Exhibit (a)

   STERLING CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, INC. ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF KINSEL HEAVY
        HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS FROM INSITUFORM TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Contact: Joseph Harper, President                   (281) 821 9091
         Maarten Hemsley, Chief Financial Officer   (781) 934 2219

Wilmington, DE... September 23, 2002.  Sterling Construction Company, Inc. (OTC
Bulletin Board "STCS"), ("Sterling" or the "Company"), today announced that its
affiliate, Texas Sterling Construction, L.P. ("TSC"), has acquired the Kinsel
Heavy Highway construction business from a subsidiary of Insituform
Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq National Market: INSU) ("ITI").

The acquisition includes the purchase by TSC of construction equipment for its
appraised value of approximately $4.4 million, and the assumption by TSC of
equipment leases with a future obligation of approximately $1.4 million. ITI
will assign to TSC certain unstarted construction contracts with revenues
estimated at $38 million, subject to post-closing adjustments. TSC will also be
engaged by ITI to manage the completion of certain other contracts, in return
for a management fee. TSC will hire most employees of the ITI construction crews
for the contracts to be taken over, together with project managers and other
supervisory personnel.

The $4.4 million consideration for the transaction has been financed by TSC
through the issuance to ITI of an unsecured two-year note in the amount of $1.5
million, with the balance funded through additional borrowings by TSC under its
revolving line of credit.

The addition of the contracts to be assigned by ITI to TSC brings TSC's total
construction backlog to approximately $160 million.

Joseph Harper, Sterling's President, said that the transaction would bring to
TSC a significant backlog, with the equipment fleet and job crews to complete
the contracts, and would position the Company to achieve an increase in its
State highway business in the future.

The Company increased its ownership position of TSC's 99% limited partner,
Sterling Houston Holdings, Inc. ("SHH") to 80.1% in July 2001. For the twelve
months ended December 31st, 2001 SHH reported revenues of $90.8 million, and for
the first half of 2002 revenues of $50.2 million compared with $42.1 million in
the same period of 2001. Prior to the Kinsel acquisition management had
announced that SHH's revenues for 2002 were expected to exceed the budgeted
level of $105 million. With the completion of the Kinsel transaction management
expects that SHH's total revenues for 2002 will exceed $110 million, with a
positive impact on budgeted profits.

This press release includes certain statements that fall within the definition
of "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995 such as statements with respect to the Company's financial
forecasts. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including
overall economic and market conditions, competitors' and customers' actions,
which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated,
including those risks identified in the Company's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, such statements should be considered in
light of these risks.