Lately, there has been a smell of discrimination rising in the air above California, where some regulators would love to completely ban some internal-combustion engines in favor of cheerful electric motors. But for most heavy-duty applications, there still is no viable alternative to the diesel engine. It is the most efficient way to move earth, build bridges and pave roads after more than 100 years of improvement including turbochargers, electronic boards, exhaust-gas recirculation coolers, high-pressure fuel injectors, particulate filters and catalytic convertors. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton / ENR Few people are against cleaner air, but California’s general policy of treating
You can often gauge the quality of a mechanic by taking a close look inside his or her garage. A clean shop is the sign of an organized, patient technician who will treat you fairly and take good care of your investment. A dirty one, well, could promise to take you for a ride. And the old grease monkey’s adage, “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later,” is starting to take on a new socially conscious twist with the emergence of a concept called the “green” garage, where the harsh solvents, oil stains, slippery wrenches and
Some construction leaders may be disappointed because they did not get everything they wished for in the massive $787-billion economic-stimulus legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama on Feb. 17, but they should be looking at a glass half full instead of one half empty. The law contains $130 billion of funding for construction of all types, which represents a serious increase over normal appropriations. Related Links: Unwrapping the Big Package In some markets, this would be like receiving a compensation bonus equivalent to five times one’s normal salary. For those industry firms already teetering on the brink of
The $884.5-billion economic stimulus bill now being debated in the Senate and an $819-billion version passed by the House should be called what they are: the largest government spending bills in U.S. history. The bills are not a pure stimulus but rather piles of money thrown at things that Congress seems to debate every year, now cloaked with the seemingly beneficial argument that the federal government is doing something good for the economy. There are many things that good government policies can do, like creating a positive environment for all business activity or identifying and executing public-works projects necessary for
Those debating the form of a new federal economic stimulus package cannot ignore the struggling housing market. It is the single-largest component of the U.S. economy, and its positive and negative impacts reach into every nook and cranny. Housing’s long-term prospects are bright due to positive demographics, and the market has the proven ability to lead the nation out of recession as demonstrated several times since World War Two. The problem at the moment is that the financial wreckage caused by irresponsible financial institutions needs to be cleared out, the surplus housing stock reduced and consumer confidence restored. A carefully
The time is at hand when the construction industry must stand up and make its case for infrastructure projects to be an important part of any economic stimulus plan. There will be stiff money competition from other industries ranging from steel to auto manufacturing, but few can match construction’s quick startup of projects already in the pipeline, its speedy ramp-up of employment in a highly mobile workforce and its resulting economic benefits. There are grave doubts about the effectiveness of any stimulus package, so the scrutiny moving forward should be tough. Some economists say the tax-rebate checks early last year
These are difficult economic times. People are losing their jobs, consumer spending is down, banks are sitting on what money they have and private companies are standing pat. No one knows that better than the construction industry, whose market that was booming a year ago has gone bust. Yes, things are bad. We all know that. But there still is money out there. Despite the near-hysterical headlines, there now are water-cooler conversations about how, if you need something new, now is the time to buy. Stores are desperate to move product and are marking down prices to lure customers. The
The year ahead is shrouded in an economic fog that fills many in the industry with dread. Markets are tumbling, and no one knows where the bottom of the abyss lies. The usual reaction of many firms to the periodic downturns that plague construction is to cut training programs and shed employees—the craft, professional and support people that make construction possible. This has proven shortsighted in the past. It has been only a few months since many companies were complaining about labor shortages and doing almost anything to attract, train and retain the best talent. Those that succumb to the
The collapsing commodity prices across the globe after an explosive increase to record levels shows how closely linked all national economies are to events that happen outside the home countries. It also highlights the increasing economic pressure on individual countries and companies to join cartels to manipulate through antitrust behavior the prices of commodities and services in which they have a production advantage. The best known of these cartels is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the world’s oil reserves, 40% of global oil production and 70% of all oil traded internationally. OPEC
The vast piles of dollars proposed, pending and spent to stimulate the U.S. economy must be used as an investment in the future of America and not just to bail out companies that have failed to live up to their promises to investors and customers. One of the major flaws in all the discussions of how to do this is the lack of detail regarding the benefits infrastructure investments receive from economic multiplier effects. These benefits include not just the jobs created immediately and directly by the construction but also the indirect and induced benefits in other parts of the