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® July 14 2024 Vol. XXV • No. 14
“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
Williams Brothers Construct Houston Freeway
Seven Ways Technology Will Turbocharge Warehouses, Factories..8
Blending ‘Men and Machines’ for Maximum Results...20
American Pavement Specialists ‘Paves the Way’ in Industry...26
By Irwin Rapoport
The Williams Brothers Construction Company (WB) is more than one year into the construction of the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) $93.9 million SH 35 Griggs Road to I-45/Spur 5 project in the southeast Houston area to improve traffic flow, safety and meet the demands for increased population growth in the area. The project is part of the Texas Clear Lanes program that is reducing congestion on some of the state’s busiest highways and is expected to be completed in fall 2026. WB, which secured the contract in March 2023, is constructing a new eight-lane freeway, including 12-ft. wide mainlanes with ramps and four CEG CORRESPONDENT
see HOUSTON page 46
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Paving Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25-39 Wheel Loader Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47-65 Auction Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68-73 Business Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 Advertisers Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Aside from building a wider freeway, crews are building four direct connectors; widening the existing bridge to increase capacity; reducing congestion; and improving overall traffic flow – particularly during hurricane evacuations.
The Leap From AI to Digital Twins Powerful Data Intelligence Moving the Construction Industry Light Years Forward By Lucy Perry CEG CORRESPONDENT
Adobe Stock photo
The transportation construction industry faces incredible challenges: As infrastructure ages, budgets tighten, the labor pool remains sluggish and projects increase in complexity, a true up-to-theminute picture of physical assets is critical. At the heart of it all, digital twin technology is transforming the way those who plan, build and maintain infrastructure do their jobs. Digital technology in general is a powerful tool the industry can utilize to move light years ahead Data generated by cloud services, the Internet of by simply accessing timely data on a project. Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning see DIGITAL page 70
have created interest in digital twins.