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Midwest Edition
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded 1957.” 4
October 13, 2012 • Vol. IXX • No. 21 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215-885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215-885-2910 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com
Inside
Mighty Miss Locks, Dams Need Upgrade By Jim Suhr
Thousands Attend Quarry Quest in Nee nah, W is. …8
AP BUSINESS WRITER
Landwehr uses its Komatsu 400 and Cat 330 to tag-team the excavation at the intersection of Highway 8 and CSAH 20. Road C onnection Makes Final Pit Stop…12
MNDOT Improves Highway 8, Increases Volume, Safety By Jen Rupp CEG CORRESPONDENT
Li nk-Bel t Hold s Cran eFest 2 012…16
Table of Contents ....................4
With traffic levels on Highway 8 in Lindstrom, Minn. beyond capacity, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) comprised a $12 million project to increase volume and improve safety. The project, which began in
Truck & Trailer Section ..41-47
April of this year, runs from Shoquist Lane to the east city limits along Highway 8. The $12 million reconstruction project is funded by federal, state, county and city funds. The new design calls for eastbound and westbound Highway 8 traffic to be separated into a “one-way pair” in the downtown area between Linden and Elm Streets. Highway 8 (Lake see HIGHWAY page 32
ST. LOUIS (AP) The Mississippi River’s 70-year-old system of locks and dams urgently needs upgrades to accommodate barges that have gotten bigger over time, a group of federal lawmakers is warning after a dayslong shutdown of the river’s busiest lock. U.S. senators from Illinois, Missouri and Iowa sent a letter to the Environmental and Public Works Committee saying the locks and dams suffer from “a troubling lack of upkeep.” Workers closed a lock just north of St. Louis near Granite City, Ill., to make emergency repairs to a towering metal cylinder that helps guide barges. A protection cell — a rock-filled steel cylinder against which barges rub to help align them for proper entry into the lock — had split open, spilling enough of the rock into the channel to obstruct passage. Officials said that damage had less to do with the protection cell’s age than with the fact that an unarmored section that is normally submerged was exposed because the river’s level has been lowered dramatically see UPGRADE page 82
Recycling Section ............51-65 Business Calendar ................72
Key Construction Material Prices Increase
Attachment Section ........74-75 Snow & Ice Section ..........76-81 Parts Section..........................82 Auction Section................86-93 Advertisers Index ..................94
The cost of key construction materials increased in August and year-to-year, resuming a trend that has forced contractors to pay more for materials even as competitive pressures restrain prices for finished projects, according to an analysis of federal figures released today by the Associated General Contractors of America.
“After years of depressed construction activity, the last thing contractors need is to see materials price increases further erode their already slim margins,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer. “This isn’t the kind of economic recovery most contractors spent the past few years praying for.”
The producer price index for inputs to construction — covering materials that go into every type of project, plus items consumed by contractors such as diesel fuel — increased 0.9 percent in August and 1.0 percent from a year earlier, Sandherr noted. The price increases resume a longer-term trend that is forcing consee MATERIALS page 24