Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012
Revenues	$ 133,350	$ 168,709	$ 244,385	$ 267,134
Cost of revenues	(149,985)	(153,550)	(259,632)	(250,103)
Gross profit (loss)	(16,635)	15,159	(15,247)	17,031
General and administrative expenses	(9,486)	(8,444)	(19,097)	(16,110)
Other operating income, net	6	1,525	258	2,756
Operating income (loss)	(26,115)	8,240	(34,086)	3,677
Gain on sale of securities and other	102	333	675	1,083
Interest income	255	511	536	927
Interest expense	(209)	(432)	(308)	(818)
Income (loss) before income taxes and earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(25,967)	8,652	(33,183)	4,869
Income tax (expense) benefit	9,747	(984)	12,547	2,992
Net income (loss)	(16,220)	7,668	(20,636)	7,861
Noncontrolling owners’ interests in earnings of subsidiaries and joint ventures	(805)	(4,381)	(966)	(12,076)
Net income (loss) attributable to Sterling common stockholders	$ (17,025)	$ 3,287	$ (21,602)	$ (4,215)
Net income (loss) per share attributable to Sterling common stockholders:
Basic (in Dollars per share)	$ (0.93)	$ 0.15	$ (1.32)	$ (0.29)
Diluted (in Dollars per share)	$ (0.93)	$ 0.15	$ (1.32)	$ (0.29)
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding used in computing per share amounts:
Basic (in Shares)	16,629,630	16,359,597	16,612,924	16,341,037
Diluted (in Shares)	16,629,630	16,444,324	16,612,924	16,341,037