Pete Sigmund
A Work of True Grit: Erie Canal Celebrates Bicentennial
I've got a mule, her name is Sal15 miles on the Erie Canal…Low bridge, everybody downLow bridge, for we're coming to a townThis song is one of the many echoing through the many generations since men dug shovels into earth in Rome, N.Y., on July 4, 1817, in the groundbreaking of the nation's first great infrastructure project, the Erie Canal....
NYC’s Central Park - Revisiting an American Masterpiece
In 1849, merchant Robert Minturn and his wife returned from a grand tour of Europe and called a meeting of business leaders at his downtown home. They decided that a park should be established at a site on the East River called Jones Wood....
Review Process Reform Receives Bipartisan Support
Why do highway construction projects often take a good part of a generation — an average of 13 years — to complete?Many believe the answer lies in two words: excessive review. Everyone in construction seems to favor streamlining the review process....
ConExpo Catapults From Road Show Into Extravaganza
This ConExpo article was published in Construction Equipment Guide (CEG) in March 2002. This and other ConExpo articles to follow will be part of a continuing series that take a look back at ConExpos past through the reporting of CEG....
Sandy Recovery Efforts Provide Multiple Challenges
The House and Senate have passed, and President Obama has signed into law, a $50.5-billion emergency relief bill to help restore areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Obama signed the Sandy relief bill into law on Jan....
2013 Highway Funding Maintains Status Quo
(A growing, vibrant highway and bridge program is one of the keys to economic recovery. The American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) addressed important topics and questions pertaining to the infrastructure construction market in a recent “Webinar” forecast for Wall Street analysts and construction industry executives....
Finding Johanna: Tribute to One Uncle’s Beloved Niece
About 50 relatives in our family had laid plans over several months to meet at a church in the Lower Village of New York City at 5 p.m. on Sept. 10. There, we would begin our observance of the 10th anniversary of the death of Johanna Sigmund, my niece, beneath the North Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept....
In the words of Satchel Paige: “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” For the construction industry, that something is many billions of dollars in overdue highway, bridge and transit funding, and an approaching deadline, which is critical for continued activity....
Oil, Gas Drilling Tied to Recovery
The construction industry is reaping rewards from oil and gas drilling as one of the keys to recovery. The oil and gas industry is closely tied to the U.S. economy — and construction. It supports an estimated 9.2-million jobs and contributes 7.5 percent of total gross domestic product (GDP)....
Congress Punts on Six-Year HIghway Bill
A new six-year highway and surface transportation bill, which may be enacted within the next six months, would have to increase infrastructure spending to almost half a trillion dollars to meet critical needs of roads, bridges, mass transit and other vital sectors....
Construction Industry Forecast for 2010
Sizable growth in new construction of single-family homes and a high level of construction of roads and bridges are positive expectations for 2010 as the industry and the nation hope for a stronger economic recovery from high unemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcies and other continuing myriad problems....
Forecast: Indicators Point to 2009 Recovery
Leading economists say the strength of the U.S. and world economy in 2009 depends on the U.S. construction industry, especially the recovery of the single-family housing market and greatly increased multibillion-dollar investment in the nation’s infrastructure....
Humble Beginnings Pave Way for Evolution of National Trade Newspaper
Thanks for holding. The phones are ringing every minute. What a day this has been. We’re busier than a one-armed paper hanger. We’re so busy the paper hanger just quit. Ed handles all complaints....
Economists See Positive Indicators for Late 2008
The construction industry will continue to ride a very bumpy road in 2008, many economists believe, but they also see the year ending on a positive note, led by the beginning of a recovery in the badly slumping housing sector....
Economic Recovery Expected in Late Autumn
Midway through 2007, the industry can be guardedly, but not overly, optimistic about the outlook for the rest of the year. The economy and the construction industry face big questions that may play out as positives or negatives....
Triumph, Tragedy Mark Boston’s Big Dig Project
(Editor’s Note: This article is the last in a 10-part series on iconic United States construction projects.)One highway project stands out in the history of U.S. construction for its complexity, problems and ultimate achievement: Boston’s “Big Dig.”Now 99 percent complete, this excavation, tunneling, and road and bridge project has burrowed underneath the length of Boston....
Hand-Built Railroad Defines, Unites Nation
(Editor’s Note: This article is the ninth in an occasional series on iconic United States construction projects.)The Transcontinental Railroad, built almost entirely by hand in the 1860s, and conquering terrible obstacles, including Native American attacks, has often been called the greatest construction achievement in the United States during the 19th century....
The Mighty Mac: A Sublime Engineering Feat
The “Mighty Mac,” the strong, graceful, bridge, which spans the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan, is one of the nation’s greatest bridge-building achievements of the 20th century, uniquely conquering wind, waves and ice over its 5-mi....
Road, Bridge Work to Sustain Industry in ’07
A strong highway and bridge construction market is expected to power the construction industry ahead in 2007, countering such worrisome factors as the slowdown in the residential housing market, according to leading economists interviewed by Construction Equipment Guide (CEG)....
Hoover Dam: A Symbol of Simple Strength
(Editor’s Note: This article is the seventh in an occasional series on iconic United States construction projects.)In 1931, while the United States was flat on its back in the Great Depression, the country rose from the mat, flexed its muscles and began building the mighty Hoover Dam, not only taming the angry, flood-prone, Colorado River but also demonstrating the distressed nation’s determination to survive economic fear....
