Separate Financial Information of Subsidiary Guarantors of Indebtedness, Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net (Loss) Income	$ (307,035)	$ 62,100
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash from operating activities:
Goodwill and intangible asset impairment	376,574	0
Depreciation and amortization	46,676	29,594
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	0	0
Stock-based compensation expense	7,424	6,820
Adjustment of interest rate swap to fair value	264	0
Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation	0	(18)
Deferred income taxes	(42,008)	412
Gain (loss) on sale of equipment	509	(896)
Loss on sale of investments	2,699	0
Gain on bargain purchase	0	(4,000)
Other long-term liabilities	(8,399)	(7,919)
Other non-cash items	(446)	(3,251)
Changes in other components of working capital	(104,135)	(207,854)
NET CASH USED IN OPERATING ACTIVITIES	(27,877)	(125,012)
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash balance acquired	0	(337,873)
Acquisition of property and equipment	(33,737)	(39,694)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment	11,750	6,526
Investments in available-for-sale securities	(535)	0
Proceeds from sale of available-for-sale securities	16,553	7,388
Change in restricted cash	(3,263)	(7,196)
Investment in other activities		0
NET CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES	(9,232)	(370,849)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Proceeds from debt	511,579	567,782
Repayment of debt	(485,543)	(263,059)
Business acquisition related payments	(10,090)	(1,904)
Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation	0	18
Issuance of common stock and effect of cashless exercise	(307)	(44)
Debt issuance costs	(1,993)	(4,989)
Increase (decrease) in intercompany advances	0	0
NET CASH PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES	13,646	297,804
Net Decrease in Cash and Cash Equivalents	(23,463)	(198,057)
Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Year	204,240	471,378
Cash and Cash Equivalents at End of Period	180,777	273,321
Tutor Perini Corporation [Member]
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net (Loss) Income	(307,035)	62,100
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash from operating activities:
Goodwill and intangible asset impairment	0
Depreciation and amortization	3,815	3,911
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	273,177	(80,459)
Stock-based compensation expense	7,424	6,820
Adjustment of interest rate swap to fair value	264
Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation		(18)
Deferred income taxes	(37,810)	(161)
Gain (loss) on sale of equipment	0	0
Loss on sale of investments	2,699
Gain on bargain purchase		(4,000)
Other long-term liabilities	(5,826)	(5,915)
Other non-cash items	(524)	(659)
Changes in other components of working capital	62,007	(19,612)
NET CASH USED IN OPERATING ACTIVITIES	(1,809)	(37,993)
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash balance acquired		(337,873)
Acquisition of property and equipment	(12,332)	(4,284)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment	500	22
Investments in available-for-sale securities	0
Proceeds from sale of available-for-sale securities	16,553	0
Change in restricted cash	(3,241)	(3,425)
Investment in other activities		0
NET CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES	1,480	(345,560)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Proceeds from debt	531,618	466,659
Repayment of debt	(486,426)	(217,056)
Business acquisition related payments	(10,090)	(1,904)
Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation		18
Issuance of common stock and effect of cashless exercise	(307)	(44)
Debt issuance costs	(1,993)	(4,989)
Increase (decrease) in intercompany advances	(73,471)	80,842
NET CASH PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES	(40,669)	323,526
Net Decrease in Cash and Cash Equivalents	(40,998)	(60,027)
Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Year	134,936	222,156
Cash and Cash Equivalents at End of Period	93,938	162,129
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net (Loss) Income	(279,273)	75,112
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash from operating activities:
Goodwill and intangible asset impairment	376,574
Depreciation and amortization	42,657	25,463
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	0	0
Stock-based compensation expense	0	0
Adjustment of interest rate swap to fair value	0
Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation		0
Deferred income taxes	(4,198)	573
Gain (loss) on sale of equipment	509	(896)
Loss on sale of investments	0
Gain on bargain purchase		0
Other long-term liabilities	(2,573)	(2,004)
Other non-cash items	78	(2,592)
Changes in other components of working capital	(180,925)	(187,547)
NET CASH USED IN OPERATING ACTIVITIES	(47,151)	(91,891)
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash balance acquired		0
Acquisition of property and equipment	(21,405)	(35,410)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment	11,250	6,504
Investments in available-for-sale securities	(535)
Proceeds from sale of available-for-sale securities	0	7,388
Change in restricted cash	(22)	(3,771)
Investment in other activities		0
NET CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES	(10,712)	(25,289)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Proceeds from debt	(20,039)	101,123
Repayment of debt	883	(46,003)
Business acquisition related payments	0	0
Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation		0
Issuance of common stock and effect of cashless exercise	0	0
Debt issuance costs	0	0
Increase (decrease) in intercompany advances	74,831	(70,896)
NET CASH PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES	55,675	(15,776)
Net Decrease in Cash and Cash Equivalents	(2,188)	(132,956)
Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Year	52,492	220,086
Cash and Cash Equivalents at End of Period	50,304	87,130
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net (Loss) Income	6,096	5,347
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash from operating activities:
Goodwill and intangible asset impairment	0
Depreciation and amortization	204	220
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	0	0
Stock-based compensation expense	0	0
Adjustment of interest rate swap to fair value	0
Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation		0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Gain (loss) on sale of equipment	0	0
Loss on sale of investments	0
Gain on bargain purchase		0
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Other non-cash items	0	0
Changes in other components of working capital	14,783	(695)
NET CASH USED IN OPERATING ACTIVITIES	21,083	4,872
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash balance acquired		0
Acquisition of property and equipment	0	0
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment	0	0
Investments in available-for-sale securities	0
Proceeds from sale of available-for-sale securities	0	0
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Investment in other activities		0
NET CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES	0	0
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Proceeds from debt	0	0
Repayment of debt	0	0
Business acquisition related payments	0	0
Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation		0
Issuance of common stock and effect of cashless exercise	0	0
Debt issuance costs	0	0
Increase (decrease) in intercompany advances	(1,360)	(9,946)
NET CASH PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES	(1,360)	(9,946)
Net Decrease in Cash and Cash Equivalents	19,723	(5,074)
Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Year	16,812	29,136
Cash and Cash Equivalents at End of Period	36,535	24,062
Eliminations [Member]
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net (Loss) Income	273,177	(80,459)
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash from operating activities:
Goodwill and intangible asset impairment	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Equity in earnings of subsidiaries	(273,177)	80,459
Stock-based compensation expense	0	0
Adjustment of interest rate swap to fair value	0
Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation		0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Gain (loss) on sale of equipment	0	0
Loss on sale of investments	0
Gain on bargain purchase		0
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Other non-cash items	0	0
Changes in other components of working capital	0	0
NET CASH USED IN OPERATING ACTIVITIES	0	0
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
Acquisitions, net of cash balance acquired		0
Acquisition of property and equipment	0	0
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment	0	0
Investments in available-for-sale securities	0
Proceeds from sale of available-for-sale securities	0	0
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Investment in other activities		0
NET CASH USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES	0	0
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Proceeds from debt	0	0
Repayment of debt	0	0
Business acquisition related payments	0	0
Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation		0
Issuance of common stock and effect of cashless exercise	0	0
Debt issuance costs	0	0
Increase (decrease) in intercompany advances	0	0
NET CASH PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES	0	0
Net Decrease in Cash and Cash Equivalents	0	0
Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Year	0	0
Cash and Cash Equivalents at End of Period	$ 0	$ 0