Photo by Greg Aragon for ENR Komatsu's 22-ton PC200LC-8 Hybrid Excavator, which went on sale earlier this year, is the first hybrid of its kind in the U.S. Related Links: How John Deere's New Hybrid Wheel Loaders Get Their Juice CARB, AGC Agree to Delay Emission Rules Until 2014 The California Air Resources Board is studying the effects of two pieces of hybrid construction machinery, the Caterpillar D7E bulldozer and Komatsu PC200LC-8 excavator, under a $2-million grant at the University of California, Riverside.The two-year project aims to analyze the emissions profiles of the hybrid machinery and develop incentive programs for
Related Links: Big Drop in Lake Mead Curbs Water, Power Southern Nevada's newest piece of mega-hardware—a custom $25-million Herrenknecht tunneling-boring machine—will make its long-awaited underground debut later this year.The machine works like a giant mechanical earthworm, gnawing through dirt, rock and muck while forming a protective tunnel that will eventually channel raw Colorado River water onto nearby treatment plants before the water is pumped to homes and businesses throughout the Las Vegas valley.The 1,800-ton, 600-ft-long TBM is the workhorse of a $526.6-million third raw-water intake tunnel project at Lake Mead, 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas. A joint venture of
Traditional truckers may lament that their rigs feel more and more like cars, but a new heavy-duty rig, the Caterpillar CT660, makes no apologies about the comfort.
Photo by Tudor Van Hampton for ENR The CT660 is Caterpillar's first work truck. It is built by Navistar in Garland, Texas, and sold through Caterpillar dealers. Photo by Tudor Van Hampton for ENR A six-cylinder, 11-liter diesel engine comes standard on the CT660, which can be fitted with a larger, 13-liter engine. For the heaviest tasks, a 15-liter engine is due out early next year. Related Links: Cautious Economic Optimism Pervades Big Equipment Show Now that Caterpillar has started shipping its first-ever work truck, the CT660, the Peoria, Ill.-based manufacturer says it plans to unseat traditional vocational truck manufacturers
Related Links: Watch the Super Witch in Action (YouTube) Every time Don Pemberton fires up the Super Witch, people stop what they are doing and pay attention."I'm the operator, the only operator," says Pemberton, 55, who for years has sat behind the wheel of the super-powered trenching machine, which regularly makes the rounds at construction trade shows. "You have to have ear protection—this thing is pretty loud."Often dubbed a "showstopper" or "male magnet," the chromed-up Super Witch has survived five generations and countless rebuilds, making it one of the longest-running attractions at ICUEE, a biennial utility-equipment show. The next ICUEE
The Producer Price Index (left), which measures prices for new equipment, and Rouse Value Index (right), which tracks used-equipment values, both show upward pricing pressure this year. Related Links: Concerns About U.S. Economy Deflate Industry Confidence Chinese Heavy Equipment Digs In Globally Rising commodity costs, scaled-back production and scant availability of late-model used equipment has bumped up construction equipment prices this year.“We saw an exodus of equipment leaving North America over the last five years because it was cheaper to buy here,” says John Crum, national sales manager for Wells Fargo Equipment Finance Inc., Dublin, Pa. “The auction market has
Krøll is known for making the heftiest tower cranes in the world, but its rigs are rarely seen in the wild. A contractor is using one to help build out a tunnel that will house new light-rail lines in downtown Seattle.As a portion of a larger $1.8-billion U-Link project that adds 3.15 miles of light-rail track in twin-bored tunnels from downtown Seattle north to the University of Washington, JCM—a joint venture of Jay Dee, Frank Coluccio and Michels Pipeline—had to stage its tunneling work on the same site as the program's Capitol Hill Station project. That job takes up about
Photo Courtesy of Sany America Inc. Sany America is now outfitting a new $60-million factory near Atlanta. It is the first Chinese producer to build a plant on U.S. soil. Chinese manufacturers are on track this year to become the second-largest global exporters of construction equipment, but it will take some time for them to pose a threat to established suppliers.“They are moving faster than we expected,” says Stephen Joske, director of China forecasting for the Economist Intelligence Unit and author of the EIU report, “Heavy Duty: China's Next Wave of Exports,” released last month.Last year, the U.S. led construction
Related Links: Caterpillar CEO: We Want To Stay in Peoria CAT Moves Forward in Purchase Of Bucyrus for $8.6 Billion Caterpillar Buys Mining Giant Bucyrus For $8.6 Billion Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill., has announced a $5-billion investment in a new global mining initiative, less than two months since the equipment maker finalized on July 8 its acquisition of Bucyrus International, South Milwaukee, Wis., in a deal valued at $8.8 billion.Historically known for its construction equipment, Bucyrus in recent decades did most of its business in the mining sector, building draglines, excavators, giant trucks and continuous miners. Caterpillar already offers a
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