It has been more than two years since the Interstate-35W bridge in Minneapolis suddenly collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people and injuring 145 others, and yet scores of lawsuits filed against firms involved in the bridge’s design and upkeep are just getting under way. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton / ENR The collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis more than two years ago has spawned 121 lawsuits. While the replacement bridge, completed last year, required the attention of more than 600 craft workers and engineers, just one state judge, Deborah Hedlund, sitting in the Hennepin County District

Social networking is coming to construction. So far, it is not a Twitter-like feed of 140 characters or less, nor is it free of charge. But it could be a highly useful tool to help firms engage each other more openly, cut risk and ease tension in a time of economic distress. One such innovator, Textura Corp., appropriately derives its name from the Latin words for “build” and “intertwine.” In just three years it has built a base of 38,000 users—and 25% of ENR Top 400 general contractors—into an innovative bill-pay site. Textura has turned the tedious business of bank

The world’s first hybrid dozer will cost about $100,000 more, or 20%, than a comparable non-hybrid of the same size but will do more work and pay for itself in about two and a half years, say Caterpillar Inc. managers. Performance is tracking well in field trials, said the managers on June 23, as Cat rolled out the machine for press evaluation at the firm’s training facility in Edwards, Ill. The D7E starts production in October and carries a list price of $600,000, says David E. Nicoll, product execution manager. That is 20% more than the conventional D7R but 12%

Nationwide research is firming up the case for “intelligent” compaction (IC), a construction method three decades in the making that could save billions of dollars a year in potholed roads, cracked bridges, broken dams and blown-out tires. But as it represents a huge cultural shift in project delivery, the industry is struggling to find a standard way to roll it out. Slide Show Photo: Iowa State University Researchers test a ‘smart roller.’ With today’s busted public budgets, IC is a promising tool with global implications. “I’ve studied where we spend money in the U.S. to fix our infrastructure, and a

A new study from the National Academy of Sciences predicts that the growing use of so-called “green” refrigerants being phased in to replace ozone-depleting ones could contribute to the global equivalent of up to 45% in carbon-dioxide emissions by 2050. > Photo: Tudor Van Hampton Engineers prep for R-22 ban at recent HVAC conference. Related Links: View the National Academy of Sciences Study The use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), such as R-404a, R-410a and HFC-134a, are set to grow exponentially as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), such as R-22, continue phasing out under the Montreal Protocol. In the 1990s, HCFCs replaced more-damaging chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

The world's first diesel-electric hybrid bulldozer will carry a price tag that is about $100,000 more, or 20% higher, than a comparable non-hybrid machine. But will pay for itself in about two-and-a-half years, Caterpillar Inc. managers said June 23 at the company's training facility in Edwards, Ill. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton Hybrid dozer comes with a 20% price premium. Related Links: LeTourneau's Electric Legacy Haunts Las Vegas Mega-Show VIDEO: Big Electric Cat � Bulldozer Buzz at CONEXPO The D7E, which begins production in October, will come with a manufacturer-recommended list price of $600,000, said David E. Nicoll, product execution manager.

One week after New York City announced it would shepherd a national database of tower cranes to improve jobsite safety, a crane-rental executive in Pennsylvania has built the world’s first Internet site for tracking crane repairs, inspections and other critical details. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton / ENR Bardonaro wants spotlight on safety. The site is the industry’s first voluntary effort to make crane tracking more transparent in the wake of major accidents last year. “I wanted to get something out there that answers these cries for tracking cranes,” says Frank Bardonaro, president of Bensalem, Pa.-based AmQuip. He has spent about

One week after New York City announced it would shepherd a national database of tower cranes to improve jobsite safety, a crane-rental executive in Pennsylvania has built the world�s first Internet site for tracking crane repairs, inspections and other critical details. Related Links: Three Cities Plan Tower Crane Tracking Cranefacts.com The site is the industry’s first voluntary effort to make crane tracking more transparent in the wake of major accidents last year. “I wanted to get something out there that answers these cries for tracking cranes,” says Frank Bardonaro, president of Bensalem, Pa.-based AmQuip. He has spent about $40,000 and

For every construction accident, safety experts say, as many as 100 near- misses occur. A quick response this year at the Blue Cross-Blue Shield building in Chicago is an example of one such accident averted. On Jan. 21, crews were building a $270-million vertical “extension,” adding 24 floors onto the existing, occupied 33-story building. An operator was swinging a Potain MR605B luffing jib to make a pick. That’s when workers heard a loud “pop” and got concerned, according to a source involved with the project, who asked not to be named. Rather than pushing on, the operator “dogged” off the

Aviad Shapira, civil engineering professor, textbook author and former project engineer for his family’s concrete construction business, is not afraid to climb hundreds of feet up a rickety ladder to get a bird’s-eye view of the world. “I climb tower cranes whenever I get the chance,” he says. “Too many of us researchers are detached from the subject.” Photo: Aviad Shapira Shapira is helping builders plan for tower-crane risks. The high-level view has afforded Shapira a unique perspective. The teacher at The Technion-Israel Institute of Tech- nology, Haifa, says many crane accidents can be attributed to what he calls a