Construction Bulletin articles from December 2006

Construction Bulletin archives from December 2006

Editor's Report.
December 1, 2006... By Ivy Chang It happened again. Last month a construction ironworker in Minneapolis fell 35 stories and died, the second person to die working on the same project. What's worse, his son also worked on the project and witnessed the...

Changing The Shoreline At Holman Field.(flood control system)(Rachel Contracting)
December 1, 2006... Story by Richard Parrish Site preparation began for a new flood control system Anyone who's lived in the Twin Cities area for any length of time knows when the Mississippi River reaches flood stage, it's a safe bet the St. Paul...

Quality Construction Depends On Planning.
December 1, 2006... By Richard O. Wolters, P.E., Executive Director, Minnesota Asphalt Pavement Association To deliver a quality project, quality must be integrated into all project-related activities, from conception to completion. In the construction...

Don Bartholow dies.(Obituary)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Staff Don Bartholow , 85, a past member of AGC of South Dakota, Highway-Heavy-Utilities Chapter, died at the Huron Nursing Home on November 6. Born and raised in Spencer, Don served in the U.S. Navy, returned to Spencer, then moved to...

Kummer named director of operations.
December 1, 2006... Staff Krause-Anderson Construction Company, Minneapolis, hired David Kummer as director of operations working from its Circle Pines, Minnesota, office. Kummer has 20 years' experience in construction, real estate development and property...

Apply to AGC awards.
December 1, 2006... Staff December 6 is the deadline to submit applications to AGC of America's recognition awards in four categories: Aon Build America award - honors contractors for building America's premier construction projects; Marvin M Black Excellence...

Construction starts increase.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Staff According to Reed Construction Data, year-to-date value of construction starts through September 2006, excluding residential contracts, totaled $207.7 billion, 10.1-percent higher than in the first nine months of 2005. Subtracting...

Enterprise underwrites trees.(Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Staff Enterprise Rent-A-Car, parent company of Enterprise Rent-A-Truck, will underwrite planting 50 million trees over the next 50 years for $50 million to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Enterprise has formed a partnership with the...

Agreement reached.
December 1, 2006... Staff Allison Transmission, Indianapolis, Ind., reached an agreement with International Truck & Engine to provide the only fully automatic transmission in International's medium-duty, heavy-duty and severe service model trucks, IC...

A New Approach Extends Electrical Power.
December 8, 2006... By Ivy Chang Crews worked in smaller spaces to distribute electricity to larger areas. Minneapolis began light rail transit, is building an extension of the rail corridor and is in the process of selecting contractors for the...

Self-Repairing Tire Saves Time And Money.
December 8, 2006... By Greg Van Tighem New technology means fewer tire changes If flat tires were lightning, then Lightning Disposal's roll-off trucks could have easily been mistaken for lightning rods before it started using Goodyear tires with DuraSeal...

Jeff Hanson dies.(Obituary)(Brief article)
December 8, 2006... Staff Jeff Hanson, executive director of the Minnesota Utility Contractors Association since 1994, died on November 17 from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Jeff was born in Milwaukee, Wis., moved with his family to Bagley, Minn., attended...

NTI acquires Coyle Geotechnical.(Northern Technologies Inc.)(Brief article)
December 8, 2006... Staff Northern Technologies Inc., Fargo, N.D., acquired the assets of Coyle Geotechnical, Alexandria, Minn., in October. Jason Coyle joined Northern Technologies as the central Minnesota regional manager of the St. Cloud and Alexandria,...

Water pump stolen.
December 8, 2006... Staff A Thompson 6V watering pump was stolen from a Plymouth, Minnesota, project on November 19. It is a 6-inch vacuum primed, well-point pump with a John Deere four-cyclinder engine. The serial number is 6V-814 and is welded on top of the...

HEAT reduced speeding.(highway enforcement of aggressive traffic)(Brief article)
December 8, 2006... Staff The highway enforcement of aggressive traffic (HEAT) program, enforced by the Minnesota Department of -Public Safety and MnDOT, helped to decrease traffic speeds on various state highways and is responsible for the dramatic reduction...

MOA changes ownership.(Mall of America Co.)(Brief article)
December 8, 2006... Staff In a $1-billion-plus deal, the Ghermezian family of Triple Five is the sole owner of the Mall of America and that will open the next phase of development. The Ghermezians were the original developers of the mall, along with Simon...

Caterpillar offers special coverage.(Brief article)
December 8, 2006... Staff Caterpillar will offer a special coverage program on all 2007 model Cat engines with ACERT(TM) Technology to end users in the United States and Canada during the first half of 2007. Caterpillar Pure Confidence includes extended...

