Tag: construction: Page 221

Equipment

Study: Hybrid construction equipment emits more harmful pollutants than diesel-only machines

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have concluded that while hybrid construction equipment certainly reduces fuel consumption, they are still worse for the environment due to increased harmful emissions. The scientists deployed 10 hybrid Caterpillar D7E bulldozers and six hybrid Komatsu HB215LC-1 excavators at six different jobsites in California. Both machines were tested for […]

October 23, 2013

Business

Construction spending up 0.6% August to 4-1/2-year high

Construction spending in the U.S. rose by 0.6 percent in August to its highest point since April 2009, according to preliminary data from the Commerce Department. According to the data, total construction spending rose to $915 billion in August. The total marks a 7.1-percent improvement over the same time last year. The boost comes thanks […]

October 22, 2013

Business

Construction industry adds 20k jobs in September to 4-year high

During September, U.S. construction companies added 20,000 workers, bringing the industry’s workforce to a four-year high. A total of 5.826 million Americans are employed in the industry, the highest number since 5.851 million were employed in August 2009, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. September’s total is 3 percent higher than the […]

October 22, 2013

Construction Equipment

Genius doesn’t secure payload of concrete slabs, slings them at nearby cars

First, we’d like to thank Russia for another sterling example of how not to do things. The video below might not be as flashy as Dump Truck Inferno Guy, but just as dangerous to everyone on the road with this genius. This guy apparently thought the weight of the slabs was enough to keep them […]

October 17, 2013

Construction Equipment

Vermeer intros the D9x13 S3, the first in its new line of drills

Improved hydraulic efficiency is one of several enhancements to the D9x13 S3 Navigator horizontal directional drill, the first of the S3 generation, introduced at ICUEE last week. “We’ve increased the speed of the carriage, rotation and vise cycle, all of which translates into completing a bore much faster,” says Jon Kuyers, underground global product manager. […]

October 11, 2013

Construction Equipment

Backhoe operator discovers rare 35-foot dinosaur fossil

After all the interesting bones and artifacts discovered on jobsites this year alone, we’re beginning to wonder what archaeologists would do without construction crews. The latest addition to the list is rare type of dinosaur fossil find. While clearing a site for the installation of an oil pipeline in Spirit River, Alberta, Canada, a backhoe […]

October 9, 2013

Construction Equipment

McLaughlin launches new vacuum excavator trucks, piercing and potholing tools

With an eye towards greater efficiency and the rigors of the jobsite, including Texas oil fields, McLaughlin last week showed ICUEE attendees its second generation of vacuum trucks. The VX50-500 vacuum truck sits on a robust, 8-inch, C-channel frame with 11-inches of ground clearance to pass over obstacles on the kind of rough roads and […]

October 9, 2013

Construction Equipment

Terex launches updated General 80 digger derrick line

Terex has updated their line of General 80 digger derricks, boosting capacity and improving maintenance features. Announced at ICUEE 2013, the improvements include commonality in controls and parts and servicing requirements. The General 80 features a 79.9-foot sheave height, 26,600-pound lift capacity at 10-foot radius (fully retracted), 1,840-pound lift capacity at zero degrees (fully extended) […]

October 9, 2013

Business

Bathtub theory: Construction activity lagging behind home sales due to vacancy rate and household formation

With construction on new homes up 0.9 percent in August, Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko points out that new home starts and new home sales are still between 40 and 50 percent below normal levels. Meanwhile, existing home sales are just 2 percent below normal. So why is construction activity still lagging behind the housing […]

September 20, 2013

Construction Equipment

74 tips for reducing equipment costs (56-74)

Below are my final tips for squeezing those extra dollars out of your equipment operation. You can check out the previous posts by clicking here. 56: Use Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Inspection helps to detect early signs of changes in condition—a warning of impending failure.  But when to examine and what to examine […]

September 19, 2013

Construction Equipment

One percent of U.S. bridges are both fracture critical and structurally deficient

A recent report from the Associated Press analyzing the 607,380 bridges in the most recent federal National Bridge Inventory found that 7,795, 1.2 percent, of them are both structurally deficient and fracture critical. Structurally deficient bridges are those in need of repair or replacing because one of its components has advanced deterioration. Fracture critical bridges […]

September 18, 2013

Construction Equipment

PHOTOS: Behind the scenes during construction of the new World Trade Center

A couple of days we ago, we shared with you a very cool GIF that compiled the years of construction that went into the new One World Trade Center tower in New York City into just about 30 seconds. And now we’ve come across some photos taken at the site while the 1,776-foot-tall tower was […]

September 13, 2013