Articles by Jeff Rubenstone

Photo Courtesy of Fluor A drop in oil prices has slowed production, but work on Dow's Freeport ethylene cracker rolls on. Related Links: The Complete ENR 2015 Q1 Cost Report, with Data and Analysis Sasol Ethane Cracker Job Starts Despite Gas-to-Liquids Delay Oil Price Decline Prompts Industry Firms to Hope for The Best and Plan for the Worst The fallout from a decline in oil prices has driven a recent decline in upstream oil-and-gas work for engineers and contractors. Still, big industrial projects continue downstream, and some contractors in some regions are hoping to take advantage of a glut of

This week we look at a trench roller from American Pneumatic Tools and a mobile telescopic crane from Manitowoc. Click to begin slide show.

IHS Asphalt prices haven't gone down in conjunction with oil prices as quickly as in the past. Related Links: Soaring Asphalt and Fuel Prices Spike Highway Paving Costs http://enr.construction.com/infrastructure/transportation/2010/0623-soaringasphalt.asp Nevada Paves Way For Life-Cycle Bids http://enr.construction.com/infrastructure/transportation/2014/0210-warm-mix-asphalt-heats-up-in-construction-market.asp Both asphalt and concrete advocates expect increases in paving activity overall, and both note that asphalt prices haven't gone down in conjunction with oil prices as quickly as in the past. While asphalt will continue its paving prevalence, proponents of concrete contend that life-cycle costs and tight budgets may contribute to an increasing competitiveness with asphalt."Oil prices have been going down, and liquid-asphalt prices

This week we look at a portable pipe beveller from Ridgid and a concrete floor grinder from Scanmaskin. Click to begin the slide show.

This week we look at a rammer from Atlas Copco and an excavator from Hitachi. Click to begin the slide show.

Related Links: The ARA Rental Show Rentals continue to be a growing share of the total fleet of construction equipment in the U.S., according to a study by the American Rental Association.ARA's Rental Penetration Index rose to 53.9% last year from 52.9% in 2013, according to John McClelland, ARA vice president for government affairs and chief economist. Compiled by ARA and IHS Economics, the weighted index measures the total percentage of construction equipment owned by rental companies in the U.S.“One of the biggest questions going forward is if the secular shift away from equipment ownership by end users toward rental

This week we look at a new air compressor from Makita and a slipform paver from Gomaco, among other things. Click to begin the slide show.

Related Links: Construction Begins on Hudson Yards' $700M Eastern Platform Manhattan West: Official Site When the developer of a tower project on Manhattan's West Side sought to build a platform over 15 active rail tracks leading into the nearby Pennsylvania Station, it had limited options.The site for the project, Manhattan West, had little laydown space and a steel platform would require columns between tracks. Constructing the columns would interrupt rail service at one of the nation's busiest train stations."We were looking at a number of different options when we saw this piece of equipment on a bridge site" in Roslyn,

This week we look at a ride-on trowel from Wacker Neuson and a hardhat from Honeywell. Click to begin the slide show.

This week we look at an inductive tool charger from Bosch and a GNSS receiver from Sokkia. Click to begin the slide show.