Crossing the Chesapeake: A Modern Marvel
(Editor’s Note: This article is the sixth in an occasional series on iconic United States construction projects.)In 1961, I often took the “Kiptopeke — Little Creek Ferry” across the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on weekends because my job was covering the Mercury astronauts at Langley Air Force Base, Va., and my future wife lived in Riverton, N.J....
The Mother of All Dirty Jobs: Sandhogs Burrow Deep Beneath New York City
(Editor's Note: This article is part of an occasional series that takes a look back at iconic United States construction projects. It originally appeared in the pages of CEG in September of 2006.)One of the world's largest and most critical construction projects is moving along foot by foot in New York City, unseen and as deep as 800 ft....
Alaska Pipeline Cuts Through Last Frontier
(Editor’s Note: This article is the fourth in an occasional series on iconic United States construction projects.)The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is not only one of the most remarkable and difficult construction feats in U.S....
’Driving Fever’ Spreads Across Lincoln Highway
(Editor's Note: This article is the third in an occasional series on iconic United States construction projects.)"Hi there, neighbor, going my way? East or West on the Lincoln Highway?" — Song introducing The Lincoln Highway radio broadcasts in 1940....
NYC’s Central Park: An American Masterpiece
Editor's Note: This article is the second in an occasional series on iconic United States construction projects.)Update: We revisit Central Park here. Building New York City's Central Park in the 19th century from the ground up was a mammoth manual grading and beautifying construction project that produced what many consider to be the century's greatest work of American art....
The Golden Gate: ’The Bridge That Couldn’t Be Built’
The Golden Gate Bridge, hanging gracefully on its cables over the wide, dark blue strait between the city of San Francisco and the green and brown hills of Marin County, exemplifies construction excellence....
Supercomputers to Aid With Concrete Mixes
Advanced software codes being developed with the aid of the world’s fourth-fastest supercomputer are expected to significantly speed the process of choosing the right concrete for a construction job, saving millions of dollars....
U.S. Interstate System Turns 50 Years Old
Commemorating this year’s 50th anniversary of the Interstate Highway System, a convoy of vehicles will travel from San Francisco, CA, to Washington, D.C., from June 16 to June 29, over the old Lincoln Highway (now Interstate 80), which the first military transcontinental motor convoy, including a young lieutenant colonel named Dwight D....
Battle Over ’Bridge to Nowhere’ Continues
After it received $223 million as a special “earmark” project in last year’s highway and transportation bill, the bridge between Gravina Island and Ketchikan in Southeast Alaska was called “The Bridge to Nowhere.”Critics pointed out that Gravina only had approximately 50 residents, while Ketchikan had approximately 8,000....
Experts Offer Sunny Forecast for Industry in ’06
Economists from many areas of construction predict that the industry should fare well in 2006. They cite many reasons for optimism. The economy is growing at a good clip. Federal appropriations authorized by the new six-year highway and mass transit act are stimulating highway and bridge construction....
AGC Continues Role as Strong Voice for Contractors, Industry
When Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) speaks, government and industry listen. AGC has been a voice of construction for 87 years. Headquartered in Arlington, VA, outside Washington, D.C., and with chapters from the Atlantic to the Pacific, AGC advocates contractor positions on issues ranging from liability during disasters to permanent repeal of the Estate Tax....
Southeast Dealers Cope With Floods
Before Hurricane Katrina roared through on Aug. 29, employees at the branch store of Great Southern Tractor Co. Inc., in Biloxi, MS, moved a pickup truck to assumed safekeeping inside the store. All hell broke loose....
Raids on Highway Funds Abate … For Now
The fiscal crisis has abated for most states, increasing opportunities for contractors. This is a significant turnaround from as recently as early 2004 when fiscal uncertainty held back numerous highway and bridge projects....
Army Corps Chief Outlines Steps to Build Cat 5 Levees
By Pete SigmundCEG EDITORIAL CONSULTANTIn the following exclusive interview with Construction Equipment Guide, Donald Basham, chief of engineering construction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Washington, D.C., discussed important facets of protecting New Orleans against a Category 5 hurricane....
Mississippi May Float Concept of Land-based Casinos
“A casino is coming!”Looking out from their third-floor window of the Holiday Inn resort hotel in Biloxi, MS, during Hurricane Katrina, a couple saw a massive floating casino heading their way as a 28-ft....
Rebuilt New Orleans Must Adopt Building Codes
The city of New Orleans can be rebuilt at its present location, and safely withstand future floods and hurricanes, if it follows special building codes for its homes and commercial buildings — and rebuilds its levees using steel pilings as many engineers have long suggested....
Professional Development Leads To Marketing Success
How can contractors and subcontractors better sell themselves to bring in more business?Construction organizations have many profitable ideas on that all-important question. Their suggestions during interviews with Construction Equipment Guide (CEG) ranged from using the Web more cleverly to becoming better known in their peer groups....
Highway Bill Brimming With ’Earmark’ Projects
The new $286.4-billion six-year transportation bill includes a record 6,371 special “earmark” projects inserted by congressmen apart from the usual state planning process. Approximately 8 percent ($24 billion) of the funding in the bill is for a wide and interesting array of such projects....
