Published Nationally ยฎ
Southeast Edition
June 29 2011
$3.00
Vol. XXIV โข No. 13
โThe Nationโs Best Read Construction Newspaperโฆ Founded 1957.โ 470 Maryland Drive โข Ft. Washington, PA 19034 โข 215/885-2900 โข Toll Free 800-523-2200 โข Fax 215/885-2910 โข www.constructionequipmentguide.com
Inside
Cranes Vital in Construction of Bridges Spanning North Carolinaโs Yadkin River By Peter Hildebrandt CEG CORRESPONDENT
Spectra I.S. Holds Field Day With Gregory Pooleโฆ8
Lasers Used to Determine Structureโs Soundnessโฆ18
Just after World War I, a young soldier named Dwight Eisenhower never forgot his long, dusty and monotonous experience of crossing the country by vehicle convoy on the rough roads of those days. The trip took weeks. When he became president, he pressed hard for a national interstate system. In its infancy back in the 1950s, much of the emphasis for the interstate system was on the increased speed it would provide. Over the years travelers could add simplicity of travel to the list of the benefits of this tremendous transport system and aside from speed and convenience, safety as well. But one stretch of Interstate 85 through North Carolina as it reaches and crosses the Yadkin River for years found itself with a much higher crash rate than the statewide average crash rate for comparable facilities. Sixty thousand to 70,000 vehicles per day pass through this busy corridor. see BRIDGES page 58
His tori c Plane Mak es Way to N. C. โฆ24
Table of Contents ............4
Attachments Section25-28 Crushing, Screening & Recycling Section ....31-37 Auction Section ......56-63 Business Calendar ........57 Advertisers Index ..........62
At right, Crews continue building the concrete foundations for the new I-85 North and South bridges over the Yadkin River.
Oil, Gas Drilling Tied to Recovery Construction Spending Up During April By Pete Sigmund
Truck & Trailer Section .... ..................................20-22
Photos courtesy of the N.C. Department of Transportation
Above, on Feb. 15 crews poured concrete to form the first underground support column for the I-85 South bridge over the Yadkin River at the Davidson-Rowan County line. The column is about 50 ft (15 m) deep and anchored firmly in rock.
CEG EDITORIAL CONSULTANT
The construction industry is reaping rewards from oil and gas drilling as one of the keys to recovery. The oil and gas industry is closely tied to the U.S. economy โ and construction. It supports an estimated 9.2-million jobs and contributes 7.5 percent of total gross domestic product (GDP). The United States is the third largest producer of crude oil, about 5,380,000 barrels per day (b/d). (Russia is first; Saudi Arabia is second.) Itโs also the
top consumer of oil (followed by China, Japan, India and Russia). More drilling for oil and gas in this vital area of the economy stimulates recovery of the U.S. economy, including many areas of construction โ pipelines, industrial facilities, wastewater plants, consumer spending, housing and other sectors.
Impacts Economy Increased supplies of crude would lower the price of gasoline, giving consumers more money to spend and therefore lifting the economy. Crude oil
accounts for about 68 percent of each dollar spent at the pump. More production also increases demand for equipment. โDrilling, particularly onshore, often requires at least rough roadbuilding and site preparation equipment,โ said Ken Simonson, chief economist of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). โYou have to create a pad, support buildings, storage tanks and so forth. You need excavating equipment to level the
Construction spending inched up for the second straight month in April, 0.4 percent โ following downward revisions to the March spending figures โ due to increases in private nonresidential and homeimprovement spending, the Associated General Contractors of America reported June 1 in an analysis of new Census
see OIL page 44
see SPENDING page 48