The Shaw Group Awarded Contract with Potential Value Of $1.5 Billion Supporting The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa

BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2004--The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE:SGR) today announced that its newly formed joint venture, Shaw CENTCOM Services, LLC (Shaw CS), was awarded a contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Transatlantic Programs Center. Shaw CS, consisting of Shaw, Al-Khudhairy Group, Kharafi National, and NESMA will provide the full range of design-build and construction-related services within the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR) which includes 25 nations located throughout the Horn of Africa, South and Central Asia, the Northern Red Sea regions, the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq.

The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract has a one-year base with a monetary ceiling of $500 million. The contract also includes four one-year options with a $250 million ceiling per year. Task orders under this contract cover a wide range of planning, engineering, and design in conjunction with construction, repair, renovation, restoration, and maintenance and operation services. The contracts will support U.S. military operations, other U.S. government agencies and friendly foreign governments under established agreements.

"Shaw has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers domestically and this contract opens the door for Shaw to add further value by supporting their strategic international initiatives," said J.M. Bernhard, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Shaw Group. "We are honored to participate in this important endeavor and we look forward to the opportunity to enhance the communities located within the established area of responsibility."

The Shaw Group Inc. is a leading global provider of engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, fabrication, manufacturing, consulting, remediation, and facilities management services for government and private sector clients in the power, process, environmental, infrastructure and homeland defense markets. The Company is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and employs approximately 14,800 people at its offices and operations in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.shawgrp.com.

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for certain forward-looking statements. The statements contained herein that are not historical facts (including without limitation statements to the effect that the Company or its management "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," or other similar expressions) and statements related to revenues, earnings, backlog, or other financial information or results are forward-looking statements based on the Company's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the Company. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by the Company. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions and are subject to change based upon various factors. Should one or more of such risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. A description of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements can be found in the Company's reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q reports, and on the Company's website under the heading "Forward Looking Statement". These documents are also available from the Securities and Exchange Commission or from the Investor Relations department of Shaw. For more information on the company and announcements it makes from time to time on a regional basis visit our website at www.shawgrp.com.

    CONTACT: The Shaw Group Inc., Baton Rouge
             Laurie LaChiusa, 225-932-2500
    SOURCE: The Shaw Group, Inc.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding SHAW GROUP INC's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.