Published Nationally ®
Southeast Edition
October 9 2019
$3.00
Vol. XXXII • No. 21
“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
Thompson Machinery Celebrates 75 Years...12
Sacyr Construction USA Continues Work on Fla.’s First Coast Expressway
Photo courtesy of the American Traffic Safety Services Association
With their reflective striping, mobile barriers help drivers recognize they are approaching active work zones while traveling at night.
Keeping Work Zones Safe in the Tech Age
Hills, S.C. Quarry Bond Over Case Excavator...26
By Chuck MacDonald CEG CORRESPONDENT
‘In The Trenches’ Tour Makes Pit Stop...36
Table of Contents ................4
An American 5299 A crawler crane working on one of the three phases of FDOT’s roughly $1.3B First Coast Expressway project.
By Irwin Rapoport
Phase 2 of the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) First Coast Expressway project (FCE) is underway and expected to be delivTruck & Trailer Section ........ ered in mid-2025. Back in March, crews from Sacyr Construction USA ......................................40-42 LLC first began working on the north segment of the job, a $229 million contract that is being funded by the Florida Turnpike Enterprise. “The First Coast Expressway [SR 23] is a multi-lane, limited access toll road that, once comRecycling Section ........47-59 pleted, will cross parts of Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties,” FDOT stated on the project web site. “Expressway traffic will pass through electronic toll gantries without stopping. The gantries Attachments & Parts Section will contain an electronic system that will either detect the vehicle’s SunPass transponder device ......................................60-63 or scan the vehicle’s license plate for a toll-by-plate invoice in the mail. The total length of the proposed roadway is approximately 46 mi. The FCE will reduce congestion on other major roadways in the region, important not only for daily commuters but also critically important during Auction Section ............78-84 times of storm-related evacuation.” Sacyr’s work area covers the span north of State Road 16 to just above Blanding Boulevard Business Calendar ............83 (State Road 21) in Clay County. The northern segment is adding 10.5 mi. of new multi-lane, limited access toll roadway; conCEG CORRESPONDENT
Advertisers Index ..............86
see EXPRESSWAY page 64
Drivers need to see the work zone not as just another delay in their workday or as a slowdown on their trip to a favorite vacation spot, but as an alarm bell alerting them to be cautious. Almost always work zone activities have been carefully organized, but drivers are often not as cautious. The Federal Highway Administration reports that 4,400 people died in work zone crashes over the last five years and 200,000 people were injured during that time. In 2017 alone, distracted driving was responsible for 3,166 deaths. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 20 percent of weekend nighttime drivers tested positive for drugs in a nationwide survey. People reading or sending a text message usually take their eyes off the road for an average of five seconds — the equivalent of driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed. The consequences of these actions can be especially frightening for workers in a work zone. Many road-building and road see SAFETY page 38