Published Nationally
$3.00
®
Western Edition
November 6 2010 Vol. VI • No. 23
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded 1957.” 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215/885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215/885-2910 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com
Inside
A Cat hydraulic excavator loads earth near SR-60.
Case Launches Four New Backhoes...12
Norco Takes Unique Path in Tough Times...17
Takeuchi Names Anderson NW Busines Manager...38
Los Angeles County Sees Projects Conclude, Begin By Erik Pisor
CEG CORRESPODENT
October represented an important month for Los Angeles County highway construction, as a nearly $114 million high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane project along State Route 60 was completed and a $140 million HOV lane project
on Interstate 5 broke ground. The $140.2 million project on I-5 will build nearly 7 mi. (11.3 km) — 3.4 mi. (5.5 km) in each direction — of new bus/carpool lanes between the Ronald Reagan Freeway (SR-118) and the Hollywood Freeway (SR-170). The project’s general contractor Flatiron West also will reconstruct see COUNTY page 8
U.S. Shuns Some Public Works Table of Contents ........4 Recycling Section 17-21 Truck & Trailer......35-36 Auction Section....40-47 Business Calendar ....44 Advertisers Index ......46
By David Porter and Michael Rubinkam ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) New Jersey’s governor wants to kill a $9 billion-plus train tunnel to New York City because of runaway costs. Far away, Hawaii’s outgoing governor is having second thoughts about a proposed $5.5 billion rail line in Honolulu. In many of the 48 states in between, infrastructure projects are languishing on the drawing board, awaiting the right mix of creative financing, political arm-twisting and timing to move forward. And a struggling economy and a surge of political candidates opposed to big spending could make it
a long wait. Has the nation that built the Hoover Dam, brought electricity to the rural South and engineered the massive interstate highway system lost its appetite for big public works projects? At a time when other countries are pouring money into steel and concrete, is the United States unwilling to think long-term? “My sense is things have changed,” said Andrew Goetz, a University of Denver professor and an expert on transportation policy. “People now tend to see any project as a waste of money, and that’s just wrong.” “I call it the Bridge to Nowhere syndrome,” he see PROJECTS page 27
Feds to Review Rules for Truck Fuel Efficiency WASHINGTON (AP) Future tractor-trailers, school buses, delivery vans, garbage trucks and heavy-duty pickup trucks must do better at the pump under first-ever fuel efficiency rules coming from the Obama administration. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department are moving ahead with a proposal for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, beginning with those sold in the 2014 model year and into the 2018 model year. The plan is expected to seek about a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption from longhaul trucks, according to people familiar with the plan. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to speak publicly before the official announcement. Overall, the proposal is expected to seek reductions of 10 percent to 20 percent in fuel consumption and emissions based on the vehicle’s size. Large tractor-trailers tend to be driven up to 150,000 miles a year, making them ripe for improved miles per gallon. The rules will cover big rig tractortrailers, “vocational trucks” such as garbage trucks and transit and school buses, and work trucks such as heavyduty versions of the Ford F-Series, Dodge Ram and Chevrolet Silverado. The White House has pushed for tougher fuel economy standards across see RULES page 32