Published Nationally
Southeast Edition
® March 28 2018 Vol. XXXI • No. 7
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Answers Elusive in Miami Footbridge Collapse By Eric Olson CEG CORRESPONDENT
Firm Puts Hyundai Equipment to the Test…8
Hills Machinery Hosts Open House…18
The deadly collapse of the pedestrian bridge at Miami’s Florida International University (FIU) on March 14 is likely to have been caused by a combination of factors, according to bridge and structural engineers. One thing is certain, however: the answers to why the 950-ton structure pancaked onto a heavily-traveled street on the edge of the campus at FIU may not be fully determined for some time. Six people were killed and nine more injured when the FIU-Sweetwater UniversityCity Bridge suddenly fell onto SW 8th Street (also known locally as Tamiami Trail) around 1:45 in the afternoon. The bridge was put in place to connect the FIU campus in Miami to the city of Sweetwater Pedro Portal/Miami Herald via AP photo and offer a safer alternative for pedestrians to Emergency personnel respond after a brand-new pedestrian bridge collapsed onto a cross the busy, eight-lane road. see BRIDGE page 32
highway at Florida International University in Miami on March 15. The pedestrian bridge collapsed onto the highway crushing multiple vehicles and killing several people.
Impact of Steel Tariffs: The Industry Reacts By Giles Lambertson CEG CORRESPONDENT Sun Construction Shines With Cat Equipment…22
Table of Contents ............4 Attachment & Parts Section ......................35-39 Truck & Trailer Section .... ..................................41-44 Recycling Section ....49-62 Business Calendar ........60 Auction Section ........83-89 Advertisers Index ..........90
Some construction and heavy equipment associations expressed utter dismay recently at the Trump Administration’s steel and aluminum tariff decision. Yet other industry reactions to the Mar. 8 announcement were more measured, almost hopeful. The disparity in responses is a reminder that economics is not a hard science, let alone a settled one. The eventual impact of steel and aluminum tariffs is unknown, the ultimate consequences unset in concrete. Tariffs may, in fact, be more political science than anything else. They are enacted on behalf of targeted constituencies, often are employed as a negotiating tactic, and are arbitrarily imposed and rescinded. They are very much a political tool. Which is not to say a
25 percent tariff on imported steel and 10 percent tariff on aluminum is without economic consequence. Costs Will Rise “If you accept the premise that steel is used in construction, then construction workers are going to be hurt some,” said Dr. Peri da Silva, an international trade economist in the Department of Economics faculty of Kansas State University. “There are not a lot of other ways to say that. Anyone who uses steel is going to be economically hurt. Everyone who works in industries that use steel will lose a little bit, and the steel industry is going to benefit.” Without question, the price of steel and aluminum products will go up, so profit margins will be squeezed. Rebar and steel beams for bridges or multistory structures will cost more, so project costs will
increase. Heavy equipment manufacturers will pay more for steel and aluminum components, so machines will cost more to produce, a cost they may pass along to customers. Terex Corp. already has announced it will impose a surcharge on its equipment to offset new costs incurred from the tariffs. The Associated Equipment Manufacturers certainly was not pleased at news of the tariffs. “The equipment manufacturing industry is profoundly disappointed at President Trump’s actions today to advance import tariffs on steel and aluminum,” said Dennis Slater, AEM president. “These ‘Trump Tariffs’ will put U.S. equipment manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage, risk undoing the strides our economy has made due to tax reform, and ultimately pose a threat to American workers’ jobs. President Trump should back away
from these tariffs and redouble his efforts instead on policies that will create manufacturing jobs — not put them at risk.” Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of Associated General Contractors of America, was equally vehement in denouncing the tariffs. “These new tariffs will cause significant harm to the nation’s construction industry, put tens of thousands of high-paying construction jobs at risk, undermine the President’s proposed infrastructure initiative and potentially dampen demand for new construction projects for years to come,” he said. “That is because the newlyimposed tariffs will lead to increases in what construction firms are forced to pay for the many steel and aluminum products that go into a typical construction project.” see TARIFFS page 70