Published Nationally ®
Southeast Edition
August 10 2011
$3.00
Vol. XXIV • No. 16
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded 1957.” 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215/885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215/885-2910 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com
Inside
Ala. Hospital Expansion Largest in State History
Trekker Tractor Hosts Triple Threat Rodeo…8
N.C. Firm Survives Tornado, Tough Economy…14
Haile Gold Mine Looks to Reopen
Photos courtesy of Denise McGill, Children’s Hospital of Alabama
The architectural design is quite interesting, featuring mostly glass with injections of color strips that glow at night. There are four connecting bridges and an underground tunnel that connects the old and new loading docks for material movement. Express piping installation on bridge number 2 of the four connecting bridges is pictured at right.
By Cindy Riley CEG CORRESPONDENT
By Cindy Riley CEG CORRESPONDENT
pus of Children’s Hospital of Alabama, making it the largest medical facility expansion in the state’s history. “Our existing facility dates back to the early 1960s and had been updated about every ten years in stages. The expansion allows us to better focus on family centered care, bring new technology to the bedside and allows a much more efficient plat-
Table of Contents ............4
Nearly half a century after its original construction, a Birmingham, Ala., health care facility devoted to treating youngsters is undergoing a dramatic transformation. When completed, the new Benjamin Russell Hospital for Children will add more than 762,000 sq. ft. (70,792 sq m) to the cam-
Backhoes & Attachments Section ......................43-45
ARTBA Backs ‘Infrastructure Bank’
Ajax Paving Sees Orange as Good Ne ws …49
Paving Section ........49-63 Parts Section ................65 Business Calendar ........72 Auction Section ......81-91 Advertisers Index ..........90
Federal financial instruments and initiatives like a proposed national “Infrastructure Bank” designed to attract private investment into transportation infrastructure projects should be included in the new highway/transit bill, Pete Ruane, president of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), told the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee July 20. He cautioned lawmakers, however, not to think that such initiatives alone could solve the transportation funding problem caused by the constrained revenue stream into the Highway Trust Fund.
see HOSPITAL page 36
Ruane said private investors would likely not seek to be partners in the vast majority of transportation improvement projects needed in the states. Market experience, he said, shows public-private partnerships (P3s) generally serve a small, yet very important, niche — very expensive projects that add highway capacity in congested urban areas and can be tolled to provide a return on private investment. Addressing the nearly two-year delayed surface transportation bill, Ruane said the biggest obstacle to moving forward is the Highway Trust Fund’s see BANK page 87
A Canada-based gold development company is heavily investing its resources into a South Carolina mine that was once a target of General Sherman in the Civil War. The historic Haile Mine in Lancaster County — one of the first operating gold mines in the United States — was purchased by Romarco Minerals in 2007. Romarco is hoping advancements in technology could lead to gold production once more, although the company is facing a significant delay. “Romarco has a $30 million drilling budget for 2011, most of which will be spent at Haile for exploration,” explained Jim Arnold, chief operating officer of Romarco. “Some drilling will also be done at other regional targets and some condemnation drilling at Haile. Right now lab construction is under way and the design for the mill is well advanced.” see GOLD page 34