People who are watching the industry barometers of new and used equipment sales expect the market to make slight comebacks this year after a tough 2009. But few are predicting the market to post sizable gains until 2011 or 2012. Source: Machinery Trader. Monthly Average, All Categories, Without High/Low. Auction Prices Overall new-equipment categories are expected to grow 5% in the U.S. this year, followed by 15% gains in 2011 and 14% growth in 2012, says the Milwaukee-based Association of Equipment Manufacturers. Previously, machinery sales slumped 43% last year and 8.6% in 2008, the trade group says. “Even with a
Tension over crane inspection and safety has been playing out in downtown Chicago, where city building officials for nearly a year tried to force a supertall building developer to remove an idle tower crane from a mothballed project. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton / ENR Crane atop stalled project in Chicago came down after safety concerns. Related Links: Crane Owners Step Up Inspections to Meet Tighter Quality Controls Rebuild Shop Offers Safe Alternative to Replacement The 1,047-ft-tall Waterview Tower was set to become the luxurious Shangri-La hotel, but work halted in 2008 at the 25th floor due to a lending freeze.
In 2007, a contractor worked itself into a pickle while building a Midwestern wind farm. There, a Demag CC2600 was being walked from one turbine pad to another. As the 500-ton crawler crane moved down a slight hill, it suddenly tipped forward. The counterweight overcame the upperworks, causing the boom to jackknife and crash to the ground. Photo: WHECO Corp. A crawler crane that tipped over on a wind farm in 2007 was repaired in about five months. It is shown from the scene of the accident Photo: WHECO Corp. Its arrival in the shop Related Links: Crane Owners Step
Hanging more than 200 ft over a jobsite in down- town Kansas City, Mo., James Hague doesn’t seem to notice the amount of air separating him from the people below. The senior technician fiddles with a dial gauge that measures the amount of play in the crane turntable, the giant gear that rotates the jib. “A bearing could go bad,” he says, suspended from a full-body harness. “And that’s something we want to know before the top falls off.” Slide Show Photo: Tudor Van Hampton / ENR Hague inspects bolts and pins on a J.E. Dunn tower crane working in
Terex Corp., Westport, Conn., on Dec. 20 agreed to sell its mining equipment business to South Milwaukee, Wis.-based Bucyrus International Inc. for $1.3 billion in cash. Them firm plans to use some of the proceeds to buy companies “beaten down by the recession,” says Chairman and CEO Ron DeFeo. If the deal closes by the end of next quarter as planned, Bucyrus would provide a wider global footprint in mining, which Terex lacks. Terex would have had to invest $150 million to $200 million “in order to take this business to the next level,” says DeFeo. The move positions Terex
Caterpillar Inc. CEO-elect Douglas R. Oberhelman (pictured, at left) on Dec. 22 handed over the keys to the world’s first diesel-electric bulldozer—specially gift-wrapped with a bright red bow—to Dan Klingberg (right), president of Joliet, Ill.-based T.J. Lambrecht Construction Co. Now in full production, the machine made its debut inside Cat’s East Peoria, Ill., tractor plant. The new D7E is the result of 10 years of research and development and 100 new patents. The D7E prototypes were put through more than 70,000 hours of lab and field tests, say CAT officials. The machine costs about $600,000, a 20% premium over a
Dan Klingberg, president of Joliet, Ill.-based T.J. Lambrecht Construction Co., took control of the world’s first diesel-electric bulldozer and says he will put it to use on a project at O’Hare International Airport next month. Caterpillar Inc.’s Vice Chairman and CEO-Elect Douglas R. Oberhelman (pictured, at left) on Dec. 22 handed over the keys to the world’s first diesel-electric bulldozer. Related Links: Video: Big Electric Cat World’s First ‘Hybrid’ Dozer Keeps Up with Bigger Cats Klingsberg took the keys from Caterpillar Inc.’s Vice Chairman and CEO-Elect Douglas R. Oberhelman on Dec. 22 at the manufacturer’s East Peoria tractor plant and
The construction industry in Washington state is not ready to meet a new rule that will require some 10,000 cranes there to be inspected and certified by a licensed inspector by Jan. 1. Photo: Teqne New rules will soon hit Washington cranes, such as this one that was shut down last year for alleged deficiencies. The crane's owner has since settled with the state. Related Links: Crane Anxiety Towers From Coast to Coast California Enforces Standardized Testing Partial Settlement Announced For 2006 Fatal Crane Collapse Crane Failures Foul Up Texas' Already-Poor Safety Record "Crane operators have been busy," says Hector
The high cost of underground work needed to install geothermal tubing is inspiring some installers to develop cheaper alternatives. One unusual machine, called a SpiderPlow, is gaining traction in Canada. + image Illustration: Spiderplow Services Inc. A crawler rig, anchored 6 ft into the ground, reels a special cable that pulls the plow, which can handle 24-in.-dia. pipe and 9.5-ft depths. Related Links: As More Buildings Go Geothermal, Project Teams Are Thinking Outside the Borehole Union Jumps On Geothermal Bandwagon Jim Bererton, who heads consulting engineer Stantec’s sustainability practice in Calgary, Alberta, brought in the SpiderPlow for a Walmart store
The world’s Great Recession is the equipment sector’s Depression, according to a September report jointly issued by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers and the Associated Equipment Distributors. The sales slump dominated AEM’s annual conference, held Nov. 15-17 in Hollywood, Fla. Photo: AEM IDLED Equipment parade with 5,500 warning flags—each representing 100 lost jobs—drove home the message of equipment sector’s distress. + Image Source: IHS Global Insight Construction Investment And Equipment Sales The contraction of original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) is “unprecedented in the post-war era,” says the report, prepared by IHS Global Insight for Milwaukee-based AEM and Oak Brook, Ill.-based AED. “The