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January 30 2010 Vol. VI • No. 3
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded 1957.” 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215/885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215/885-2910 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com
Inside
Genie cranes lower cable for the SR 91 project.
By Giles Lambertson
Cat Delivers Keys to First Electric-Drive Tractor…8
DOE Taps Kenworth of Renton for Energy Job…15
CEG CORRESPONDENT
Stim Funds Spur Fast-Track SR 91 Widening Job in Calif. By Erik Pisor CEG CORRESPONDENT
Determining the Best Breaker for the Job…25
Table of Contents ........4 Truck & Trailer......15-16 Business Calendar ....18 Recycling Section 25-29 Auction Section....35-41 Advertisers Index ......42
Homebuilding: Stabilizing the House of Cards
The largest Recovery Act-funded transportation project in Orange County, Calif. broke ground in early November 2009 and is on pace for a late 2010 completion due to an accelerated project schedule. The $59.5 million project, which received $47.9 million in funding from President Obama’s Recovery Act, will widen 6 mi. (9.7 km) of east-
bound State Route 91 in slightly more than a year’s time. “To get job done by [the end of] 2010 we have to run concurrent activities,” said Fernando Chavarria, community relations officer of the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). “We have different crews out there performing multiple tasks. You’re having excavators, masons and carpenters out there at the same time.” see FREEWAY page 17
AGC Files Emergency Petition to Delay Diesel Retrofit Rule Citing new state data showing California’s offroad diesel equipment operators will be well below new emissions targets for years to come, a national construction association called on state officials to immediately order at least a two-year delay for their new off-road “diesel retrofit” rule. The delay is needed to avoid unnecessary losses and layoffs within the state’s hard hit construction
industry while the California Air Resources Board continues to review its diesel rules, the Associated General Contractors of America said in an emergency petition filed Jan. 11. “Contractors don’t need to retrofit, repower or replace a single piece of equipment to meet the see PETITION page 37
Homebuilding in the United States in the past decade became a gigantic house of cards, which finally collapsed in 2008. Boom went bust and homebuilders still are trying to dig themselves out of the resulting heap. A nationwide search continues for policies and business models that will deal simultaneously with foreclosures, unemployment, tight money and budget deficits. Expert industry observers cannot say exactly when homebuilding will again become a robust economic indicator. But there seems to be a consensus that the situation won’t deteriorate much further. “As far as construction goes, it has not been perfectly increasing, but it has been steadily increasing since the early part of 2009. I see 2010 as being a better year,” said David Crowe, chief economist of the National Association of Homebuilders. The statement is underwhelming because 2009 is a remarkably low benchmark. While new single-family residential construction indeed rose for the sixth consecutive month in November (1.3 percent), overall spending on homes still was 25 percent below November 2008 activity; multi-family residential building for the month was 44 percent below a year ago. General construction spending in November fell 13 percent from a year ago and recorded its lowest annual rate in six years, according to the Census Bureau. News of pending home sales also is mixed. According to the National Association of Realtors, pending sales fell dramatically in November — a see HOUSING page 20