Exhibit 99.1

                                                                    NEWS RELEASE
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                                            Contact:  David Higie
                                            Phone:    (412) 269-6449
                                            Release:  Immediate (Sept. 5, 2006)

BAKER REPORTS PRELIMINARY FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR SECOND QUARTER OF 2006;
RECEIVES EXTENSION FROM AMEX

         PITTSBURGH - Michael Baker Corporation (Amex:BKR) (the "Company") today
reported its preliminary unaudited financial information for the second quarter
and first half of 2006 compared to its actual reported results for the same
periods in 2005. The Company is providing these preliminary results in an effort
to keep its shareholders informed about the performance of the Company while it
works to complete and, as previously announced, file its delayed Form 10-Q for
this reporting period by September 30, 2006.

         The Company also announced that it has been notified by the American
Stock Exchange (Amex) that Amex has granted the Company an extension until
September 30, 2006, to regain compliance with the Amex listing standards by
filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission its Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended June 30, 2006.

         For the second quarter, the Company's total contract revenues were
approximately $153 million, which compares to reported total contract revenues
of $143 million for the second quarter of 2005. The increase in the
year-over-year revenue is attributable primarily to growth in domestic Energy
segment revenue and the Engineering segment's transportation-related revenue,
and the addition of revenue totaling $1.8 million as a result of the acquisition
of Buck Engineering in April 2006. The Company is not providing a range of
earnings per share for the second quarter of 2006 until the Form 10-Q is
completed and filed. Earnings per diluted common share for the second quarter of
2005 were $0.00.

         Revenues in the Engineering segment increased approximately six percent
from the year-ago three-month period due to the factors mentioned above, while
revenues in the Energy segment increased approximately 10 percent compared to
the second quarter of 2005.

         For the first six months of 2006, the Company's total contract revenues
were approximately $299 million, compared to $287 million for the first half of
2005.



         Total estimated backlog for the Company was approximately $1.36 billion
at June 30, 2006, compared to $1.32 billion at December 31, 2005. Approximately
$25 million of the total backlog at June 30, 2006, resulted from the Buck
acquisition.

         The Company cautions that all of these results are preliminary and
subject to change, possibly materially, following the completion and analysis of
the financial statements for the second quarter of 2006, and that the above
preliminary and unaudited financial information does not represent all of the
information that would normally be included in a quarterly report on Form 10-Q
with respect to the Company's financial results.

         Michael Baker Corporation (http://www.mbakercorp.com) provides
engineering and operations and maintenance services for its clients' most
complex challenges worldwide. The firm's primary practice areas are aviation,
environmental, facilities, geospatial information technologies, pipelines &
telecommunications, transportation, water/wastewater, and oil & gas. With more
than 5,000 employees in over 40 offices across the United States and
internationally, Baker is focused on providing services that span the complete
life cycle of infrastructure and managed asset projects.

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