Bush Signs $286.4B Highway Bill at Cat Facility
President George W. Bush signed a $286.4-billion six-year highway and mass transit bill into law Aug. 10, ending approximately two years of contentious delay that impeded the nation’s long-range planning for transportation construction....
Record Fuel Costs Stalling Some State Projects
This is the “summer of discontent” in the form of financial stress for many contractors and dealers. The cost of diesel fuel is at a record level, increasing the expense of running equipment....
Roadless Rules Touch Nerve Among Readers
In a recent Construction Equipment Guide story (“Rage Over New Roadless Rules”), the Sierra Club and other environmental groups criticized the Bush Administration’s new rule allowing states to propose plans on managing 58.5-million acres designated as “roadless” areas of national forests....
Ingersoll-Rand Celebrates 100-Year Anniversary
Look no further than Ingersoll-Rand (IR) for the keys to success in business. Celebrating its 100th year in 2005, IR has been everywhere, it seems, and done everything, while seizing the moment and diversifying into new fields....
Battle Lines Drawn Over New Roadless Rules
As the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) observes its 100th anniversary this year, environmental groups are locking horns with the Bush Administration over an issue that has drawn 4.2-million public comments: how to protect 58.5-million acres of roadless areas in U.S....
Toll Roads Becoming ’HOT’ Funding Topic
The Bush Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) strongly support big changes in highway operation to alleviate horrific congestion and save billions of dollars. The changes, important to the construction industry, include using more toll roads, HOT (High-Occupancy Traffic) lanes, and public-private partnerships....
House Votes Again to Repeal ’Death Tax’
Congress is close to permanently repealing the federal estate tax this year, freeing thousands of family-owned contractors and dealers from the burden of planning how to pay (or evade) this “death tax.”The U.S....
Tire Shortage Could Last Until 2007
Tires for construction equipment can be as much as 8 ft. in diameter and cost $8,000 each. Now, as demand for them is booming, the construction industry is suffering from a serious global shortage of large and medium-size off-road tires for wheel loaders and other equipment....
Highway Bill’s May 31 Deadline Looms
A long-delayed new six-year highway and public transportation bill, very important to motorists, the nation’s road system, the economy and contractors, must pass before this summer to push forward this year’s construction season, and avoid delays in planning for future projects....
Interstate 69 to Blaze New Trail of Economic Growth
Blazing new trails has always been part of America. In the 21st century, you still have to chart the route, cross rivers and mountains, and get enough funding to do the job. Interstate 69 (I-69) is being discussed, studied, and mapped as a route to new wealth, like the Oregon Trail of old....
President Bush Budges on Highway Bill
When President Bush held tight last year to his $256-billion proposal for a new six-year highway and public transportation bill, many in the construction industry worried that he would never budge in the future....
Officials Urge More States to Adopt Quake Building Codes
The catastrophic tsunami that rose from an earthquake near Sumatra on Dec. 26 and swept toward Thailand and India for 90 minutes with few alerts from warning networks despite feverish seismographs raises some questions....
Huge Iron Needs Loom for Cleanup of Tsunami-Hit Areas
“I haven’t seen a single bulldozer,” said a CNN newscaster reporting from a Indonesian fishing village where pieces of homes, trees, piers and boats lay as far as one could see, like large pieces of broken kindling, after being swept away by massive tsunami waves, which churned and roared from the sea and up the river on the morning of Dec....
Imports Continue at Breakneck Pace
The U.S. trade deficit reached a record of an estimated $600.6 billion in 2004, significantly affecting the U.S. economy, including the construction industry. In October 2004, the last month for which figures are available from the U.S....
Precision Husky Sprouted From Sapling Company
Precision Husky Corp., Birmingham, AL, has been celebrating 40 years of growth as a manufacturer of a wide array of sawmill and logging equipment this year — from huge loaders that lift logs as heavy as 17 tons (15 t) to chippers that chop up logs into chips....
Cat Used Equipment Managers Meeting: 20 Years Later
“We knew that one of the wonders of the world was in Niagara Falls and that if we could ever get Caterpillar dealers talking to each other it would be another wonder of the world.”That’s G.N....
Yancey Bros. Turned Picks, Shovels Into Thriving Dealership
Yancey Bros. Co., which celebrated its 90th anniversary in April, has progressed from the days of picks and shovels to one of the nation’s leading Caterpillar dealers, as well as the oldest one. Brothers Goodloe H....
Archer Takes Aim at 2007 Greensboro Loop Finish
Archer Western Contractors Ltd, is on schedule in meeting one of the most daunting challenges in its history –– building the western section of a new concrete loop around the city of Greensboro, NC, under a $117-million contract –– one of the largest ever let by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)....
Sewage Infrastructure Needs at ’Staggering’ Level
By Pete SigmundWater and wastewater facilities often lie hidden under the earth, forgotten by the general public. Yet they are the largest public works infrastructure in the United States except for the interstate highway system, and, unbeknown to many, they are in big trouble....
Experts Weigh In on Next Four Years
How will the reelection of President George W. Bush affect the construction industry? Here are the opinions of industry economists and other observers on such pressing issues as taxes, highway spending, social security and trade....
Satellites, Software Render Iron Service Data in Minutes
A quiet revolution is taking place in equipment management. Advanced satellite-aided computer maintenance systems can now monitor entire fleets — picking out which units need servicing — and even compare the productivity of different operators....
