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Nature of Business	6 Months Ended
Nature of Business	Jun. 30, 2011
Nature of Business/Basis of Presentation [Abstract]
NATURE OF BUSINESS	1. NATURE OF BUSINESS Michael Baker Corporation (the “Company”) was founded in 1940 and organized as a Pennsylvania corporation in 1946. Currently, through its operating subsidiaries, the Company provides engineering expertise for public and private sector clients worldwide. The Company’s Transportation and Federal business segments provide a variety of services to the Company’s markets. The Transportation segment provides services for Surface Transportation, Aviation and Rail & Transit markets while the Federal segment provides services for Defense, Environmental, Architecture, Geospatial Information Technology, Homeland Security, Municipal & Civil, Pipelines & Utilities and Water markets. Among the services the Company provides to clients in these markets are program management, design-build (for which the Company provides only the design portion of services), construction management, consulting, planning, surveying, mapping, geographic information systems, architectural and interior design, construction inspection, constructability reviews, site assessment and restoration, strategic regulatory analysis and regulatory compliance.