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February 4, 2015 • Vol. XXVII • No. 3 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215-885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215-885-2910
Inside
Industry Firms Add 48,000 Jobs in December
Thompson Contractors Purchases Wheel Loader…8
A $50 million expansion project in north Nashville remains on track, as crews continue working on Interstate 65 from Trinity Lane to Dickerson Pike.
Grading Firm Uses Topcon Technology…12
$50M Expansion of I-65 Remains on Schedule A $50 million expansion project in north Nashville remains on track, as crews continue working on Interstate 65 from Trinity Lane to Dickerson Pike. Work began in late 2012 and is set for completion later this year. “More than 142,000 vehicles travel this section every day, making it one of the busiest corridors in metro Nashville-Davidson County,” said Heather Jensen, Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) spokesperson. “The work will address safety and transition issues by adding capacity with two additional thru-lanes in each direc-
By Cindy Riley
CEG CORRESPONDENT
James River Equipment Acquires RW Moore…24
Table of Contents ................4
see INTERSTATE page 60
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Not surprisingly, coming up with hundreds of millions of dollars without raising taxes is a difficult task. Try explaining that to angry drivers across Louisiana clamoring for the state to spend more money repairing and improving the state’s highways. The governor and lawmakers face a daunting backlog of road and bridge work in the state, estimated at $12 billion. And that’s not counting the wish list of projects that people want added to the pile. But Louisiana, like many states, is struggling with a gasoline tax that hasn’t kept pace with ASSOCIATED PRESS
Attachment & Parts Section ......................................71-75 Business Calendar ............76 Auction Section ............80-85 Advertisers Index ..............86
see AGC page 82
La. Highway Financing Plan Proves Challenging
Truck & Trailer Section ........ ......................................39-43 By Melinda Deslatte Recycling Section ........47-59
Construction employers added 48,000 jobs in December and 290,000 for the year, the largest annual increase since 2005, as the sector’s unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said many firms are expanding payrolls to keep pace with growing construction demand, but are having a hard time finding qualified workers to fill key positions. “Construction firms are clearly ramping up their hiring to keep up with swelling demand for construction,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Demand for workers to construct apartments, pipelines and huge industrial projects is likely to remain robust in 2015.” Construction employment totaled 6.16 million in December, the highest level since March 2009, with a 12-month gain of 290,000 jobs or 4.9 percent, Simonson noted. Residential building and specialty trade contractors added a combined 13,500 employees since November and 132,100 (6 percent) over 12 months. Nonresidential contractors hired a net of 34,400 workers for the month and 158,200 (4.3 percent) since December 2013. The heavy and civil engineering construction seg-
construction inflation. On top of that, Gov. Bobby Jindal and lawmakers have steered millions in transportation dollars to instead pay for state police operations as they grapple with repeated budget shortfalls. If that isn’t enough, a dedicated list of major highway and bridge projects that voters approved in 1989 have ballooned in cost to $5.2 billion, nearly four times original estimates, siphoning off a significant slice of the existing state gas tax revenue each year. When the state’s economy was flush in 2008, lawmakers agreed to dedicate vehicle sales tax money to road and bridge work. But the national recession and Louisiana’s own financial prob-
lems have ensured the state hasn’t hit the financial trigger to shift the estimated $400 million to transportation needs. Meanwhile, continuing budget woes have lawmakers who want to pour new dollars into roads fighting to maintain what the state currently spends and competing against education and health care to simply avoid cuts. That adds up to stagnant transportation funding, mounting traffic complaints and a state that seems stuck in neutral, unable to make a sizable dent in the multibillion-dollar backlog. Frustrated lawmakers created a task force to come up with financing ideas, hoping someone see PLAN page 82