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November 20 2010 Vol. VI • No. 24
“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 330BL excavator moves excess material to create a new detention pond with the help of a pair of Cat D-350EII articulated off-road trucks.
AGC of Texas Hosts Annual Trade Show...8
Contractors Work Through Winter to Complete Univ. of Wyoming Building on Time By Rebecca Ragain
CEG CORRESPONDENT Brazos Teams With Ditch Witch in Texas...36
Hi-Way Equipment Adds Chris Neville...38
Table of Contents ..........4 Paving Section ........10-17 Motorgrader Section ........ ................................19-20 Auction Section ......40-47 Business Calendar ........43 Advertisers Index ........46
Long gone are the days when new ventures were launched based on an agreement and a handshake. Today’s projects require complex paper trails: RFPs, involved bid procedures, contracts. The University of Wyoming, Laramie’s new $25-million visual arts center is an exception to that rule, according to Kevin Heuer. Heuer is a project manager for Connell Resources, the earthwork subcontractor for the arts center project. Connell Resources had bid on several projects that general contractor GE Johnson Construction Company was subcontracting; Connell Resources ended up being the low bidder for the dirt package.
Construction for the 80,000 sq. ft. (7,432 sq m) visual arts building was originally scheduled to begin in July. But by late summer, GE Johnson still couldn’t offer Connell Resources a contract because GE Johnson, in turn, had yet to solidify its contract with the university. But winter was fast approaching. If work didn’t get under way soon, the project would end up being significantly more expensive, due to the complications of starting work during the bitter cold of a Wyoming winter. “This budget had been going for about nine months, as far as bidding and trying to get the funds approved… Then, all of a sudden, in August, [GE Johnson said] ‘This is it: We need you to go,’” said Heuer. “The timing was so critical that we had to get started right away, even see CENTER page 28
More Than 70 Projects Funded Under TIGER II
Forty-two capital construction projects and 33 planning projects in 40 states will share nearly $600 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s popular TIGER II program for major infrastructure projects ranging from highways and bridges to transit, rail and ports, Secretary Ray LaHood announced. Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II received nearly 1,000 construction grant applications for more than $19 billion from all 50 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. The tremendous demand for TIGER II
project dollars follows a similar demand for TIGER I project dollars. On Feb. 17, 2009, the Department announced 51 grant awards from nearly 1,500 applications for TIGER I grants nationwide. The TIGER I requests were for almost $60 billion worth of projects, 40 times the $1.5 billion available under that program. TIGER I dollars were made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. “These are innovative, 21st century projects that will change the U.S. transportation landscape by strengthening the economy and creating jobs, reducing gridlock and providing
safe, affordable and environmentally sustainable transportation choices,” said LaHood. “Many of these projects could not have been funded without this program.” Roughly 29 percent of TIGER II money goes for road projects, 26 percent for transit, 20 percent for rail projects, 16 percent for ports, four percent for bicycle and pedestrian projects and five percent for planning projects. An example of projects funded is $47.6 million to the city of Atlanta to construct a new streetcar line connecting many of the see TIGER page 40