Exactly one day after President Obama announced a new plan to clean up gas-guzzlers and carbon emissions in the transportation sector, General Motors on May 20 said it is working to combine the advantages of gasoline and clean-diesel technology to meet those goals. Photo: General Motors Gas engine is 15% more effiicent. Related Links: Monster Machines Doing Heavy Duty in California Volvo's Fenix Asphalt Paver Concept Is a Vision Of Automated Processes and Sustainability Tested so far on midsize cars and in the lab, GM says that homogeneous-charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines produce 15% greater fuel economy and equally less
Construction pros are no strangers to heavy equipment, but two new machines working on the eastern span of the $5.5-billion San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge make most ordinary tools look like children’s toys. Slide Show Photo: American Bridge/Fluor Enterprises Inc. Joint Venture The muscular Left Coast Lifter can now begn to erect steel on the New Bay Bridge. Related Links: Volvo's Fenix Asphalt Paver Concept Is a Vision Of Automated Processes and Sustainability General Motors Tests Diesel-Like Powerplant To Meet Future Fuel Economy, Carbon Cuts Mike Flowers, project director for American Bridge/Fluor Enterprises Inc. joint venture, says he knew very early
Inside a darkened classroom in Mokena, Ill., a student lowers a face shield and braces a MIG torch above a small podium. The class hears the sounds of electric arcs hissing, while they size up the incoming weld as part of a contest to see who has the best “golden arm.” Photo: Tudor Van Hampton / ENR A pipefitter apprentice at Local 597 performs MIG welding in the virtual world. In a few seconds, the exercise is over, yet no sparks, heat or fumes—no real welding—actually happened here. It was all performed in a simulated world, a Guitar Hero for
More than 2,000 craft workers are buzzing like bees inside a new 1,600-MW powerplant under construction near Franklin, Texas. Supplying the trades with forklifts, grinders, welding machines, safety glasses—even ice for water coolers—normally would be a logistical nightmare for all the contractors involved in the $2-billion project. But AMECO, the chief supplier on the job, has been handling these services for over 60 years. At Luminant’s Oak Grove Steam Electric Station, due to supply power to about one million homes by mid-2010, AMECO is supplying $1.4 million in small tools along with more than 580 other larger items, like pickup
On Nov. 12, 2008, a new auction occurred. Cold, wet and windy, the day was not helped by the fall financial meltdown or the dreary mood at the site of the lead consignor: Midwest contractor McAninch Corp.’s maintenance yard in Des Moines. Prices matched the mood and were down by double digits compared to prior months. Photo: CAT Auction Services Cat’s first auction’s timing was bad, but firm says it was successful. Related Links: As the Economy Worsens, Machinery Auctions Are Swamped Fast-Moving Auctions Attract Buyers Despite the economy, the unreserved sale still generated $8.8 million on 275 pieces of
From the vantage point of a helicopter hovering 1,000 ft above an ocean of heavy equipment, the Ritchie Bros. yard in Davenport, Fla., looks like a giant sandbox flooded with construction toys. In between the neatly arranged rows of excavators, loaders, dump trucks and cranes are colorful dots—men, women and children—weaving in and out of aisles in search of a bargain. In the center of the action is a white building where buyers are sitting comfortably in jeans Slide Show Photo: Tudor Van Hampton / ENR Auction in Orlando was stuffed with thousands of pieces of yellow iron. Related Links:
A new crop of John Deere graders due to arrive at dealers this spring will offer customers the freedom to choose between two modes of steering. The new G-Series includes six models ranging from the 185-hp 670G to the 275-hp 872G. Photo: Scott Blair / ENR Deere offers operators two steering modes. In its new graders, Moline, Ill.-based Deere was faced with an important decision, as these important roadbuilding machines have been coming out with cleaner diesels whose emission controls tend to sap fuel. Caterpillar in 2006 radically replaced its graders’ steering wheels and control levers with joysticks to serve
California contractors are breathing easier but environmentalists feel smoked after a last-minute proviso to relax California’s off-road-diesel emission regulations made it into the state’s final budget, which passed the state legislature on Feb. 19 after five months of contentious negotiations. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton / ENR Under pressure from construction lobbyists, California lawmakers have relaxed diesel-engine emission cuts. The California Air Resources Board had developed the rules for existing equipment set to kick in next year. Now, it gives extra credit to fleets that started reducing emissions prior to the mandate, thanks to extreme lobbying pressure from the construction industry.
Buyers should beware of construction cranes that have not been inspected by an expert source, say original-equipment manufacturers after discovering fakes and taking legal action against manufacturing pirates. At least three separate cases of Chinese-made counterfeits have surfaced in the past six months. Photo: Terex-Demag Fake Demag was found in China. “We have two issues: One is that a company is infringing our rights, and the other is that we think it really is affecting safety,” says Klaus Meissner, director of product integrity for Terex-Demag in Zweibrucken, Germany. Though he says Terex has initiated “some legal proceedings” against a Chinese