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Published Nationally ®
Western Edition
December 8 2019 Vol. IX • No. 25
“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
George Lucas Museum Moves Toward Final Act
CEG’s Top Holiday Gift Picks for 2019...8
Coffman Ames Helms Loop 101 Project…35
The location is directly across the street from the University of Southern California, where Lucas went to film school. The museum will join a suite of established museums already in Exposition Park.
By Chuck Harvey CEG CORRESPONDENT
Auction Company Breaks Records in Spokane…60
The spirit of Star Wars is taking form in a huge $1.5 billion spacecraft-like structure called the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Museum in Exposition Park in Los Angeles.
The futuristic museum building is even being built using highly modern equipment, including robots and drones. Robots will do some heavy lifting and moving of materials and drones provide a better picture of the construction process. The drones can provide improved surveying of the land for starters.
With excavation completed, the project has moved into its major construction phases. Although much work remains, walls can be seen now inside the structure. The walls separate two different theaters. Construction crews expect to complete by see MUSEUM page 37
Table of Contents ....................4
Contractors Discuss Rising Construction Costs
Recycling Section ............13-23
By Irwin Rapoport CEG CORRESPONDENT
Attachment & Parts Section .... ........................................ 41-43 Truck & Trailer Section....51-55 Business Calendar ................56 Auction Section ...............59-63 Advertisers Index ..................62
General contractors and subcontractors across the nation are witnessing increases in construction costs, be it for department of transportation contracts or commercial, industrial, institutional and residential projects. While some companies, due to their size and geographical range, have been aware of the trend from the beginning, others are dealing with
it on a case-by-case basis and are seeking data to confirm their suspicions. “If you think construction is getting more expensive, you’re right,” Ken Simonson, chief economist of The Associated General Contractors of America, told Construction Equipment Guide. “The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) compiles a producer price index (PPI) that measures the change in what contractors say they would charge to put up a set
of specific non-residential buildings. By asking the same contractors about the same set of hypothetical buildings each month, BLS is able to compare ‘apples to apples.’ “The PPI for new non-residential building construction increased 5.6 percent from August 2018 to August 2019,” he added. “In contrast, the consumer price index (CPI) — the most commonly cited measure of inflation as experienced by consumers
— increased only 1.7 percent over that period. Over the past three years, when construction costs began to accelerate, the ‘bid price’ index has risen 13 percent, while the CPI climbed just 7 percent.” According to Simonson, construction costs have been driven by an acute shortage of hourly craft workers and by tariffs on steel, aluminum and other construction materials and components. see COSTS page 44