ASA Report Slams States on Public Policy
If you received a zero on an exam in grammar school, you were in deep trouble. Now some states have received it on a report card from the American Subcontractors Association Inc. (ASA). ASA evaluated seven key public policy areas affecting subcontractors: prompt payment, pay-if-paid clauses, mechanic’s liens, payment bonds, retainage, indemnity/ additional insured, and bid shopping....
North American Distributors Tour Hyundai Asian Facility
In 1940, Chung Ju Yung ran an automobile repair business. Through hard work and enterprise, he established Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company in 1947. In 1972, the company broke ground for what is now the world’s largest shipyard....
Depreciation Bonus Deadline Nears
The clock is ticking on taking advantage of the "depreciation bonus" on new equipment. The temporary special depreciation allowance permits purchasers of new equipment to write off more of the cost of equipment "up front" the first year, thereby reducing tax liability that year and improving cash flow....
Bush, Kerry Spar Over Industry Issues
How do the presidential candidates stand on construction-industry issues?Construction Equipment Guide (CEG) posed this question to close observers of the election race from national construction organizations....
Iraq Reconstruction Continues Amid Danger
Despite attacks and assassinations, the rebuilding of Iraq’s decayed infrastructure is moving painfully ahead. Few construction projects are as important. Fully functional power, water, telephone and other basic services are key to holding support among the Iraqi people....
U.S. Interstate System -- From I-4 to I-99
The next time you drive on an interstate highway, remember the mud. People are still alive from the early days of the 20th century, when a federal road census reported in 1907 that there were just 141 mi....
Does Pricey Robotic Construction Make Good Sense?
Could a single person, from a remote spot such as a home, operate a whole fleet of construction equipment?Sure. The technology is here — the Global Positioning System (GPS) positioning blades of graders, stringless pavers following terrain exactly as a 3D model dictates, on-board microcomputers sensing obstacles, video cameras showing everything which is happening, and wireless remote control....
MA Regulations Put Squeeze On C&D Debris
The construction industry generates an estimated 325-million tons (292.5 million t) of construction and demolition (C&D) waste each year, including 189-million tons (170.1 million t) from road and bridge projects and 136-million tons (122.4 million t) from building activity....
Mid-Year Mark:Industry Growing at Record Pace
Midway through 2004, the construction industry appears vibrant and poised to set some new records, but don’t start cheering yet. The industry still has problems. The good news is that the total value of construction put in place thus far in 2004 continues at its record-setting pace of the past three years....
Cement Shortage Puts Crunch on Contractors
An unexpected shortage of cement has stunned the construction industry in many states, delaying some projects. The shortage crept up in the fourth quarter of 2003 and has hit the Southeast, Southwest, and New York/New England regions of the United States since March....
Groundbreaking Set for NYC’s Freedom Tower
It will point skyward like a spacecraft on its launch pad, like the spire of a cathedral, or, most fittingly, like the Torch of Freedom that the Statue of Liberty raises on her arm in New York Harbor. The Freedom Tower, with its steel and glass exterior reflecting the sun, will reach 1,776 ft....
TEA-21 Funding: Pork or Progress?
Is our highway funding system working?Advocates, including construction organizations, say the system approaches needs realistically, and is underfunded, not overfunded, in terms of reaching transportation goals....
EPA Continues War on Contaminated Sites With Superfund
We’re winning an important war on terror. In this case, the terror lurks in the earth in the form of hazardous substances, which, if allowed to remain, would endanger lives. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has conquered the menace at 896 sites....
Asphalt Carries Weight of Burgeoning Roads in U.S.
What material carries most of the nation’s cars and trucks, is a multi-million-dollar equipment market, is America’s most recycled product, and can be “hot-mixed” in hundreds of combinations for smoother rides and longer-lasting highways?The answer, of course, is asphalt, which covers 94 percent of the nation’s highways, according to some estimates....
China’s Surge Turns Nation Into Massive Construction Site
Construction is roaring ahead in China, the world’s fastest-growing economy. The exploding market, with great potential for multi-million-dollar contracts, includes all sectors, from highways, bridges and dams, to offices, factories and hotels, changing the face of the nation....
Growing Use of Concrete Becomes Too Big for This Planet
(Editor’s note: “CEG” will provide a similar in-depth article on asphalt in an upcoming issue.)It’s being considered as the main material for the first structures on the moon. Several million tons of it have gone into the construction of New York City’s Third Water Tunnel, the largest public works project in the city’s history....
Steep Steel Prices Stun Contractors
A startling and continuing rise in steel prices, caused partly by shortages of materials resulting from surging production in China, is sending shock waves through the United States and worldwide construction industries....
Bush, Congress Spar Over TEA-21 Bill
New highway and bridge projects, thousands of jobs, stimulating the economy, relief of traffic congestion and other priorities hang in the balance as the Bush Administration and Congress wrestle over reauthorizing a new six-year highway and mass transit bill....
A Behind the Scenes Look at State DOTs
Out of the sight and mind of most taxpayers, important construction projects affecting their futures are being decided in a demanding, exciting and sometimes frustrating world of costs, schedules, deadlines and the unexpected....
