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Published Nationally ยฎ
โThe Nationโs Best Read Construction Newspaperโฆ Founded 1957.โ
Western Edition
www.constructionequipmentguide.com
September 20, 2014 โข Vol. IX โข No. 19 โข 470 Maryland Drive โข Ft. Washington, PA 19034 โข 215/885-2900 โข Toll Free 800-523-2200 โข Fax 215/885-2910
Inside
U.S. Route 281 Undergoes Significant Work By Jeff Winke SPECIAL TO CEG
Efficiency Production Aids Texas Contractor...6
JCB Raises $100K at Cycling Event...12
Ritchie Sees Impressive Numbers at Sale...50
Table of Contents ................4 Attachment & Parts Section ......................................13-17
Smack dab in the middle of central Texas lies Blanco County, which is in the stateโs Hill Country. With its picturesque rugged hills and granite and limestone outcroppings, the county is west of Austin and north of San Antonio. The county is traversed by two significant rivers, the Blanco River and the Pedernales River, and two major highways, U.S. Highway 290 and U.S. Highway 281. There is a 15-mi. (24 km) stretch of U.S. Highway 281 that the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) identified for significant maintenance. The target stretch of U.S. 281 connects Marble Falls and Johnson City with approximately
9,000 vehicles traveling this part of road daily. It also serves as a northsouth connection between San Antonio and Lampasas. The project section of highway had last received a seal coat surface treatment in 2002. There was a substantial amount of cracking in the existing pavement surface. TxDOT determined that it was time to perform preventative maintenance on U.S. 281 before moisture could get into the base material and cause even further damage, thereby requiring more extensive rehabilitation work. Clark Construction, based in San Antonio, Texas, won the bid for repairing and resurfacing the
New Safety Requirements Poorly Maintained Set for Keystone Pipeline Roads Cost Billions for Californians see ROADTEC page 30
By Joan Lowy
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Truck & Trailer Section ........ ......................................25-27
By Justin Pritchard
Recycling Section ........35-44
LOS ANGELES (AP) Poorly maintained highways and major roads cost Californians an extra $44 billion each year in repairs, accidents and time and fuel burned in traffic, according to a report issued Sept. 11 by a transportation advocacy group. The formula estimating the cost is far from exact, and the reportโs authors hope it will spur greater transportation spending.
Auction Section ............48-53 Business Calendar ............52 Advertisers Index ..............54
To ensure that Clark Construction could efficiently place the 2 in. (5 cm) of new asphalt and meet the TxDOT smoothness and rideability spec,s the company used its Roadtec SP-200 spray paver. The ride specs were to meet TxDOT surface test type B schedule 3 for smoothness of ride.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
see TRIP page 45
WASHINGTON (AP) Safety regulators have quietly placed two extra conditions on construction of TransCanada Corp.โs Keystone XL oil pipeline after learning of potentially dangerous construction defects involving the southern leg of the Canada-toTexas project. The defects โ high rates of bad welds, dented pipe and damaged pipeline coating โ have been fixed. But the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration wants to make sure similar problems donโt occur during construction of the pipelineโs controversial northern seg-
ment, which is on hold pending a decision by the Obama administration. One condition requires TransCanada to hire a third-party contractor chosen by the pipeline safety agency to monitor the construction and make reports to the safety administration on whether the work is sound. The second requires TransCanada to adopt a quality management program to ensure โthis pipeline is โ from the beginning โ built to the highest standards by both Keystone personnel and its many contractors.โโ The conditions are buried near the end of the 26 appendices in a voluminous environmental impact statement on Keystone XL released by the State see KEYSTONE page 24