Tag: construction: Page 246

White House: More jobs in construction as recession lessens

Maybe things are finally looking up. Despite the stimulus money that has been allocated, employment levels are still pretty dismal and layoffs continue. However, the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers says it expects the economy to produce more jobs in the health care, education, transportation, construction and clean energy sectors as the U.S. emerges from […]

January 15, 2010

Fuzzy funding may mean bad news for highway projects and economy

Although an 18-month extension for SAFETEA-LU is in the works as a temporary measure after the legislation expires Sept. 30, we still have a major problem. First, we need to make sure we make some progress on developing the next surface transportation bill during this extension instead of waiting 18 months and then starting on it. […]

January 15, 2010

New York pinched pennies with stimulus money, results in 34 new projects

Given the current economy, it seems like everyone is trying to make the most with the least. We’re all stretching our pennies, and the State of New York is no exception. According to a report in The Business Review (Albany), New York has saved enough money in awarding federal stimulus money that it can finance […]

January 12, 2010

Are you ready to rumble — drive with rumble strips that is?

The state of Washington sure is! According to a report in the Seattle Times, an analysis of state highways found that centerline rumble strips — the grooves cut into pavement on 2,000 miles of the state’s two-lane highways — has reduced serious injury and fatal crossover collisions by 57 percent. The reported is included in […]

January 12, 2010

DOT recovery spending hits $3 billion but rail money still to come

Federal transportation construction programs spent $3.145 billion through Sept. 18 on highways, bridges and other repairs ranging from transit systems to airports to inland ports and railroads, according to a report in the Journal of Commerce online edition. For more information from the official Website on stimulus money spending, go to www.Recovery.org.

January 12, 2010

The construction industry says, ‘We’re not gonna take it!’

At Chicago’s Soldier Field Today (Home of the Chicago Bears football team) local business leaders, laborers and construction workers rallied in a caravan of construction equipment to urge the federal government to stop job loss and to move quickly on the reauthorization of SAFETEA-LU. A caravan of idle construction equipment including a motor grader, rough terrain […]

January 11, 2010

Your guide to the basics of transportation decisionmaking

How do government officials decide where to put a bus stop, road, or bridge and how transportation projects are planned? The Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) have created a guide to answer these and other transportation project-related questions. Here’s a downloadable PDF, A Guide to Transportation Decisionmaking, to explain how all […]

January 11, 2010

Construction Equipment

A construction machinery fantasy league?

I’ve heard of fanasty football leagues but never a fantasy construction equipment league. But that’s essentially what the Backhoe Challenge is. Yesterday, as I went through magazines with a fine-tooth comb while helping to judge an editorial contest, I came across a news brief on the Backhoe Challenge. I was reading a magazine covering meeting and […]

January 11, 2010

California construction workers least insured of all groups

Why is this happening in the most heavily regulated and taxed state in the nation? California Construction workers have the lowest level of medical insurance of any other non-farm labor group in the state. Some 27 percent are chronically uninsured and 40 percent uninsured during part of the year. Only 35 percent receive health insurance through […]

January 10, 2010

Some bids coming in at half of estimates

The San Jose Mercury News reported last week that bids for some public works projects in the San Fransisco Bay area are coming in a nearly half the cost of what officials estimated. The low bids are resulting from lower materials prices and contractors desperate to keep crews and machinery working during the recession.

January 10, 2010

Construction Equipment

Lots of work…in Guam

If you’re looking for work in these recessionary times, there’s a building boom a-fixin to happen in Guam, of all places. Due to U.S. military realignment the Department of Defense is planing to build housing and infrastructure for up to 17,000 people. If you’re seriously interested, check out the Guam Economic Development and Commerce Authority […]

January 10, 2010

Italians given jobs to build bridge in Texas

In Dallas, Texas, where one out of every eight construction workers is unemployed, a group of 11 Italian welders and helpers have been brought in to erect a bridge being paid for by city, state and federal funds. Visa rules allow the importation of highly specialized workers when their skills cannot be matched by Americans, but given […]

January 7, 2010

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