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April 25, 2015 • Vol. IXX • No. 9 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215-885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215-885-2910
4
Inside
IHS, PEG Report Industry Prices Continue to Fall
[17.7 km], $84 million, south side). The north-south highway, built in the 1960s, is showing its age and needs to be replaced and widened. Where there are three lanes, a fourth shall be added and for the sections with two lanes, a third will be added. A 35-ft. (10.7 m) median, covered with grass, separates the lanes. Daily traffic on this stretch of I-65 consists of more than 97,000 cars and trucks. The lifespan of this stretch of road has been reached and this is the first Major
Construction costs fell again in March, according to IHS and the Procurement Executives Group (PEG). The headline current IHS PEG Engineering and Construction Cost Index (ECCI) registered 44.7 in March, a slight uptick from February’s record low, but still considerably below a neutral reading. The headline index has not indicated rising costs since December 2014. “The rout in crude oil markets is clearly having a chilling effect on capital expenditure plans,” said Mark Eisinger, senior economist at IHS. “That said, survey respondents remain optimistic that projects are simply being delayed and not canceled.” The current materials/equipment index registered 43.0 in March, a slight improvement from February’s 39.6 reading, but still consistent with the overall narrative of softer prices. Nine of 12 individual components registered falling prices in March, led by copper-based wire and cable, carbon steel pipe, alloy steel pipe and fabricated structural steel. Copper-based wire and cable has now shown falling prices for five of the past six months. “Non-ferrous metals markets continue to be weighed down by the specter of slowing consumption growth in key emerging markets and dampened investor interest due to the pending normalization of U.S. monetary policy,” said Frank Hoffman, senior economist at IHS. Ready-mix concrete was the outlier in the March survey as the only underlying component showing higher month on month prices.
see INDOT page 80
see IHS page 101
Customers Play in the Dirt at Nortrax...12
Daily traffic on this stretch of I-65 consists of more than 97,000 cars and trucks.
Ziegler CAT Tr eat s Customers t o Rodeo...22
Work Moving Forward to Replace 14 Mi. of I-65 in Ind. By Irwin Rapoport CEG CORRESPONDENT
Mani tou Kic ks Off Red Bul l Ice Se ason. ..28
Table of Contents ..............4 Attachments Section ............ .................................... 43-46 Recycling Section ......57-72 Truck & Trailer Section ........ ....................................81-89 Auction Section ........93-101 Business Calendar ............96 Advertisers Index ..........102
With funding from Indiana’s Major Moves 2020 Trust Fund, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is spending $120 million to reconstruct and widen 14 consecutive mi. (22.5 km) of Interstate 65 just outside of Indianapolis between Southport Road to Main Street/Greenwood (3 mi. [4.8 km], $35.8 million, north side) and Main Street/Greenwood to Franklin (11 mi.
State DOTs Cancel, Delay $780M in Improvements Four states have canceled or delayed $780 million in transportation improvement projects and another nine say over $1.8 billion are at risk because of continued uncertainty over whether Congress will take action soon to fix the ailing Highway Trust Fund (HTF). The Washington, D.C.-based American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) reviewed news reports, public
statements and testimony from state officials to compile the list featured in a March 24 report. On average, the HTF is the source of 52 percent of all highway and bridge capital investments made annually by state governments. Funding for the federal highway and transit program expires on May 31 unless Congress acts. The HTF has suffered five rev-
enue shortfalls between 2008 and 2014, and the next cash crisis is expected to occur in summer 2015. So far in 2015, four states — Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and Wyoming — have shelved $779.7 million in projects due to the uncertainty over federal funds. Nine states — Colorado, Connecticut, see DOT page 96