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August 6 2011 Vol. XVIII • No. 16
“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
Landowners Mull Suit Over I-69 Project
Fabick CAT Hosts Open Hous e in Troy, Ill. ...10
An artist’s impression of the courtyard building at Masdar City — exterior view. Titan Machinery Holds Case Rodeo...42
Renewable, Sustainable Energy a Focus in New Low Carbon City By Mary Reed CEG CORRESPONDENT
Rit chason A uctio neers Sal e Draws Cro wd ... 82
Table of Contents ..............4 Parts Section ..............32-33 Backhoes and Attachments Section ........................37-41 Paving Section ............47-57 Auction Section ..........78-87 Business Calendar............85 Advertisers Index ............86
Masdar City is a “green” urbanization under construction near Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A multi-billion dollar project, the
focus is developing and utilizing renewable and sustainable energy. While the UAE sits on 8 percent of the world’s known oil reserves and is among the globe’s largest oil exporters, it also ranks high on the international see CITY page 36
ARTBA Backs ‘Infrastructure Bank’ Federal financial instruments and initiatives like a proposed national “Infrastructure Bank” designed to attract private investment into transportation infrastructure projects should be included in the new highway/transit bill, Pete Ruane, president of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), told the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee July 20. He cautioned lawmakers, however, not to think that such initiatives alone could solve the transportation funding problem caused by the constrained revenue stream into the Highway Trust Fund.
Ruane said private investors would likely not seek to be partners in the vast majority of transportation improvement projects needed in the states. Market experience, he said, shows publicprivate partnerships (P3s) generally serve a small, yet very important, niche — very expensive projects that add highway capacity in congested urban areas and can be tolled to provide a return on private investment. Addressing the nearly two-year delayed surface transportation bill, Ruane said the biggest obstacle see BANK page 64
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) Landowners along the path of the Interstate 69 extension being built through southwestern Indiana are threatening to sue state and federal agencies unless they address “serious unanswered questions” about the project, which they say violates federal law. Those landowners and members of Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads contend that the 142-mi. (228 km) highway between Indianapolis and Evansville could help send an endangered bat species to extinction, worsen air pollution and harm the Patoka National Wildlife Refuge. Environmentalists who oppose the $3 billion project have sued previously trying to stop its construction. They contend that it will destroy forests, wetlands and farmland and harm sensitive caves and springs. Paperwork filed in early July notifying the Indiana Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration that the landowners and the anti-I-69 group may sue is required before a lawsuit can be filed in federal court. Mick Harrison, the group’s attorney, said the lawsuit will proceed if the agencies do not fix what they call violations of four federal laws related to the highway project — the Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act and Transportation Act. “In light of the serious unanswered questions, numerous violations of federal law, and new information on the harmful impacts of the I-69 highway, the Plaintiffs call for an immediate halt to the project,” Harrison said in a statement. see SUIT page 34