Published Nationally ®
Southeast Edition
September 8 2021
$3.00
Vol. XXXIII • No. 18
“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
Hitachi, Deere Dissolve Joint Venture…8
Event Suppor ts ‘Echoes of Emma’ Scholar ship…34
Students starting classes in the fall of 2022 at the Middle Tennessee State University’s (MTSU) School of Concrete and Construction Management (SCCM) won’t be just studying in a new $40 million building — they’ll be learning the business in a showcase. The 54,000-sq.-ft. facility features bare structural elements to give students the hands-on experience MTSU prides itself on. “We wanted to make sure that the building was not just a place to house By Lori Tobias
CEG CORRESPONDENT
Ida Ri ps Gap ing Hol e in Miss. Highway…38
education, but a living, learning environment,” said Kelly Strong, SCCM director and professor. “We have intentionally left the concrete, steel, timber and masonry exposed in places so the students can see them. We worked with the architect and builder to make sure the structural elements are architecturally appropriate. They really weave together. It’s a gorgeous looking building. The intention was to be a showcase to show how aesthetic it can be if done right. When high-quality trade workers are
Table of Contents ................4 Paving Section..............39-56 Utility Equipment Section .... ......................................58-65 Business Calendar ............92
Contractors Await Trillion Dollars From New Bill But More Than Just Money Will Be Needed to Rebuild Nation’s Infrastructure By Lucy Perry CEG CORRESPONDENT
Auction Section ............94-97 Advertisers Index ..............98
see MTSU page 82
The $1.2 trillion bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act opens the federal wallet to massive road, bridge, water, utility and broadband projects for years to come. But is
the construction industry as a whole prepared to solve the country’s infrastructure challenges in the turmoil of longtime labor shortages, gouging materials prices and the scarcity of heavy machinery? “The interesting thing about the construction workforce is that they’re transient,” David
Martin, president of the Arizona Chapter of the AGC told a local radio station. “They go where there’s opportunity. I have absolute confidence in the workforce system.” He’s confident recent worries about labor shortages will have no impact on Arizona’s see BILL page 70