Published Nationally Northeast Edition
® October 31 2018 Vol. LVI • No. 22
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded 1957.”
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Inside
Building for Peace — Saluting Navy Seabees
Firm Equips Dealers to Save Time, Grow Revenue …18
U.S. Navy Seabee Museum photo U.S. Navy Seabee Museum photo JESCO Hosts Topcon Technology Roadshow…22
Seabees with the 53rd Naval Construction Battalion, build camera towers prior to atomic bomb testing on Bikini Atoll, July 1946.
By Jennifer McKevitt CEG CORRESPONDENT
Crew Installs 236 Piers in Soggy Soil…32
Table of Contents................ 4 Paving Section.............. 55-67 Crawler Loaders, Dozers, Undercarriages & Parts Section.......................... 71-80 Snow & Ice Section..113-117 Parts Section....................118 Auction Section...... 122-136 Business Calendar.......... 126 Advertisers Index............ 134
Seabees with the 62nd Naval Construction Battalion work around the clock to build an airstrip and camp areas on Iwo Jima in March 1945.
their determined spirit. Seabees were and are deployed either as individual units or with fellow troop members, depending on situational needs. And while combat engineers are thought to be similar in nature to the Seabees, in fact, engineering is only a single facet of required Seabee capabilities. Consistently recognized for their unswerving determination, Seabee
This Veteran’s Day, Construction Equipment Guide is focusing on the Navy Seabees, the members of which are a unique combination of skilled construction worker and able fighter, formed in response to the Wake Island disaster of Dec. 23, 1941. That date marks the occasion when both see SEABEES page 42 military and civilian construction workers were captured and eventually slain by the Japanese during World War II. As a result, it was recognized by Rear Admiral Ben Moreell, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks (BUDOCKS), that all future building and construction staff must be empowered and fully-trained for battle. Thus, the birth of Seabees, the nickname for the newly-formed construction battalions. The Seabees were trained by the Marines right from the beginning. The reasoning behind this decision was to ensure that the group was indeed battle ready, in addition to A Brubacher Excavating John Deere 450D excavator performs site work in 2017. being highly-skilled in all facets of By Craig Mongeau think I’ll be able to pay it back.” Yet that is exactly construction, in any climate or condiCEG EDITOR IN CHIEF what Ben Brubacher did when he started his busition. The result was a highly adaptness, Brubacher Excavating, in 1971. able force able and willing to serve It takes a certain level of honesty to purchase a The item in question was a John Deere 310, purno matter where or when needed. large piece of equipment and say to the salesman as chased for $17,500, a huge sum at the time and a Due to their remarkable flexibility, you leave the dealer, “I’m sure you will be back to bold move for a young man attempting to start his the Seabees developed the nowrepossess it. That’s an awful lot of money. I don’t see BRUBACHER page 98 famous motto: “Can Do” to express
Brubacher Builds Through Trust