Published Nationally ®
Southeast Edition
August 14 2019
$3.00
Vol. XXXII • No. 17
“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
Unique New Outer Banks Bridge Under Construction in Rodanthe, N.C.
The Social Responsibility of Manufacturers...8
WIC: CTE’s Amanda Weisiger Cornelson...16
Fierce ocean storms, hurricanes and nor’easters have regularly pounded the rail-thin Outer Banks of North Carolina. Cape Hatteras is famous for being the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” a spot on the East Coast notorious for the hundreds of sunken ships sent to the bottom of the ocean floor — some from as far back as the 1500s. Today, the sole way to travel to Cape Hatteras is via N.C. Highway 12, the Outer Banks’ only major roadway, a two-lane connection often at the mercy of shifting sands and ferocious ocean storms. At the north end of Hatteras Island is the tiny community of Rodanthe, a beautiful, wind-swept beach hamlet. To get there from the north, vacationers and residents first drive across Pea Island and a narrow stretch of U.S. 12 before arriving in the small community. But the border land between southern Pea Island and Rodanthe has late-
By Eric Olson
CEG CORRESPONDENT
Diamond Equipment Turns 50...26
Table of Contents ..............4
ly been plagued by several recent storm surges that damaged or washedout the roadway. When Hurricane Irene blasted open a breach in the fragile sand dunes there in 2011, N.C. 12 was completely severed between the mainland and Cape Hatteras. The same thing happened in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy plowed north across the barrier island. Over the next six years, the North Carolina DOT repaired the roadway and built two different interim bridges to keep residents and tourists moving across the popular north-south islands. However, it has long been a tough place to maintain a simple two-lane road because the low wetlands are geologically susceptible to ocean breaches. The highway not only has the ocean just to its east, but the shallow Pamlico Sound to the west, as well. Nevertheless, engineers with the state agency realized something stursee RODANTHE page 56
Truck & Trailer Section ......................................34-36 Recycling Section........45-55 Attachments Section ..57-60 Business Calendar ............78 Auction Section ..........80-83 Advertisers Index ............82
Leaders Laud Transportation Infrastructure Act The Senate Environment & Public Works Committee unveiled the America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act (ATIA), which authorizes $287 billion in funding from the Highway Trust Fund for the nation’s surface transportation programs over the next five years. The legislation, which was unanimously advanced out of committee, includes provi-
sions to improve road safety, streamline project delivery, protect the environment and grow the economy. ATIA represents a 27 percent increase over the highway funding previously authorized under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act. Provisions in the bill allows states to use
federal highway funding for lock and dam modernization and rehabilitation projects to address aging and inadequate water infrastructure that threatens the viability of farmers, manufacturers, shippers and other stakeholders. Industry leaders recently weighed in with see ACT page 32