Epic 1903 Journey Ushers in Automotive Age
A lone open “horseless carriage,” holding two men and a bulldog — that wears goggles — lurches, stops, coughs and burps, on a rutted dirt road. It’s America, 1903. The Winton open touring car, piled high with cans of fuel, block and tackle, tents, blankets, frying pans and other paraphernalia, was as strange in towns across the country as a spaceship from Mars would be today. Dr....
Suburban Sprawl Continues at Breakneck Pace
The great exodus from the cities that began after World War II brought millions of motorists into suburbs and the outlying countryside, following their dreams of new homes on their own piece of the land. Now, population and the number of cars have multiplied....
Economic Forecast: Sunny Days in 2004
Many signs indicate that 2004 will be an excellent year for much of the construction industry. Construction and sales of single family homes beat all projections and set new records in 2003. A pacesetter for the industry and economy, they’re continuing at a very high level in 2004. Congress is expected to pass the largest highway bill in history by the end of February. The economy is continuing the recovery that began in November 2001....
Steel Tariffs Affect Few in Industry; Lift Praised
The construction industry generally supports the Bush administration’s decision to lift tariffs on steel imports, including types used in equipment, bridges and buildings. Industry sources said the tariffs, rescinded at midnight on Dec....
High Road to Taos Merits Its Scenic Byway Status
The High Road to Taos is one of the oldest, and most captivating, roads in the country. This article is part of an occasional series on interesting highways, roads and bridges in the United States. Early settlers from Spain, sometimes seeking gold, ventured into the high hills above the Spanish colonial capital of Santa Fe, NM, in the early 1600s. In the years that followed, they began irrigation and farming, and established small towns, each with its own reddish-mud adobe church, which survive today with a unique Spanish flavor. The trail the colonists followed became a rutted wagon road connecting the towns and commanding views out over the valleys, with snow-capped mountain peaks on the horizon. Today that road is a two-lane asphalt strip winding up and down hills past green farmlands and pastures.Descendants of those original settlers still irrigate the old way, using acequia ditches, which you see all along the route....
America’s Scenic Roads: N.C. 12 Epitomizes Banks’ Beauty
Over the rivers and through the woods lie many scenic roads, like Highway 12 that runs along North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Here is an installment in a series of articles on the most interesting roads, highways and bridges in the United States....
WI’s Highway 35 Affords Majestic River View
Wisconsin’s picturesque, often gorgeous, Highway 35 sometimes winds between 500-ft.-high wooded bluffs, green woods and the Mississippi River. From the road you may see a white paddle wheel steamboat come into view like a ghost from the past, its large wheel pushing majestically through the water. Highway 35, mostly two-lane, is Wisconsin’s portion of the Great River Road, which borders the Mississippi for more than 2,000 mi....
18th Century Road Still Survives in VT
Over the rivers and through the woods lie many scenic roads, like Route 58 in Northern Vermont. Here is another installment in a series of occasional articles on interesting highways, roads and bridges in the United States....
Amid Violence, Iraq Reconstruction Endures
Amid the violence in Iraq, the U.S. construction industry is playing a major role in the battle to reconstruct the country’s power and water facilities, bridges, roads, schools and other infrastructure....
Experts Predict Slew of Future Airport Projects
In the 100 years since Orville and Wilbur Wright pioneered the first powered flights on Dec. 17, 1903, the takeoff and landing area has changed from the sand hills of Kitty Hawk to concrete runways throughout the country....
Going-to-the-Sun Road Still Legendary
(The first in a series of occasional articles on the most interesting roads, highways and bridges in the United States. We invite readers to send us their suggestions for future stories.) Many consider Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, MT, to be the most spectacular mountain road in the United States. The only road through the park, it brings you up, up, up from Lake McDonald near the west entrance, past snow-capped mountains with clouds hovering over their summits, up again over Logan Pass and the Continental Divide, past glaciers, and down, down to St....
Iron Exports Rise as Economy Recovers
The U.S. construction industry is engaged in a fierce worldwide competition for projects that will be valued at hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 50 years. As the industry emerges from recession along with the rest of the country, worldwide markets beckon for construction equipment. Will U.S....
ARTBA Wages ’Battle Royal’ Over TEA-21 Funding in D.C.
On the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the white dome of the U.S. Capitol, a symbol of hope and unity, stood against the blue sky of a gorgeous September morning in Washington, D.C....
NY Officials Scratch Heads Over Aging Tappan Zee Bridge
The 3.1-mi. long Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River approximately 20 mi. above New York City can be a beautiful or excruciating driving experience. As they cross the span between Nyack and Tarrytown, NY, motorists often see white sailboats on a broad expanse of blue water stretching north and south between palisades and hills....
Private Toll Bridges Near Extinction
Back in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, many bridges were privately owned. You paid your penny or nickel to a toll collector, perhaps went through a turnstile, and crossed to the other side on your horse and buggy. Settlers were happy to use the bridges rather than crossing on a wooden ferry, especially when the waters swelled because of storms. “Going back into misty time, the first toll bridges, and toll roads, were operated by local landowners,” said Neal Gray, director of government affairs for the International Bridge, Tunnel & Turnpike Association (IBTTA) in Washington, D.C....
Route 66: A Continuing Saga of Americana
Route 66, America’s legendary highway, is a worldwide symbol of lost dreams and new searches. In the mid-1930s, “Okies” and “Arkies,” heading west seeking a living in California for their families, putt-putted along it in beaten-up jalopies, carrying mattresses, chicken coops and other scant possessions atop their vehicles....
