Courtesy Daimler AG. The truck currently is in testing in Nevada. Related Links: New National Operations Center Will Research Future of High-Tech Highways Robots on the Jobsite Advancing in Construction While they may be years away from mainstream use, self-driving vehicles inched closer on May 5 in Las Vegas, where Daimler unveiled the Freightliner Inspiration truck.Now in testing on Nevada highways, the 18-wheeler is the first autonomous truck licensed in the U.S. It combines collision-mitigation technology, such as radar-based adaptive cruise control and camera-based lane-keeping control, to provide an autopilot mode the driver can engage.Not to be confused with a
Photo Courtesy Benjamin Johnson/Shawmut Design and Construction The gossamer-like net appears airy, but the sculpture is actually a highly engineered network of ropes weighing 2,000 pounds and hanging from nearby high-rise buildings at just four attachment points. Photo Courtesy Benjamin Johnson/Shawmut Design and Construction Related Links: The Crest at Galvez Plaza Boston Begins Reaping Benefits Of Big Dig Construction workers on May 3 engaged in a carefully choreographed dance of machine and muscle to erect a 2,000-lb net sculpture 365 ft over Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway, a 1.5-mile stretch of park created after the city's Big Dig.Designed by artist Janet
Photo Courtesy of Link-Belt Construction Equipment Co. A mobile crane lifts steel. New crane standard no longer allows users to exceed the rated capacity, even for load tests. Related Links: Crane-Age Limits: Anti-Dumping Bans Disguised as Safety? Link-Belt Gives Crane Owners Telematics Data The latest revision of the American national standard for mobile cranes, ASME B30.5-2014, brings major changes to the rules governing how crane users are to work within a lifting machine's capacity range, or load chart, and offers new guidance for inspection, maintenance and testing procedures.Mobile cranes today are designed to a finer edge than in 1968, when
Motorbooks The book costs $45 and contains many photos from historian Keith Haddock. Related Links: Caterpillar Is Quick on the Uptake Caterpillar's New Global Headquarters Takes Shape Right off the bat, veteran equipment writer Frank Raczon admits that the Caterpillar family tree, including the extended family of its capable dealer network, contains too many branches to appear in one book. However, he captures many of the earthmoving giant’s iconic machines in “Caterpillar: Modern Earthmoving Marvels.”Published by Motorbooks, priced at $45 and containing many photos from historian Keith Haddock, the new 224-page hardbound book begins with the pedigree’s namesake: the tracked
Photo Courtesy of PPC Corrosion, mold, dirt and other contaminants take a toll on idle equipment. Here, several military trucks get the shrink-wrap treatment. Related Links: Diesel Fuel Prices Bottom Out Contractors Get Reprieve At the Pump Climate-controlled storage is not always an option when preserving idled equipment, materials and parts. Because leaving equipment out in the open can cause serious damage and downtime, some companies are investing in military-grade enclosures that keep out light, dirt, moisture and animals for years."In most cases, we find that clients know how to run a piece of equipment, but they don't know what
Photo courtesy of Makro Monitors constantly watch operations across Brazil. Related Links: Moving Data and Dirt Link-Belt Gives Crane Owners Telematics Data Brazilian crane and rigging contractor Makro Engenharia is one of many firms in construction using telematics to improve its productivity, but the company also is using the big data to boost the safety of its workforce and project operations with surprising results.As the company began implementing telematics more than two years ago, it found that thousands of safety violations were occurring per month on its projects. Today, that number is down to five or less. "We have had
Related Links: Big Data Boosts Safety in Brazil Link-Belt Gives Crane Owners Telematics Data Picture a remote set of boots on the ground that constantly sends out status reports on construction activity across the globe. Now, imagine that existing work tools—trucks, dozers, cranes and drills—are the virtual boots, beaming quintillions of bytes into the ether every day.This is how John Meese describes wireless telematics, which the senior director of heavy equipment for Waste Management, Houston, uses to keep tabs on a fleet of more than 5,000 pieces of machinery scattered across 700 locations in North America. Meese and his team
PPI Diesel fuel prices inched up in February for the first time in nearly a year. Related Links: Contractors Get Reprieve At the Pump Caterpillar Forecasts 9% Sales Decline in 2015 For some construction projects—such as public paving work—the cost of fuel and freight is often tied to a price index. So, a drop in petroleum prices of 50% or more is neither good news nor bad news for contractors.For others, the news is seen as a mixed blessing. Prices inched up in February, but they still remain far lower than last year's levels. If low fuel prices continue, some
Courtesy Caterpillar Inc. Telematics systems are now available on most heavy machines, such as this loader backhoe. Related Links: Link-Belt Gives Crane Owners Telematics Data Caterpillar Brings Telematics Solutions to CONEXPO Caterpillar Inc.’s recent announcement that it is investing in Chicago-based technology startup Uptake is a strong signal of the construction industry’s current appetite for data analytics.Contractors, rental companies and others who use heavy equipment have for years had the ability to collect data from their fleets. But much of that data is based on history—things that have already happened on a construction project. A new digital age is on
Photo by Tony Illia/ENR Brock gave a press conference at CONEXPO 2011, not long before he was diagnosed with cancer. Related Links: Smell of Green May Soon Replace Asphalt's Acrid Odor Warm-Mix Asphalt Heats Up In Construction Market J. Don Brock, chairman and former chief executive officer of Astec Industries Inc. died March 10 in Chattanooga, Tenn. He was 76 years old.For more than 40 years, Brock was the construction industry’s outspoken champion of hot-mix asphalt. In later years, he sought to make flexible pavements more environmentally friendly and recyclable.Brock—also known as Dr. Brock referring to his doctorate in mechanical
