Revenue for big U.S. construction contractors is returning back up to pre-Great Recession levels.

The Engineering News Record in early June released its annual list of top performing contractors in terms of revenue, and the better numbers indicate the industry is finally busting loose from the "remain cautious" or "slow turnaround" depictions of the industry earlier this decade.

For the Top 400 Contractors, "2014 was a pretty good year," the ENR said. "As a group, the Top 400 generated $331.94 billion in contracting revenue in 2014, an increase of 2.4 percent from 2013’s $324.16 billion. The figure is still below the record $338.38 billion in 2008 contracting revenue reported in our 2009 Top 400."

Contractors in Michigan - one of the top three states for construction employment gains over the past 12 months - are enjoying those gains when it comes to their bottom line.  

Per usual, Detroit-based Walbridge and Barton Malow of Southfield were the top contractors in Michigan in 2015 in terms of revenue. Walbridge (#38 in the nationwide rankings, +4 spots from 2014) was No. 1 in Michigan with $1.52 billion in revenues, followed closely by Barton Malow (No. 42, +7 from 2014) with $1.41 billion in revenue.

Other Michigan-based contractors on the ENR's Top 400 list includes The Christman Co., Lansing (No. 111 +27); Rockford Construction, Grand Rapids (No. 162, +35); Aristeo Construction Co., Livonia (No. 203, +65); Commercial Contracting Group (No. 204, +11); Roncelli Inc., Sterling Heights (No. 260, not on the Top 400 list in 2014); Granger Construction, Lansing (No. 261, not listed in 2014); Pioneer General Contractors, Grand Rapids (No. 308, +20); Wolverine Building Group, Grand Rapids (No. 345, -10); Clark Construction, Lansing (No. 348, not listed in 2014), and George W. Auch, Pontiac (No. 381, +4).

The improving construction market in Michigan helped move Granger, Roncelli and Clark back onto the list, where they had usually been for years prior to 2014. Michigan-based contractors that didn't make the Top 400 cut this year were Wieland-Davco, Lansing (No. 303 last year) and Lamar Construction, Hudsonville (No. 355 last year).

The top five U.S. contractors this year were Bechtel of San Francisco; Fluor of Irving, Texas; The Turner Corp. of New York, CB&I of The Woodlands, Texas and Kiewet of Omaha.