New Ballparks Remind Fans of ’Good Old Days’
New baseball parks being built throughout the country carry the feeling of the familiar song, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and capture some of the essence of old-time stadiums. They have natural grass fields....
Constitution Center Opens on July Fourth
The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, PA, a unique structure that both symbolizes and explains the nation’s continuing commitment to individual freedoms, opened on July 4 facing Independence Hall from the north end of the Independence National Historical Park Mall. The $137.5-million center, designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, New York, NY, with Henry N....
At Mid-Year, Industry Grinds Slowly Ahead
How’s the construction industry — and the economy — doing half-way through 2003? Construction Equipment Guide (CEG), in its annual mid-year outlook, asked leading economists and other observers from main sectors of the industry for frank appraisals. Their overall assessment: The industry is still working hard to move up to its usual strong activity at the crest of the economic wave — but it’s not easy....
States Battle Feds to Cool Global Warming
From the federal government to states, contractors, conservation groups and the man and woman in the street, everyone is worried about global warming. There’s a growing feeling that the “greenhouse effect” is part of the reason for long stretches of desert-like droughts, or gray skies and rainfall rivaling Northern England and Ireland....
Where Will Highways of Tomorrow Lead Us?
The 1939 World Fair stirred visitors with a “World of Tomorrow,” including sleek cars moving smoothly along wide superhighways, through majestic skyscrapers. It came true, of course, in the second half of the century. What is the “World of Tomorrow” for our highways and cars in the next 25 to 50 years? Construction Equipment Guide (CEG) interviewed David Hartgen, professor of transportation studies at the University of North Carolina’s Charlotte (NC) campus about his vision for the future....
$25B Iraq Reconstruction Portends Rich Potential
The reconstruction of Iraq is fraught with problems but rich in potential. Rebuilding power stations, water treatment and sewage plants, airports, roads and other infrastructure facilities will cost at least $25 billion in funding from all sources, including revenues from Iraqi oil, according to some estimates....
Big Dig Unearths Colonial History
The $14.6-billion “Big Dig” in Boston runs right through the original site where early English settlers built their homes on a small peninsula jutting out into the harbor. The massive project has turned up many artifacts from that colonial period, including, of all things, a bowling ball that is approximately 333 years old. The project, which was for many years the largest, most complex, public works project in the country, also has uncovered links to hunting and fishing lifestyles at a Native American campsite established 1,400 years ago on nearby Spectacle Island, which now holds 2.7-million cu....
nternet technology is bringing smiles to the faces of contractors, dealers and equipment manufacturers, who save time and money by using the Worldwide Web, completing many transactions with the speed of light instead of ponderous paperwork. Via the Internet, construction industry personnel can now bid on highway projects, participate in auctions throughout the world, locate and purchase everything from a backhoe to a compactor, research entire lines of equipment and obtain a host of other valuable services. Here’s an overview of how Web technology is drastically changing the construction business, with efficiencies that save millions of dollars. Highway Bids Numerous state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) are now using, or in stages of implementing, software systems for all-electronic “two-way” bidding on highway and bridge projects....
Dealers Assess State of Equipment Rental Market
The rental market, with rates unbelievably low, is “where the action is” in construction equipment. Increasingly, contractors throughout the United States are renting construction equipment, rather than purchasing it, to protect themselves against the uncertainties of a weak economy....
DBE Issue Remains Legal ’Hot Potato’
Contractors on federal, state and local projects are required to comply with Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) affirmative action programs whose goals are established by the government agency funding the project. How do these programs work? How did they develop? What do regulations require? Construction Equipment Guide (CEG) interviewed knowledgeable officials at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and U.S....
Rebuilding Opportunities Abound in War-Ravaged Countries
A challenging market exists in Afghanistan, and potentially in Iraq, for U.S. contractors, equipment manufacturers and dealers. Afghanistan has virtually no infrastructure. Whatever roads and bridges it had were destroyed in the war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. As it tries to revive, with two million refugees returning to their land, the country needs major infrastructure projects as never before. “Even if you built a road to nowhere, you would develop a middle class, educate people in new technology, put engineers and others to work and allow supporting activities to flourish,” said Christian Klein, Washington, D.C., counsel of the Associated Equipment Distributors (AED)....
State DOTs Yearn for the ’Good Old Days’ of Funding
“There’s red ink and red blood all over the states. It’s bad out there.” That statement was made by a state highway official, who did not wish to be identified. He was referring to the growing budget problems at state departments of transportation, ever more frequently accompanied by layoffs, early retirements, reduced benefits and other retrenchments....
Throughout its 2,340-mi. course down through the middle of the United States, the Mississippi River is spanned by bridges, which have become part of the river’s saga. Native Americans and fur traders traveled the river by canoe....
U.S. Economy Stumbles Into the New Year
The construction industry, a mighty engine for the U.S. economy, is sputtering slightly as it enters 2003, but it still has a lot of horsepower. Leading economists and industry observers see an industry wounded by the slow economic recovery, which has affected new commercial building construction, bond funding for highway work and other projects. But, in interviews with Construction Equipment Guide, they also cite many positives....
2002: Another memorable, significant, year for the construction industry. A major event during the year, capturing worldwide attention, was completing the cleanup of the World Trade Center rubble from the 9/11 terrorist attacks in September, 2001....
