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® June 22 2011 Vol. XLIX • No. 13
“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
New Fort McHenry Visitor’s Center Opens By Brenda Ruggiero CEG CORRESPONDENT
JRCRUZ Prospers With Micro-Tunneling…8
Eagle Power Hosts Case Triple Threat Rodeo…34
His tori c Plane Mak es Tre k to N.C. …4 4
On the 80th anniversary of “The StarSpangled Banner” being designated as the United States’ official national anthem, a new Visitor and Education Center opened to the public at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore. The March 3 event marked the culmination of many years of planning. The 17,655-sq.-ft. (1,640 sq m) facility was designed by GWWO Architects Inc., which also is based in Baltimore, beginning in 2006. The full contract amount was approximately $9 million and called for a new building, demolition of the old visitor center and old maintenance shop, and restoration of the cultural landscape, as well as fabrication and utilities. It was awarded to Forrester Construction Company of Rockville, Md. Construction began in July 2009 and was completed in time for the March 3 grand opening. Although the original building, which opened
(National Park Service photo)
Prior to the new construction, the old facility first has to be demolished.
in 1964, accommodated a maximum of 250,000 visitors, it was reportedly undersized as soon as 1968. Over the years, funding was not available
U.K. Rental Company Finds Success With ‘Diggerland’ By Giles Lambertson CEG CORRESPONDENT
Table of Contents ................4 Truck & Trailer Section59-67 Crushing, Screening & Recycling Section ........71-93 Attachment Section 107-111 Parts Section ..................112 Business Calendar ..........113 Auction Section ......119-136 Advertisers Index............134
see FORT page 104
The Spindizzy is a JCB excavator with a long-reach boom, at the end of which is attached a wide, specially-constructed bucket fitted with eight seats and podium handholds. The excavator sits unmoving on its tracks while seat-belted riders are raised 40 to 50 ft. in the air and spun quickly in tight circles, first one direction and then the other. To produce extra sensations, the bucket is periodically dropped abruptly from its maximum height to a point just above the ground.
“Our seven-year-old, who I would not let near a hair dryer at home, was able to drive a [9 t] JCB 3CX Turbo by himself. He did have a qualified instructor in the cab with him (and an only slightly nervous dad as a passenger).” The foregoing account was lifted from a newspaper story titled, “Boys Just Can’t Get Enough of These Toys,” which appeared in a recent edition of The Northern Echo in Darlington, England. The allusion to “boys” seems spot on in talking about seven-year see PARK page 28
Construction Spending Up During April Construction spending inched up for the second straight month in April, 0.4 percent — following downward revisions to the March spending figures — due to increases in private nonresidential and home-improvement spending, the Associated General Contractors of America reported June 1 in an analysis of new Census Bureau data. Association officials noted, however, that the gains were tempered by sluggish homebuilding and declining levels of public investment in construction. “Overall economic conditions seem better than they have been for several years, which normally leads to well-rounded construction growth,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But these figures may be deceptively positive, masking weakening public sector demand and still-weak demand for residential construction.” Simonson noted that the April results were boosted by a modest half-percent rise see SPENDING page 112