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April 26, 2014 • Vol. IXX • No. 9 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215-885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215-885-2910
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Inside
No Margin for Error...
Road Work Study Spells Safety Issues
IAAP Hosts 46th Annual Convention...14
connect Minnesota trunk highways 36 and 95 to the future bridge crossing over the river to Wisconsin TH 64. The Lift Bridge, for decades carrying traffic volumes well beyond its original design
Forty-five percent of highway contractors had motor vehicles crash into their construction work zones during the past year, according to the results of a new highway work zone study conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials added that the study found work zone crashes are more likely to kill vehicle operators and passengers than construction workers. “There is little margin for error when you work within a few inches of thousands of fast-moving vehicles,” said Tom Case, the chair of the association’s national highway and transportation division and senior vice president of Watsonville, Calif.-based Granite Construction. “As the data makes clear, not enough drivers are slowing down and staying alert near work sites.” Case said that 43 percent of contractors reported that motor vehicle operators or passengers were injured during work
see BRIDGE page 44
see STUDY page 90
Backfilling a stretch of a sewer ditch is a Cat backhoe while a Cat dozer partially covered by the backhoe spreads fill throughout the sewer cut and a Hamm roller follows to compact soil. Approximately 72,000 ft. (21,960 m) of storm and sanitary sewer and water main will be eventually placed as part of the project. Star Welcomes DOT, Guests for Lunch...23
Minn. Road Approach to New St. Croix Bridge Halfway Done By Dick Rohland CEG CORRESPONDENT
Smock Cel ebra tes Spr ing Wit h Sale. .. 88
Table of Contents ................4
Just south of the small city of Stillwater, Minn., on the shore line of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway bordering the state of Wisconsin, the town’s
residents, visitors and interstate commuters are seeing a new, diamond interchange take shape above the river’s bank. Sparked by the construction of the long anticipated replacement to Stillwater’s historic lift bridge, the interchange will
Attachment Section .............. ......................................35-39
Jobs in March Hit Highest Level Since June 2009
Recycling Section ........51-63
Construction employers added 19,000 workers to payrolls in March, bringing industry employment to the highest level since June 2009, while the industry’s unemployment rate dropped to the lowest March level in seven years, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials warned that the pool of available workers is declining rapidly, raising the prospects for significant labor shortages if demand continues to expand.
Truck & Trailer Section ........ ......................................73-81 Business Calendar ............84 Auction Section ............86-95 Advertisers Index ..............94
“The rate of construction hiring continues to outrun job growth in the overall economy for the past year,” said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. “Furthermore, the pickup has been well balanced, as both nonresidential and residential construction segments added workers last month and over the past 12 months.” Construction employment totaled 5.9 million in March, a gain of 151,000 or 2.6 percent from a year earlier, compared with a rise in total nonfarm employment of 1.7 percent over that peri-
od, Simonson noted. Residential building and specialty trade contractors added a combined total of 9,100 workers in March and 103,000 (4.8 percent) over 12 months. Nonresidential construction — building, specialty trades and heavy and civil engineering contractors — grew by 9,900 employees last month and 48,800 (1.3 percent) since March 2013. “Although most construction employers who need workers have been able to find them so far, increasing numbers of contractors say they are see JOBS page 90