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Note 12 - Income Taxes and Deferred Tax Asset/Liability (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Note 12 - Income Taxes and Deferred Tax Asset/Liability (Details) [Line Items]
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Income Tax Penalties and Interest Accrued	$ 0us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestAccrued	$ 0us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestAccrued
Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, at Federal Statutory Income Tax Rate, Percent	35.00%us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationAtFederalStatutoryIncomeTaxRate	35.00%us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationAtFederalStatutoryIncomeTaxRate	35.00%us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationAtFederalStatutoryIncomeTaxRate
Operating Loss Carryforwards	109,534,000us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards
Deferred Tax Assets, Valuation Allowance	36,600,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance
Deferred Tax Assets, Tax Deferred Expense, Compensation and Benefits, Employee Compensation	16,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsTaxDeferredExpenseCompensationAndBenefitsEmployeeCompensation
Earliest Tax Year [Member] | Domestic Tax Authority [Member]
Note 12 - Income Taxes and Deferred Tax Asset/Liability (Details) [Line Items]
Open Tax Year	2011
Earliest Tax Year [Member] | State and Local Jurisdiction [Member]
Note 12 - Income Taxes and Deferred Tax Asset/Liability (Details) [Line Items]
Open Tax Year	2010
Domestic Tax Authority [Member]
Note 12 - Income Taxes and Deferred Tax Asset/Liability (Details) [Line Items]
Operating Loss Carryforwards, Expiration Period	20 years
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State and Local Jurisdiction [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Note 12 - Income Taxes and Deferred Tax Asset/Liability (Details) [Line Items]
Operating Loss Carryforwards, Expiration Period	20 years
State and Local Jurisdiction [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Note 12 - Income Taxes and Deferred Tax Asset/Liability (Details) [Line Items]
Operating Loss Carryforwards, Expiration Period	6 years
State and Local Jurisdiction [Member]
Note 12 - Income Taxes and Deferred Tax Asset/Liability (Details) [Line Items]
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Will be Recognized as Reduction of Income Tax Expense [Member]
Note 12 - Income Taxes and Deferred Tax Asset/Liability (Details) [Line Items]
Unrecognized Tax Benefits	34,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits / us-gaap_StatementScenarioAxis = strl_WillBeRecognizedAsReductionOfIncomeTaxExpenseMember
Will be Recorded as Increase in Equity [Member]
Note 12 - Income Taxes and Deferred Tax Asset/Liability (Details) [Line Items]
Unrecognized Tax Benefits	$ 2,600,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits / us-gaap_StatementScenarioAxis = strl_WillBeRecordedAsIncreaseInEquityMember

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Tax year that remains open to examination under enacted tax laws, in CCYY format.

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