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Note 1 - Description of Business (Details Textual) $ in Thousands, £ in Millions, kr in Millions		1 Months Ended							3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2019	Nov. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2018 USD ($)	May 31, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 GBP (£)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Oct. 30, 2019	Nov. 30, 2018 DKK (kr)
Proceeds from Divestiture of Businesses										$ 0	$ 37,942	$ 0
Goodwill, Ending Balance									$ 256,835	256,835	260,633	260,715
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent, Total										(20,892)	2,928	(69,401)
United Mexico [Member] \| Miller Pipeline de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. [Member]
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Noncontrolling Owners													45.00%
Environmental Techniques [Member]
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Total							$ 8,000	£ 6.5
Revenues, Total										9,500	7,500	4,000
Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent, Total										(100)	100	(700)
Hebna [Member]
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Total						$ 6,000
P2S [Member]
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Total					$ 3,000
P2S, Hebna and Environmental Techniques [Member]
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Total										17,000
Goodwill, Ending Balance									7,300	7,300
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Intangible Assets, Other than Goodwill, Total									5,500	5,500
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Property, Plant, and Equipment, Total									3,500	3,500
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net Working Capital									700	700
Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale [Member] \| CIPP Operations [Member]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Consideration			$ 1,600
Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale [Member] \| Bayou Companies, LLC [Member]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Consideration	$ 46,000			$ 46,000
Joint Venture Ownership Percentage Sold	51.00%
Proceeds from Divestiture of Businesses				38,000
Noncash or Part Noncash Divestiture, Amount of Consideration Received				8,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Additional Earn-out Payments				$ 4,000
Disposal Group, Not Discontinued Operation, Gain (Loss) on Disposal											7,000
Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale [Member] \| Bayou Companies, LLC [Member] \| Notes Receivable [Member]
Notes Receivable, Term				2 years
Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member] \| United Mexico [Member] \| Miller Pipeline de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. [Member]
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage Sold by Parent													55.00%
DENMARK \| Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale [Member] \| CIPP Operations [Member]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Consideration \| kr														kr 10.5
OMAN \| Aegion International [Member]
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired						50.00%
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent						51.00%
Infrastructure Solutions [Member]
Trade Name Entitlement Agreement, Term		5 years	5 years
Goodwill, Ending Balance									$ 177,312	$ 177,312	$ 181,673	$ 185,027
Downsize Operation in US [Member]
Restructuring and Related Cost, Number of Office Closed									3
Restructuring and Related Cost, Number of Offices Exiting Capital Intensive Drilling Activities									4
Restructuring and Related Cost, Number of Positions Eliminated, Period Percent										20.00%
Restructuring and Related Cost, Contributed To Cathodic Protection Domestic Revenue, Percentage										20.00%