$3.00
Published Nationally ®
Western Edition
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded 1957.” July 14, 2012 • Vol. VIII • No. 14 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215/885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215/885-2910 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com
Inside
Congress Passes Highway Jobs Bill, Obama Signs By Alan Fram and Joan Lowy ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) Congress emphatically approved legislation June 29 preserving jobs on transportation projects from coast to coast and avoiding interest rate increases on
new loans to millions of college students, giving lawmakers campaign-season bragging rights on what may be their biggest economic achievement before the November elections. The bill, which was signed by President Barack Obama on July 6, enables just over $100 billion to be spent on highway, mass tran-
sit and other transportation programs over the next two years, projects that would have expired June 30 without congressional action. It also ends a bare-knuckle political battle over student loans that raged since spring, a proxy fight over which party was best helping voters
Ron Partri dge Joins Hawthorne CAT.. .30
see BILL page 10
Crews Clear Landslide on Utah’s SR-14 By Trish Thayne CEG CORRESPONDENT
Power Motive Expands Sales Force...30
Atlas Copco Set s Service Operations Manager...58
Table of Contents ............4 Attachments Section 15-29 California Section ....35-37 Paving Section ........43-49 Auction Section ......53-61 Business Calendar ........54 Advertisers Index ..........62
Sometimes when you’re driving on a long trip, it feels like the road will never end. But on Oct. 8, 2011, a near half-mile stretch of Utah’s SR-14 actually came to an end when a massive landslide swallowed up the road. The landslide dumped nearly a million cubic yards of debris — 100 ft. deep in some areas — down the mountainside. Located in Cedar Canyon along the route between Cedar City and Cedar Breaks National Monument in southern Utah, the road was going to need some huge equipment to reconstruct a passage for motorists who depend on the road on a regular basis, as well as those who would be traveling through the area when tourist season ramped up again. The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) immediately began aerial surveys and piecing together funding scenarios to move the monumental work forward while also assembling a design team that would pull in construction expertise geared toward massive earth removal, according to Kevin Kitchen, public involvement manager, UDOT. “Within a few weeks the Utah Transportation Commission allocated $3-million toward the proj-
ect,” said Kitchen. “Several design variations followed while geotechnical and additional survey data was collected under winter conditions and fed to the team. Environmental documentation, application for emergency funds, right-of-way acquisition and risk analysis were ongoing in a race to provide access through the landslide at the earliest possible date.” Big Slide Means Big Iron Kiewit Infrastructure West was awarded the $11-million base contract to remove the slide debris, establish a temporary roadway, pave the roadway and make other safety improvements. see LANDSLIDE page 42
Arizona Receives Fed Funds to Help Fix Bridge LITTLEFIELD, Ariz. (AP) The state Department of Transportation has secured a federal grant to help fix a heavily traveled bridge in the northwest corner of the state. Improvements to the bridge spanning the Virgin River Gorge bridge are expected to cost up to $250 million. The state will use a $21.6 million grant from its federal counterpart to replace the
girders, decks and railings that don’t meet modern standards. A paving project on the Arizona side of the interstate is expected to begin in July, with money also budgeted for a similar project in 2015. State officials say more than 1.4 million commercial trucks travel through the 29-mi. (46 km) stretch of interstate in Arizona each year.