ENR's weekly look at construction products and gadgets includes a new asphalt paver from Dynapac, ParaShield's temporary guardrail system, a riding trowel from Allen and DeWalt's wearable backing flap discs. Click the image for the full products slide show.
High-strength rebar reduces overall building costs compared to traditional steel reinforcement, according to a new study from the Construction Industry Institute.
Photo by Tudor Van Hampton Building a cement plant is key to survival, local firm says. Rendering courtesy Ozinga Bros. Inc. Ozinga filed an Illinois permit application for its proposed plant under a new business unit, Universal Cement, in December 2008. It expects a decision later this year. Related Links: U.S. Cement Production Flat Following 2009's Big Decline A fourth-generation, family-owned concrete company in Chicago wants to build its own cement plant so it can become more vertically integrated.Ozinga Bros Inc., founded in 1928, has proposed building the 1-million-ton-per-year plant on a 50-acre parcel it owns on Chicago's South Side.
Photo by Tudor Van Hampton for ENR Recall affects hundreds of engines instead of hundreds of thousands. Related Links: Caterpillar Settlement Touches Dozens of Heavy Equipment Brands Caterpillar To Recall Engines, Pay $2.5M in EPA Penalties Caterpillar Inc.'s recent $2.5-million Clean Air Act settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency involves a recall of hundreds of diesel engines, not hundreds of thousands as previously reported by several news outlets, including ENR.The July 28 consent order, out for public comment through Sept. 6, says Cat is required to complete an ongoing recall program but does not specify how many engines are
Courtesy of Inland Kenworth A piece of heavy equipment loads a large dump truck. Large construction trucks will be required to cut fuel economy 10% by 2018 to meet new federal greenhouse-gas rules. Related Links: First Fuel-Economy Standards Hit Construction Trucks The Flip Side of Fuel Economy: Less Cash for Road Construction Heavy Truckers Say Goodbye to the Stick While construction industry leaders aren’t objecting to the new efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles that were announced on Aug. 9, they are not pleased with the likely long-term repercussions of the standards.“It's probably a good thing," explains Brian Deery,
Courtesy of Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar is ramping up production in China with new projects like a 193,750-sq-ft hydraulic excavator undercarriage and track assembly plant in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, expected to open in mid-2012. Related Links: As Fleets Grow Old and Weary, Purchasing Rebounds Construction machinery suppliers have posted a robust second quarter fueled by infrastructure and mining activity in Asia and Latin America. Meanwhile, rental companies and contractors in North America have been replacing aging and obsolete fleets for a small but significant uptick in domestic sales revenue.“Global business demand helped many equipment manufacturers get through the recession,” says Dennis
Photo courtesy Inland Kenworth The new federal fuel-economy standards for heavy-duty vehicles, which includes most construction trucks, follow new light-vehicle standards announced last month. Related Links: The Flip Side of Fuel Economy: Less Cash for Road Construction Obama Orders Fuel-Economy Standards for Big Trucks (subscription) Final Rulemaking: On EPA's Website The first-ever efficiency and greenhouse gas standards for medium- and heavy-duty highway vehicles will cost owners $8 billion but save $50 billion in fuel between 2014 and 2018.In one example, the operator of a semi-truck could pay for the technology upgrades in less than a year, and have net savings
Construction machinery manufacturers saw robust second-quarter earnings fueled by infrastructure and mining activity in Asia and Latin America, while North America rental companies and contractors replaced aging and obsolete fleets for a small but significant uptick in domestic sales. Many contractors sold off equipment during the downturn as work became scarce, opting to rent rather than own.Caterpillar Inc.'s second-quarter earnings soared to $1.02 billion, a 44% increase over last year, and the company is spending over $1 billion to ramp-up production in China. Volvo Construction Equipment strengthened its position in wheel-loader and excavator sales in China in the second quarter,
ENR's weekly look at construction products and gadgets includes a new field controller from Topcon Positioning Systems, a concrete foundation tester from Pile Dynamics and a spray-on foam polyurethane insulation from Bayer Materials Science. Click the image for the full products slide show.
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