OSHA: Jobsite Deaths Hit Record High in ’01
Somewhere in current construction activities, fatal accidents lie in wait. The construction industry reported 1,225 fatal occupational injuries during 2001, according to statistics recently released by the U....
’Trenchless’ Technology Emerges From the Underground
How do you install or rehab water, sewer, power, communications, gas or other lines under highway intersections, buildings, rivers, railroad crossings, and other barriers? The answer is often to use “trenchless technologies,” which, like unseen electric moles, excavate earth, replace and repair existing water and sewer systems, install new pipelines and cables, and remove the excavated material....
How has the economic downturn affected the “Gray Market” — imported machines usually sold at discount prices after bypassing the established manufacturer /distributor channels? Are more contractors buying “gray iron” to help their bottom lines? How many gray machines are coming into the market in the current economy? Observers throughout the industry, somewhat surprisingly, do not see this furtive market increasing in the present economic climate, though they acknowledge that, like death and taxes, it’s always there. One thing everyone agrees on: The Gray Market is something that everyone — manufacturers, dealers and customers — should be aware of. “It’s a tough problem for us and other manufacturers,” said Ben Cordani, a spokesperson of Caterpillar Inc., in Peoria, IL....
New Building Codes Reflect Security and Disaster Concerns
Standards are the bedrock of building construction. An integral part of building codes in each state and municipality, they stipulate everything from required hardness and strength of materials to fire resistance. Small wonder that the standards and building code community has been shaken and deeply energized by last year’s 9/11 terrorist attacks....
Building a Terror-Proof Skyscraper: Experts Debate Feasibility, Options
Ground Zero, the 16-acre site of the destroyed World Trade Center buildings, is now bare brown earth, at a level seven stories down from the surrounding skyscrapers and streets. But it is a place of great hope, symbolized not only by the visit of President Bush on Sept....
Sept 11: Looking Back and Ahead
The “911” terrorist attacks that took 2,823 lives at the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City one year ago touched us all in some way and changed our lives as well. Remembering it is painful, bringing back, for everyone, many desolate moments, but necessary if the personal growth and lessons learned are to be permanent....
DOT Red Tape Mires Projects in Costly Downtime
Many highway and bridge projects in the United States appear to be behind schedule, sunk in quagmires of delays. Interviews with contractors and construction organizations in all regions of the United States indicate that, despite record federal and state funding, projects in many states are experiencing frustrating — and costly — difficulties reaching the actual construction stage. Each state has is own unique situation, but the common denominator is that the delays are costing many millions of dollars. With the construction industry fighting for appropriations close to last year’s record $32 billion, spending the money more efficiently is a critical challenge....
Industry Mobilizes to Rescue PA’s ’Miracle Miners’
Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord!Lord, hear my voice. — Psalm 130When a crane lifted nine coal miners, one by one, in a rescue basket from their dark captivity 240 feet below the earth at the Quecreek Mine in Pennsylvania on the early Sunday morning of July 28, it was an almost unbelievably happy outcome for time-critical cooperative efforts by hundreds of people from the construction industry as well as other rescuers....
Cities Eye Boon From Waterfront Projects
Developing waterfront areas animates cities and stimulates local economies. Beautiful waterfronts attract visitors, new restaurants, retail stores, and recreational facilities, and keep the good times rolling....
Texas Traffic Report: Expect Major Delays
Frustrating, expensive traffic jams on the nation’s urban freeways are getting worse every day. The 2002 Urban Mobility Study by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), released on June 20, revealed that travelers lost an average of 62 hours because of traffic congestion during 2000, compared with 16 hours per year in 1982....
After Nine Months, WTC Site Cleanup Concludes
The heartbreaking round-the-clock unprecedented project to remove 1.7-million tons (1.5 million t) of twisted wreckage from Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, where the World Trade Center once stood, is completed....
TRIP Report Names Worst Bridges in U.S.
A report from The Road Information Program (TRIP) that approximately one in four of the country’s major heavily-traveled bridges is deficient and needs to be repaired or replaced is attracting widespread interest, and some controversy. Many state departments of transportation (DOTs) told Construction Equipment Guide (CEG) that they need more funding for bridge maintenance, are worried about proposed cuts and generally support TRIP’s findings....
EPA: Nation’s Water Bill to Reach $650B
A leak from an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) draft report warns of a critical “gap” in the nation’s water infrastructure. The leak revealed the contents of an EPA 2002 draft report of water systems needs that the agency must present in its periodic report to Congress. The last assessment, in 1996, indicated at least $139.5 billion in water-related work was eligible for assistance through federal loans to Clean Water State Revolving Funds. This year’s draft report, however, leaked to the press shortly before a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Environmental and Hazardous Material on April 11, warned of a much greater need: a funding shortfall of more than $650 billion for drinking water and sewer system needs over the next 20 years. The report, originally scheduled to be released in August after review by the Office of Management and Budget, said more than half of the nation’s sewer pipes (which total 500,000 mi....
EPA Eyes Tougher Air Standards
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has won the legal battle to implement tougher clean air standards — a victory that could affect many areas of the construction industry, which will have to control emissions under future state implementation plans for complying with the standards. The U.S....
AFL/CIO Responds to ABC’s Attack on Unions
Editor’s Note: In the most recent issue of “Construction Equipment Guide” [April 10, 2002; No. 8] we interviewed Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) National Chairman Ken Adams....
