Tag: construction: Page 199

Safety

Worker killed after lift pins him to roof beam in Illinois

A construction worker was killed in an odd accident in Wilmington, Illinois, last week when he was pinned to a roof beam. According to a report from The Hearld-News, the unidentified man was working atop a lift or aerial work platform Friday morning. The lift inexplicably extended, pinning him to a steel roof beam. The man’s co-workers brought the […]

February 4, 2015

Workforce

American Concrete Institute launches ACI University; online hub offers anywhere access to educational programs

Seeking to simplify access to the wealth of educational resources it offers for contractors and workers, the American Concrete Institute announced today the launch of ACI University. “We have a lot of great programs,” said ACI educational chair Frances Griffith during a press event at World of Concrete in Las Vegas. “But were we making […]

February 2, 2015

Safety

Construction worker survives being run over by truck in Oregon parking lot

When you hear what construction worker Travis Roberts survived while on the job last week in Oregon, you’ll be surprised. But when you see it you’ll be shocked. And probably a bit angry, too. According to a report from KOIN TV, Roberts was working and bent over a manhole in a small parking lot in […]

February 2, 2015

Roadbuilding

Astec’s Ben Brock: “Best shot we’ve had in 10 years” to get out of highway funding dead end

All the talk about the upcoming highway bill reauthorization—now in an extension until May—had a familiar ring to Ben Brock, president and CEO, Astec Industries. “I’ve been around this industry all of my life and I was starting to hear the same stories,” he told me during a break at the National Asphalt Pavement Association […]

January 30, 2015

Safety

One worker dead, another injured after wall collapses into scissor lift in Texas

One construction worker is dead and another received minor injuries while doing demolition work atop a scissor lift in Midland, Texas. According to a report from the Midland Reporter-Telegram, the two men were standing atop the scissor lift demolishing a brick wall with sledgehammers Wednesday morning. Suddenly, the wall collapsed, knocking the scissor lift over and […]

January 30, 2015

Workforce

How a heavy equipment operator, mother of two went from no driver’s license to running her own construction crew

“What am I doing here?” That was Patricia Hook’s first question when she arrived at J. Pettiecord two years ago. The mother of two didn’t have a driver’s license or any construction experience, and she looked around the Des Moines, Iowa, contractor’s yard filled with heavy trucks and equipment, and “it kinda scared me.” Despite […]

January 29, 2015

Business

Komatsu profit up 5.5% in 3Q thanks to strong construction equipment sales in North America

Helped by a weakening of the yen against the U.S. dollar as well as increased equipment sales in the Americas and Europe, Komatsu posted gains in both profit and sales during its fiscal third quarter. For the quarter, which ended December 31, net sales increased 6.4 percent over Q3 2013 to $4.2 billion (494 billion yen). […]

January 28, 2015

Construction Equipment

With drones and driverless dozers, Komatsu to begin leasing automated construction fleets

With consecutive showings on our annual Innovations awards, the Equipment World staff has talked pretty extensively about Komatsu’s Intelligent Machine Control (iMC) technology. Unveiled in 2013 alongside the D61i-23, iMC is now available on four Komatsu dozers and one excavator, the PC210LCi-10. The technology delivers automatic control from rough dozing through finish grading on dozers while […]

January 26, 2015

Business

California contractor sees latest emissions-compliant construction equipment as a competitive advantage

Andrew Allen, president of R. J. Allen Inc, has a different perspective on California Air Resources Board regulations, which require a certain percentage of a contractor’s equipment fleet be compliant with the latest emissions regulations. Allen, one of 12 finalists for the 2015 Contractor of the Year program, sees using Tier 4 Interim and incoming […]

January 26, 2015

Business

Corporate tax code reforms have early bi-partisan support as method for funding long-term highway bill this year

After President Barack Obama made a brief mention of infrastructure funding in his State of the Union address last week, urging Congress to focus on that rather than the Keystone XL pipeline, Vice President Joe Biden has now made his own appeal to lawmakers to fund a long-term highway bill this year. According to a […]

January 26, 2015

Business

Los Angeles at a tipping point: get serious about public transportation or sink into Third World status

Last week I got the opportunity to visit Southern California and see how the country’s most famous freeways were holding up. I pulled out of LAX in my rental car just after lunch, gunned it onto the 405 and then west on 101 and barely had to tap the brakes during four hours of high-speed […]

January 23, 2015

Safety

After being speared in the head by a huge piece of rebar, this guy probably won’t forget his hard hat again

A Chinese construction worker has somehow survived having a massive piece of rebar becoming lodged in his head. According to the New York Post, Cai Hanzhong, 32, was working on a first floor staircase within a building under construction in Xi’an, a city in northwest China. Suddenly, a piece of rebar fell and speared him in the head, […]

January 22, 2015