Published Nationally
Southeast Edition
® March 20 2024 Vol. XXXVI • No. 6
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded 1957.” 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215-885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com
Inside
Parman Tractor Buys Dealership to Expand South of Nashville...20
$3.00 Emergent Method photo
Bringing La.’s Barataria Basin Back to Life By Giles Lambertson
Southwest of New Orleans on the west side of the Mississippi River, Louisiana’s Barataria Basin has been slowly dying from natural and manmade pressures upon it. The good news is that help is on the way. Ground has been broken on a nearly $3 billion state government project to infuse the basin with water and sediment from the river. If all goes as planned, in five years, the basin will have billions of gallons of sediment-laden water diverted into it, restoring tens of thousands of acres of land in the process and creating and sustaining upwards of 250,000 acres of wetlands. “If you look at the history of the lower Mississippi, clear back to the late 1800s and early 1900s, people have been sharing ideas on how to reconnect the river to the basin,” Bradley Barth said, giving some background to the project. Barth is program manager for the Mid-Basin Sediment Diversion Program of Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. As such, he is the state government’s point
CEG CORRESPONDENT
JB Harris Opens Its New Corporate Headquarters in Newnan, Ga. ...32
Volvo’s Acquisition of Proterra’s Battery Business Complete...32
see BASIN page 58
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Paving, Compaction & Milling Section . . . .36-60 Auction Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82-89 Business Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 Advertisers Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
Emergent Method graphic
If all goes as planned, in five years, the basin will have billions of gallons of sediment-laden water diverted into it, restoring tens of thousands of acres of land in the process and creating and sustaining upwards of 250,000 acres of wetlands.
Greenhouse Gas Rules Cause a Stink Industry Calls FHWA’s Arbitrary Emissions Performance Mandate Overreach By Lucy Perry
Adobe Stock photo
CEG CORRESPONDENT
The construction industry has declared its support of 22 states challenging the FHWA’s greenhouse gas (GHG) performance rules, which went into effect this past December. The AGC and ARTBA believe the federal agency lacks the authority to impose performance measures and that FHWA has underestimated the administrative costs resulting from the mandate. The courts will decide this month. The two associations, filing briefs in federal courts in February, joined several construction industry groups who consider the mandate burdensome and untenable. see RULE page 70
DOT Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the proposed performance measure will offer states a clear and consistent framework to track carbon pollution.