Tough Smartphone: Caterpillar-Branded Android Device Can Take a BeatingBullit Mobile, a global licensee for Caterpillar Inc. mobile devices, recently introduced the Cat B15 smartphone in North America. The Caterpillar-themed Android device has a rugged case that allows it to survive a 5.9-ft drop onto concrete and getting submerged in up to 3.2 ft of water for 30 minutes, according to the manufacturer. In addition, the 4-in. multi-touch screen can be operated with wet fingers. Made of anodized aluminum and shock-absorbent rubber, the case is IP67-certified as dustproof and waterproof. The Cat B15 boasts a dual-core 1-GHz processor and runs Android
Photo courtesy of Howard I. Shapiro and Associates OSHA intends to push back a looming crane operator certification deadline to give regulators time to review the 2010 regulation. Related Links: Viewpoint: OSHA Crane Rules Must Change Viewpoint: OSHA Crane Rules Have Merit Crane operators may have three more years to pass exams while the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration considers reopening its regulation on cranes and derricks. Some safety experts say they are glad to see OSHA reviewing the rules; however, feelings are mixed over the proposed testing delay."Safety has now been sacrificed," says Robert Weiss, vice president of
In an unprecedented engineering feat, New York City high-rise crews on May 11 successfully hoisted a 150-ft-long replacement luffing boom to the roof of One57, a 1,100-ft-tall residential building under construction in midtown Manhattan, and attached it to an existing tower-crane mast.
Photo courtesy Caterpillar Inc. Related Links: Caterpillar Rolls Out Hybrid Excavator as Layoffs Hit Mining Division Concluding that "the business no longer represents a strategic growth opportunity," Caterpillar Inc. says it will shut down its tunnel-boring-machine business by mid-2014.Caterpillar first entered the TBM market in 2008 with its purchase of Toronto-based TBM manufacturer Lovat. The machines have been used in tunneling jobs around the globe, from the Brightwater tunnel in Washington state to extensions of the Shanghai subway system."We continuously evaluate our strategic portfolio to ensure alignment with our long-term strategy and have concluded the tunneling business no longer fits
Photo Courtesy of Cole-Bar Tool can serve as a hammer, crowbar, T-square, socket wrench and more. Related Links: Auburn Students Work With Industry to Design Tomorrow's Tools Goldieblox Toy Takes Girls For a Spin into Engineering Careers The Cole-Bar Hammer makes the Swiss Army knife look like a can opener. The seven-in-one tool combines a claw hammer with a full crowbar, ruler, measuring square, ½-in. socket wrench, demolition device and nail pliers. To finance production, inventor Lance Hyde and his son, Barton, launched a $100,000 Kickstarter crowd-source funding campaign during the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas on May 7-9.The
Augusto Diniz/O Empreiteiro Choe Byeong-ku, president and COO of Hyundai's construction equipment division, says the global market "will overcome" its current sluggishness. Augusto Diniz/O Empreiteiro Hyundai's Itatiaia, Brazil, unit will produce 3,000 machines annually, with a goal of 4,000 units by 2014. Related Links: For Brazil Equipment Buyers, Support Is King Whats Keeping International Firms Out of Brazils Infrastructure Market? As anti-dumping duties remain high in Brazil, Hyundai Heavy Industries Ltd. has inaugurated its first plant there. The $175-million invesment is also Hyundai's first outside the Asian continent.Opened last month and located in Itatiaia, the unit will produce 3,000 machines
Related Links: Mobile Tools Enhance Jobsite Productivity New Safety Methods Boost Jobsite Results Construction companies are increasingly allocating more money for labor-saving items that reduce man-hours in the field while limiting liability risks. Handheld tools and devices can enhance worker performance and reduce owner overhead costs for increased market competitiveness. Greater productivity can be achieved through safer, ergonomic devices that increase efficiency while reducing health insurance-related claims.Innovation, in part, has been driven by companies forced to do more with less during a deep recession. The most popular, best-selling items often address repetitive stress injuries, which cost employers more than $20
Photo courtesy of Kennecott Mining has resumed at the Bingham Canyon mine despite massive infrastructure damage after a landslide in April. Related Links: Kennecott mining copper ore again On the last weekend in April, Kennecott Utah Copper reported it had resumed mining ore from its Bingham Canyon mine in Utah, less than a month after a massive landslide. Some 129,000 tons of ore were delivered to a crusher over a two-day period, a company spokesman said. The normal processing rate is 150,000 tons a day.Slightly two weeks after a landslide sent 165 million tons of earth down into the world’s
Photo by Tudor Van Hampton for ENR Liebherr's HS-8300HD crawler crane hangs the pressure tanks under a catwalk. YouTube Liebherr's Pactronic hydraulic-hybrid system was first implemented on harbor cranes. Related Links: Caterpillar's New Hybrid Excavator Offers Savings at a Small Price Bauma 2013 Equipment Expo Attracts Record Visitors As fuel prices keep climbing, the business case becomes stronger for hybrid power on heavy equipment. But the payoff period for heavy-duty hybrids is still fuzzy, and equipment designers face the tough decision of which technology to pick.Excavators consume a large amount of fuel when swinging back and forth between digging and
Related Links: Innovation Awards Kick Off Bauma 2013 Trade Show JCB Sets Record Earnings, Announces Clean-Diesel Prices Liugong-Cummins Engine Plant Fires Up in China Genie SX-180 Superboom Travels Without Permits Caterpillar's New Hybrid Excavator Offers Savings Excavator Sales Show Signs of Recovery in China Five Trends To Watch At Bauma 2013 Uncertainty in world construction markets has the heavy-equipment sector posting sideways growth this year, but manufacturers and suppliers are hopeful the worst is behind them."The economy is gyrating," admitted Doug Oberhelman, Caterpillar Inc. chairman and chief executive officer, at the triennial Bauma equipment expo, held on April 15-21 in
RSS
