Featured Product   05/01/2010 CS Unitec The CS Unitec Model 7 is a Pneumatic-powered Air Mixer and is intended for mixing paint, glue, epoxy, mortar, concrete, refractory cement and other materials in hazardous environments. The mixer is ATEX-approved for use in EX zones with hazardous atmospheres, and is safe to be used around water. The mixer’s 1.5 hp motor has two speed settings of 0-190 rpm and 0-350 rpm, and has the capacity to mix batches of material up to 110 lb. The mixer uses 49 cfm of air at 90 psi and weighs only 15 lb. Mixing paddles are available

Federal stimulus money will be the financial engine driving about $2.6 billion of high-speed rail work in the Upper Midwest during 2010. About $2.6 billion in federal stimulus money will be provided to the Upper Midwest for high-speed rail work. The Chicago-St. Louis line is scheduled to receive $1.1 billion, the most of any Midwest route. The region’s key routes include Chicago-St. Louis-Kansas City; Chicago-Detroit; Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison (and in the future Minneapolis-St. Paul); and Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati. Related Links: In High Gear Second Take The federal government announced in late January that it would award $8 billion nationwide this year to projects that

In late April, southern Missouri�s 440-megawatt Taum Sauk hydroelectric plant began generating power for the first time since December 2005, when an old dam gave way and more than a billion gallons of water rushed down the side of Proffitt Mountain through the popular Johnson�s Shut-Ins State Park below. Photo courtesy of AmerenUE Power utility AmerenUE awarded a joint venture Ozark Constructors LLC the contract to rebuild the pumped-storage reservoir using roller-compacted concrete. Power utility AmerenUE awarded a joint venture named Ozark Constructors LLC the contract to rebuild the pumped-storage reservoir�this time using roller-compacted concrete (RCC), which has become an

Seven Chicago-region transportation agencies convened April 22 for a first-of-its-kind Earth Day XL Transportation Summit to improve coordination among the region�s transportation leaders. At the downtown Chicago summit, chairs of Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Chicago Transit Authority, Illinois Tollway, Metra, Pace, RTA and Illinois Department of Transportation signed the first-ever Earth Day XL Accord. This set of guiding principles for the region�s transportation and transit agencies includes: committing to work toward a shared transportation vision for the region; supporting multi-agency information sharing and coordination; examining programs and proposals to maximize efficiency, reducing costs; and improving service; and reporting publicly

The new 150-kilowatt array of solar panels to be installed atop Torresen Marine�s facility in Muskegon, Mich., starting the last week of April will be the highest-output solar system installed to date in Michigan. Chart House Energy, Chicago, is the project’s general contractor. Inovateus Solar of South Bend, Ind., is supplying the solar panels, which are made by Scheuten Solar USA, whose parent company is headquartered in the Netherlands. This is the first installation of Scheuten solar panels in the U.S. The array of 750 panels, each about 2.5 ft wide by 4 ft tall and weighing about 30 lb,

(Video of the groundbreaking will soon be posted on www.midwest.construction.com) A host of dignitaries, including U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, were on hand at St. Louis� Eades Street Bridge April 19 for the symbolic groundbreaking of the new $667 million Mississippi River Bridge. Photo: Sam Barnes U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood addresses a large gathering at the groundbreaking for the new Mississippi River Bridge in St. Louis. Also pictured is Missouri Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn, far left. Construction of the bridge, about 1 mi north of the groundbreaking site, is currently suspended due to high water

Mayor Greg Ballard signed a memorandum of understanding in March to transfer the city's utilities to Citizens Energy Group, which operates a natural gas distribution company and a district steam heating and chilled water provider in Indianapolis. Ballard wants to use the $425 million the city would get from the transfer for infrastructure construction. Once the proposal gets all the necessary approvals, the city would receive $262.6 million payment from Citizens in two installments, plus up to an additional $50 million from the wastewater general fund that will remain with the city after the transfer. "It will allow us to

U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson told local lawmakers and union workers Tuesday that the Illiana Expressway must be built from I-65 to I-55, and she called it Illinois� �next No. 1 project.� Photo by Paula Widholm From left, U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood also told the group gathered at a union training facility in Wilmington, Ill., that Chicago�s far southwest suburbs are �well-positioned for opportunity in the next transportation bill.� The Illiana Expressway originally was slated as a 25-mi highway from I-65 to I-57 but many lawmakers now seek to extend it another

JEFFERSON CITY � The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission today announced the resignation of Pete Rahn as director of the Missouri Department of Transportation. Rahn�s resignation will be effective April 23, 2010. �It�s with a very heavy heart that we have accepted Pete�s resignation,� says Rudy Farber, chairman of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. �We want to thank him for his outstanding service to Missouri and certainly wish him well in his new career and in having more quality time to spend with his family.: �His innovative and highly effective leadership was exactly what was needed to handle the

The Missouri Department of Transportation plans to auction off property located across the state that it no longer needs to help finance road and bridge construction. MoDOT is looking to unload 34 pieces of property, ranging from a quarter of an acre in size to 200 acres. "We're hoping for a fair market value for the properties," says Gregory Wood, MoDOT�s Realty to Roads project director. In total, more than 600 acres will be on the block from April 26-30. All the money raised will go back into road and bridge construction. This is not the first time MoDOT has