ABC’s Chair Maps Out Strategy to ’Take Back Senate’
(Ken Adams, national chairman of the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), Washington, D.C., for 2002, began his construction career while still in his teens, and is now President of Pace Electric Inc., an electrical contracting firm in New Castle, DE....
Industry Draws Battle Lines for Bush Budget
The Bush Administration’s $2.13-trillion budget proposal for the 2003 fiscal year includes a drastic $8.6-billion cut in federal highway funding, causing serious concern in the construction industry about possible delay of projects and potential loss of thousands of jobs. The 27 percent reduction in funding — from this year’s $31.8 billion to $23.2 billion — is part of a proposal that observers said would launch “a new era of deficit spending” (including an $80-billion deficit for the FY beginning Oct....
ConExpo-Con/AGG Trade Show Echoes Industry’s Evolution
Old-timers among us remember steamrollers, associated with the smell of hot asphalt, and steam shovels, whose operator sat in a wooden “house” on a flat chassis as he pulled levers to work the cables that swung, opened, and closed the jaws at the end of the machine’s arm. These were the types of equipment which were displayed at the “Road Shows” in the early 1900s....
Industry Builds Its Future With Education Initiatives
Have you noticed what’s happening to education in the construction industry? It’s reaching into new dimensions to keep you and your company up to speed in a more competitive world where only the productive survive. Savvy managers and employees now often utilize the Internet to increase their knowledge of a wide variety of subjects, such as safety, sales techniques, parts logistics and management issues “Distance Learning” is one of the new buzzwords, with groups of people learning together at their home base rather than traveling to distant (and expensive) seminars. At the same time, the industry is making parents, teachers and students much more aware of the challenges and rewards of construction industry careers through new Web sites, which are attracting many thousands of “visitors.” “The scope and delivery techniques of construction education are definitely increasing,” said Heide Kraus, manager of education at the new Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), in Milwaukee, WI, which officially began operations on Jan....
State DOTs Dispute Failing Grades Revealed in TRIP Highway Analysis
With highway funding at record levels, a study reveals that pavements on many of the nation’s roads and bridges are still in bad shape. What’s up? The Road Information Program (TRIP), a non-profit transportation research group in Washington, D.C., primarily supported by the highway industry, says that reliable data indicates that “approximately three out of 10 miles of major highways and streets nationally have significant deterioration and are in need of resurfacing or reconstruction.” TRIP says “11 percent of the nation’s major roads are in poor condition and 21 percent are in mediocre condition; thus, 32 percent of the mileage on the nation’s major roads need significant improvement.” TRIP also named the states with the highest percentage of major road mileage in poor or mediocre condition, drawing sharp rebuttals from many of those named....
ARTBA Rings in 2002 By Celebrating Its Centennial Birthday
One hundred years ago, Horatio “By Gum” Earle, president of a bicyclists’ association called the League of American Wheelmen, met with three other men in the Cadillac Hotel in New York City....
Pros Predict Upswing in 2002 Despite Slow Start
The construction industry will continue to be one of the strongest sectors of the economy during 2002, according to leading economists and industry sources interviewed by Construction Equipment Guide (CEG). “There’s a sense that the construction industry has been hurt by the weak economy but that’s really only true if you’re talking about commercial building,” said Robert A....
Asphalt vs. Concrete: Pros Debate Options
Construction Equipment Guide recently asked two experts--one from the National Asphalt Association and one from the Portland Cement Association--what are the pros and cons today when using either concrete or asphalt....
Experts Assess Ways to ’Terror-Proof’ Facilities
At the height of anxiety over local anthrax dispersal, leading engineers from throughout the United States met in Washington, D.C. Oct. 23-24, in an atmosphere of controlled urgency, to identify ways to lessen vulnerability of the nations infrastructure to terrorist attack. The meeting showed that the “911” events — the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept....
Crews Assist Rescuers in Massive WTC Search
When I first saw the towers of the World Trade Center collapse in smoke and flame, I was somehow emotionally detached, as if I were covering a story rather than feeling the tragedy of people dying. Then the phone rang....
Unseen Killer: Industry Looks Into Alternate Methods to Prevent Silicosis
An unseen killer still stalks the construction industry. Day after day, this assailant slowly stifles his victims as they jackhammer concrete, sandblast steel rebar, saw through or demolish masonry, and perform many other tasks. The killer’s name is silicosis, which permanently scars and hardens lung tissue over time as the victim breathes dust containing extremely fine — less than 10 micrometers in diameter — particles of crystalline silica....
Industry Earns Green Thumbs Up for Efforts
What may seem like an oxymoron to some — the highway construction and the U.S. transportation industry steadily revitalizing the environment — is actually a fact, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA)....
Light at End of Tunnel: Boston’s $14B Big Dig Nears Final Phase
Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel (CA/T) Project (The “Big Dig”) the most complex and technologically challenging highway project in U.S. history, can now see light at the end of the tunnel....
California Power Crisis Could Cripple Country
The impact of the California power crisis could have nationwide ramifications since the state is a linchpin in the nation’s economy. The state’s power crisis, including rolling blackouts, and possible financial meltdown of utility companies, has been caused in large part by the failure to speed construction of new generating plants, according to industry experts interviewed by Construction Equipment Guide....
