,192,048
Gross Profit	71,779	71,669	147,580	117,463
General and Administrative Expenses	47,330	33,540	97,048	61,782
Goodwill and Intangible Asset Impairment	376,574		376,574
Income from Construction Operations	(352,125)	38,129	(326,042)	55,681
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Other Income (Expense), net	331	1,106	(145)	(380)
Interest Expense	(990)	(521)	(2,001)	(1,040)
(Loss) Income before Income Taxes	(352,784)	38,714	(328,188)	54,261
(Provision) Credit for Income Taxes	10,828	(14,130)	1,531	(19,805)
NET (LOSS) INCOME	(341,956)	24,584	(326,657)	34,456
Other Comprehensive Income:
Other Comprehensive Income of Subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Foreign currency translation	(266)	45	57	89
Change in fair value of investments	5		207
Change in fair value of interest rate swap	0		0
Realized loss on sale of investments recorded in Net (Loss) Income	0		0
Total Other Comprehensive Income	(261)	45	264	89
Total Comprehensive Income	(342,217)	24,629	(326,393)	34,545
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME [Abstract]
Revenues	0	13,526	0	13,526
Cost of Operations	(3,877)	7,877	(7,804)	5,650
Gross Profit	3,877	5,649	7,804	7,876
General and Administrative Expenses	501	1,388	1,070	1,779
Goodwill and Intangible Asset Impairment	0		0
Income from Construction Operations	3,376	4,261	6,734	6,097
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Other Income (Expense), net	216	49	448	62
Interest Expense	0	(38)	0	(38)
(Loss) Income before Income Taxes	3,592	4,272	7,182	6,121
(Provision) Credit for Income Taxes	(1,480)	(1,559)	(2,837)	(2,234)
NET (LOSS) INCOME	2,112	2,713	4,345	3,887
Other Comprehensive Income:
Other Comprehensive Income of Subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Foreign currency translation	0	0	0	0
Change in fair value of investments	0		0
Change in fair value of interest rate swap	0		0
Realized loss on sale of investments recorded in Net (Loss) Income	0		0
Total Other Comprehensive Income	0	0	0	0
Total Comprehensive Income	2,112	2,713	4,345	3,887
Eliminations [Member]
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME [Abstract]
Revenues	(15,354)	(24,314)	(33,640)	(40,877)
Cost of Operations	(15,354)	(24,314)	(33,640)	(40,877)
Gross Profit	0	0	0	0
General and Administrative Expenses	0	0	0	0
Goodwill and Intangible Asset Impairment	0		0
Income from Construction Operations	0	0	0	0
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	339,844	(27,297)	322,312	(38,343)
Other Income (Expense), net	0	0	0	0
Interest Expense	0	0	0	0
(Loss) Income before Income Taxes	339,844	(27,297)	322,312	(38,343)
(Provision) Credit for Income Taxes	0	0	0	0
NET (LOSS) INCOME	339,844	(27,297)	322,312	(38,343)
Other Comprehensive Income:
Other Comprehensive Income of Subsidiaries	261	(45)	(264)	(89)
Foreign currency translation	0	0	0	0
Change in fair value of investments	0		0
Change in fair value of interest rate swap	0		0
Realized loss on sale of investments recorded in Net (Loss) Income	0		0
Total Other Comprehensive Income	261	(45)	(264)	(89)
Total Comprehensive Income	$ 340,105	$ (27,342)	$ 322,048	$ (38,432)