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Midwest Edition
July 9 2011 Vol. XVIII • No. 14
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded 1957.” 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215/885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215/885-2910 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com
Inside
McCann Industries Holds Demo Days...10
Highway 14 Expands in Waseca, Minn. By Dorinda Anderson CEG CORRESPONDENT
IED Enjoys A nnual Golf Out ing...22
Stu dents Ear n John Deer e Degree s... 28
Turning 10 mi. (16.1 km) of Highway 14 from Waseca to Interstate 35 in Owatonna, in southern Minnesota, into a four lane highway and adding bypasses will increase safety and mobility for the 6,500 to 18,200 vehicles that travel this stretch each day. Population growth has not been excessive but additional truck and commuter traffic has grown, creating safety issues. The existing highway was not built to carry the increased traffic, said Chad Fowlds, construction engineer of the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Owatonna office. “So we upgraded the highway to four lanes with the intent of someday having four lanes from New Ulm to Rochester,” said Fowlds. “We made progress on that over the last several decades, and this is one project that gets us to that goal.” Prior to construction, the highest crash severity was in the city of Waseca, a long community with
About 400,000 cu. yds. (305,822 cu m) of soil correction was required of the very soft peat and nonstructural soils to complete the project.
a large amount of highway within city limits, creating numerous cross streets and intersections. Reconstruction of Highway 14 reduced the number of intersections by restricting access on the new highway within the city and in turn reduced the number of accidents. Now, the only way vehicles can get on and off the highway is on interchanges. see EXPANSION page 34
Oil, Gas Drilling Tied to Recovery
Table of Contents ........4 By Pete Sigmund
Attachments Section...... ..............................37-49 Paving Section ......55-65 Business Calendar ......80 Parts Section ..............82 Auction Section ......86-97
Advertisers Index ......98
CEG EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
The construction industry is reaping rewards from oil and gas drilling as one of the keys to recovery. The oil and gas industry is closely tied to the U.S. economy — and construction. It supports an estimated 9.2-million jobs and contributes 7.5 percent of total gross domestic product (GDP). The United States is the third largest producer of crude oil, about 5,380,000 barrels per day (b/d). (Russia is first; Saudi Arabia is second.) It’s also the
top consumer of oil (followed by China, Japan, India and Russia). More drilling for oil and gas in this vital area of the economy stimulates recovery of the U.S. economy, including many areas of construction — pipelines, industrial facilities, wastewater plants, consumer spending, housing and other sectors. Impacts Economy Increased supplies of crude would lower the price of gasoline, giving consumers more money to spend and therefore lifting the economy. Crude oil
accounts for about 68 percent of each dollar spent at the pump. More production also increases demand for equipment. “Drilling, particularly onshore, often requires at least rough roadbuilding and site preparation equipment,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). “You have to create a pad, support buildings, storage tanks and so forth. You need excavating equipment to level the CEG see OIL page 36
Caterpillar Equipment Sales Grow PEORIA, Ill. (AP) Caterpillar reported another strong month of global sales growth in May when sales improved 52 percent over last year, but the results were slightly weaker than the recent months. Sales in May were strongest in the region of Europe, Africa and the Middle East where sales grew 65 percent. Caterpillar’s Asian region posted the weakest results, but sales there were still up 38 percent. Caterpillar’s sales figures are considered an indicator of the health of the economy, so they are watched closely. Before May, Caterpillar reported annual sales growth of 66 percent in April, 61 percent in March and 59 percent in February.