Apr 28, 2003
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....
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Pete Sigmund
CEG Writer
Pete Sigmund was a longtime editorial consultant and journalist of Construction Equipment Guide for which he wrote incisive, biweekly news articles and features for more than three decades. Mr. Sigmund authored many standout features for Construction Equipment Guide.
Apr 14, 2003
Web-Savvy Contractors Point,
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....
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Mar 31, 2003
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....
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Mar 13, 2003
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....
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Mar 3, 2003
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....
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Feb 4, 2003
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....
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Jan 13, 2003
Slew of Spans Tames
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....
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Dec 31, 2002
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....
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Dec 17, 2002
2002 Industry Year in Review
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....
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Nov 21, 2002
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....
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Nov 4, 2002
’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....
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Oct 23, 2002
Gray Market Wanes
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....
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Oct 8, 2002
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....
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Sep 25, 2002
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....
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Sep 9, 2002
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....
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Aug 26, 2002
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....
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Aug 15, 2002
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....
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Jul 29, 2002
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....
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Jul 15, 2002
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....
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Jun 17, 2002
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....
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