JOINT VENTURES (DETAILS) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended
	Jul. 04, 2014		Jun. 28, 2013		Jul. 04, 2014		Jun. 28, 2013		Jan. 03, 2014	Dec. 28, 2012
Joint ventures (Textuals) [Abstract]
Unconsolidated VIEs, Distributions	$ 25		$ 29		$ 44		$ 52
Review of our joint ventures					We perform a quarterly review of our joint ventures to determine whether there were any changes in the status of the VIEs or changes to the primary beneficiary designation of each VIE. We determined that no such changes occurred during the six months ended July 4, 2014.
Maximum loss exposure that can not be quantified					Exposure to Loss In addition to potential losses arising out of the carrying values of the assets and liabilities of our unconsolidated joint ventures, our maximum exposure to loss also includes performance assurances and guarantees we sometimes provide to clients on behalf of joint ventures that we do not directly control. We enter into these guarantees primarily to support the contractual obligations associated with the joint ventures’ projects. The potential payment amount of an outstanding performance guarantee is typically the remaining cost of work to be performed by or on behalf of third parties under engineering and construction contracts. However, the majority of the unconsolidated joint ventures in which we participate involve cost-reimbursable, level-of-effort projects that are accounted for as service-type projects, not engineering and construction projects that would follow the percentage-of-completion or completed-contract accounting method. Revenues for service-type contracts are recognized in proportion to the number of service activities performed, in proportion to the direct costs of performing the service activities, or evenly across the period of performance, depending upon the nature of the services provided. The services we provide on these cost-reimbursable contracts are management and operations services for government clients and operations and maintenance services for non-government clients. We believe that, due to the continual changes we experience in client funding and scope definitions, reliable estimates of performance guarantees cannot be calculated because they cannot be reliably predicted. In addition, we participate in joint ventures in which the level of our participation is so minimal that we do not have access to those joint ventures’ estimates to complete. The joint ventures where we perform engineering and construction contracts and where we have access to the estimates to complete, which are needed to calculate the performance guarantees, are immaterial.
Consolidated Joint Ventures [Abstract]
Cash and cash equivalents	283		234		283		234		284	315
Net accounts receivable	2,852				2,852				2,849
Other current assets	231				231				258
Accounts and subcontractors payable	692				692				688
Billings in excess of costs and accrued earnings on contracts	222				222				233
Accrued expenses and other	327				327				366
Total URS equity	3,943				3,943				4,081
Noncontrolling interests	145				145				146
Unconsolidated Joint Ventures [Abstract]
Current assets	3,366				3,366				3,391
Current liabilities	1,815				1,815				1,839
Revenues	2,555		2,792		5,092		5,595
Cost of revenues	(2,407)		(2,642)		(4,854)		(5,293)
Income (loss) from continuing operations before taxes	121		121		186		250
Net income	88		67		115		139
Consolidated Joint Ventures [Member]
Consolidated Joint Ventures [Abstract]
Cash and cash equivalents	89				89				89
Net accounts receivable	215				215				200
Other current assets	2				2				3
Non-current assets	148				148				143
Total assets	454				454				435
Accounts and subcontractors payable	108				108				94
Billings in excess of costs and accrued earnings on contracts	5				5				15
Accrued expenses and other	34				34				40
Non-current liabilities	14				14				12
Total liabilities	161				161				161
Total URS equity	148				148				128
Noncontrolling interests	145				145				146
Total owners' equity	293				293				274
Total liabilities and owners' equity	454				454				435
Unconsolidated Joint Ventures [Abstract]
Revenues	296				517
Unconsolidated VIEs [Member]
Consolidated Joint Ventures [Abstract]
Non-current assets	31				31				37
Non-current liabilities	30				30				7
Unconsolidated Joint Ventures [Abstract]
Current assets	676				676				616
Current liabilities	449				449				433
Revenues	522	[1]	566	[1]	1,046	[1]	1,112	[1]
Cost of revenues	469	[1]	507	[1]	941	[1]	994	[1]
Income (loss) from continuing operations before taxes	53	[1]	59	[1]	105	[1]	118	[1]
Net income	$ 49	[1]	$ 54	[1]	$ 96	[1]	$ 110	[1]

[1] Income from unconsolidated U.S. joint ventures is generally not taxable in most tax jurisdictions in the U.S. The tax expenses on our other unconsolidated joint ventures are primarily related to foreign taxes.