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September 18, 2013 • Vol. XXV • No. 19 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215-885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215-885-2910
Inside
New Army Reserve Center Supports Soldiers, Meets Anti-Terrorism Standards By Cindy Riley CEG CORRESPONDENT
Hydraulics Express Hosts Open House…12
Sennebogen Works for Asheboro…43
ConExpo Retro CopperTop Ledcor JV photo See page 38 for an ongoing series of highlights from past ConExpos as they were reported in the pages of CEG.
Table of Contents ................4
A rock hammer attachment on an excavator is used to prepare a trench line for gas.
A new Army Reserve Center constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers is now home to members of the 518th Sustainment Brigade in Knightdale, N.C. The $19 million structure had to meet anti-terrorism and force protection requirements. As a result, the building features blast windows and doors, restricted vehicle access and minimum vehicular standoff distances. “The soldiers are very happy to be in their new Reserve Center, which was designed to support their training and operational requirements,” said Col. Joseph Roberts, director of public works for the 81st Regional Support Command in Fort Jackson, S.C. “They can focus on their mission and know that they have a modern facility that supports their needs.” The two-story, 81,072 sq. ft. (7,531.8 sq m) building near Raleigh, N.C., will house hundreds of soldiers, their families and support personnel. In June, a ribbon cutting ceremony took place to formally unveil the structure. “This facility was needed to support a new Army Reserve unit standing up under the Department of Defense’s Grow the Force initiative announced in 2007,” said Roberts. “As the active Army gained new brigade combat teams, the Army Reserve gained new units as part of the Army’s accompanying Combat Service Support Reset Initiative. The Army Reserve needed to provide adequate facilities to support the new units.” Officials held an official groundbreaking in December 2010, with an original move-in date of 2012. While awaiting their new digs, soldiers were placed in temporary housing, as crews worked on the highly anticipated project.
Construction Employment New Rules to Force Stalls, Jobless Rate Drops Increased Employer
Recycling Section ........43-55 Truck & Trailer Section ........ ......................................56-58 Attachment & Parts Section ......................................59-63 Business Calendar ............82 Auction Section ..........80-85 Advertisers Index ..............86
see ARMY page 70
Construction employment stagnated in August, while the industry unemployment rate fell and a majority of companies reported difficulty finding workers, according to an analysis of new government data and an industry survey by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials called for education and immigration reform measures needed to ensure an adequate supply of skilled workers. “After a strong rebound in 2012, construction hiring and spending have been stuck in neutral through most of 2013,”
said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. “Yet the unemployment rate for former construction workers hit the lowest August level in five years, suggesting that experienced workers are leaving the industry rather than returning to it. As a result, firms are already having trouble finding workers.” Construction employment totaled 5.798 million in August, matching the July total, which was revised up by 5,000 from the initial estimate released four weeks earlier. The August total is 3.0 persee JOBS page 68
Spending Up to $6B The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement in response to the administration’s decisions to finalize two new employment rules despite federal data indicating no need for the new measures: “The administration’s decision to finalize two new oppressive employment regulations for federal contractors forces us to object to measures whose goals we support and objectives our members already meet. That is see RULES page 82