John Watson, who spent most of his career revamping existing buildings, had technically retired from the real estate business. Serving as a volunteer board member of Indiana Landmarks, a nonprofit preservation group, helped reignite the Indianapolis developer's passion for transforming old into new. Related Links: Brooklyn's Controversial Atlantic Yards Sports Village Chicago's Soldier Field Adaptive Reuse Over Budget The spark came in the shape of Bush Stadium, a ballpark built in 1931 for the minor-league Indianapolis Indians. The team used the Art Deco park until 1996, when it moved into a new stadium downtown.Located in an industrial wasteland near the
Photo courtesy of Ford Named for the Greek god who holds up the Earth, Ford's Atlas takes trucks further into the digital age with handy telematics tools. Related Links: Meet Ford Transit, Heir to the Econoline Throne Test Drive: 2011 Ford F-150 General Motors and Chrysler's Ram division showed off new pickup trucks at this month's Detroit auto show, but Ford Motor Co. offered a look at a pickup of the future. Its Atlas concept incorporates smart technology that is designed to make work less stressful."It is a vision of where future Ford trucks could go," says Mike Levine, Ford
Days before the storm, the assistant commissioner for New York City's Dept. of Buildings made sure the agency issued wind advisories, even going so far as to require crane users to inspect their machines to ensure they were shut down properly for high winds.Still, on Oct. 29 as Sandy blew in, the unthinkable happened.
Had one asked Franz-Josef Ulm 10 years ago if a concrete bridge could be designed from atomic models, he might have said, "Come on, get real." Today, scientists working under Ulm's direction at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are busy cracking concrete's molecular code.
Photo Courtesy of INDOT Related Links: P3 Planned For Ohio River Bridges Big Plans Anticipate Big Freight Moves Spending private money to fund infrastructure is nothing new to Indiana, whose Interstate 69 project through the state's southwestern quadrant is called the largest all-new federal highway under construction in the U.S. Four years after its groundbreaking, nearly half of the 142-mile-long stretch opened in November. It was funded in part by a $3.8-billion lease of the Indiana Toll Road in 2006. As the project moves into its next phase, the Indiana Dept. of Transportation is again looking for private investors.The future
Photo by Tudor Van Hampton for ENR United hosted 230 equipment vendors at its annual management meeting, the first since its merger with RSC. Photo by Tudor Van Hampton for ENR Related Links: Post-Sandy Repair Crews Push On Why Contractors Are Renting More and Buying Less Instead of red and blue states, there were red and blue stores. It wasn't the same as holding a national election, but last year, Michael Kneeland, CEO of United Rentals Inc., was charged with the difficult task of merging RSC (whose brand color is red) and United (whose brand color is blue) to form
Related Links: NYC Tower Crane Shifts To Recovery Robo-Glove Offers Tool Users a Stronger Grip The World's Biggest Supercranes Why Contractors Are Renting More and Buying Less Putzmeister, Schwing Become Chinese-Owned Companies Judge Acquits NYC Crane Owner Test Drive: Life On the Road With Natural Gas Concrete Goes To College When Superstorm Sandy toppled a tower crane working at a high-rise building in midtown Manhattan this fall, engineers immediately began searching for clues to ensure the site was safe. Within days, the partially collapsed crane was secure, and workers began a delicate process of removing the steel wreckage. The job
Photo Courtesy of Caterpillar Inc. Tier-4 regulations are driving some alternative-power options such as the Caterpillar 336E-H, a hybrid excavator that promises to consume 25% less fuel than its nonhybrid sibling. Related Links: Are Clean-Diesel Engine Rules Stifling Innovation? Medium-Duty Truck Owners Struggle With Downtime If you think that the latest round of off-road clean-diesel mandates, or Tier 4, will kill off the engine that powers the majority of construction equipment, think again. A new guard of sophisticated, clean-burning, electronic engines are rendering extinct the prehistoric, smoke-belching, mechanical diesels of yesteryear. Cleaner power costs more up front, but it promises
Related Links: Union Jumps On Geothermal Bandwagon Test Drive: Life On the Road With Natural Gas Kris Kyler recognizes that his small heating, ventilating and air-conditioning business operates in the sustainability space, but he freely admits that he isn't a poster child for clean air, soy burgers and farm shares. "I wouldn't really call myself a tree hugger," says Kyler, an avid off-roader and motorcycle racer. "We're doing these things because they make sense, and they are good business."Kyler, the president of Indiana Geothermal Inc., Indianapolis, doesn't walk or talk like a slick salesman. He speaks about technology in terms