Hotel receives honorable mention.
December 8, 2006... Staff East Bay Suites of Grand Marais, Minn., received an Honorable Mention in the 2007 Award of Excellence competition of the National Association of Home Builders. The renovation of East Bay Suites met the requirements of the historic...

Contractors Ponder Methods of Acquiring Equipment.
December 15, 2006... By Ivy Chang Options and financing methods continue to increase to attract contractors Across the United States, commercial construction and industrial construction are still strong going from 2006 into 2007 and, after the 2001-02...

Bus Garage features Energy Conservation.
December 15, 2006... By Ivy Chang The structure includes innovative energy-saving designs that will reduce energy use. A new garage designed to consolidate bus maintenance operations for Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn., opened in October in Fargo. The...

Richard Reese dies.(Richard J. Reese)(Taft Hartley Funds)(Obituary)(Brief article)
December 15, 2006... Staff Richard J. Reese, 73, of Minnetonka, Minn., died on November 18 in Florida from liver, heart and other complications. He was the administrator of the Taft Hartley Funds for unions such as the laborers, bricklayers and finishers and...

Cummins receives award.
December 15, 2006... Staff Cummins Power Generation, a unit of Cummins Inc. of Minneapolis, received the 2006 North American Diesel Engine Technology Leadership of the Year Award from Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company. According to the award...

Keep roads safe.(Brief article)
December 15, 2006... Staff The Minnesota Department of Transportation reminds all Minnesotans that under a Minnesota statute and various local ordinances, placing snow into public streets and highways is punishable as a misdemeanor. This includes plowing,...

Co-marketing increases sales.(Brief article)
December 15, 2006... Staff Winco of LeCenter, Minnesota, one of the oldest generator manufacturers in the United States, and GenTran of Alpharetta, Georgia, a distributor and manufacturer of standby generator transfer switches, entered a co-marketing agreement...

DM&E builds plant.(Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad)(Corselab Structures)(Brief article)
December 15, 2006... Staff The Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad entered into an agreement with Corselab Structures of Omaha, Nebraska, to build a bridge component manufacturing plant in Rapid City, South Dakota, to provide 60-foot to 80-foot precast and...

Firestone executives promoted.
December 15, 2006... Staff Firestone Building Products promoted Bob Delaney to chief operating office and Tom Walker to vice president of sales and marketing. Delaney was responsible for domestic and international sales of roofing systems. He had 23 years of...

Survey confirms preference.(Brief article)
December 15, 2006... Staff Public owners clearly prefer design-build, according to a study conducted by PinnacleOne, a leading construction consulting firm. Of 166 public owners involved in construction projects in the United States, 79 percent who are...

Ingersoll Rand remanufactures parts.(Ingersoll-Rand Company Ltd.)(Brief article)
December 15, 2006... Staff Ingersoll Rand offers the Reman Solutions program that saves money and reduced machine downtime for contractors with remanufactured and warranty-backed paver and compactor replacement parts. The program covers motors, hydraulic...

Flannery Construction wins award.(Roark Kramer Kosowski Design)(Prestressed Concrete Institute)(Brief article)
December 22, 2006... Staff The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute presented an award to Flannery Construction's headquarters building in St. Paul for Best Project Using Sustainable Design Techniques. Roark Kramer Kosowski Design, Minneapolis, designed the...

Schottenbauer retires.(Thomas Schottenbauer)(Brief article)
December 22, 2006... Staff Thomas Schottenbauer retired as director of Business Development at Schoell Madson. He began in 1968 as survey crew chief and was instrumental in staking new developments in the western Minneapolis suburbs. He staked the many trunk...

AEM elects Palm.
December 22, 2006... Staff The Association of Equipment Manufacturers elected 15 industry executives to serve as its board of directors. Robert Kluver, president and CEO of Angus Palm, Watertown, South Dakota, was named to the board. Others included top...

Mack Shares the Road.(Mack Trucks Inc.)(Brief article)
December 22, 2006... Staff Mack Trucks will serve as the primary sponsor of the American Trucking Association's Share the Road program for the seventh consecutive year. The program teaches car drivers how to safely drive around large trucks and delivers...

World of Asphalt held in March.
December 22, 2006... Staff World of Asphalt 2007 will be from March 19-22 at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta and will feature exhibits of the latest product technologies and innovations and industry-specific educational opportunities....

Construction starts summarized.
December 22, 2006... Staff The 2006 commercial construction starts through October were 8.6-percent higher than in the 10 months of 2005, according to Reed Construction Data. The record high October starts were 7-percent higher than a year ago and 23-percent...

Team receives gold award.(National Partnership for Highway Quality)(Brief article)
December 29, 2006... Staff The National Partnership for Highway Quality presented its 2006 gold award in the Breaking the Mold category to a highway team for its work on quantifying the economic benefits of project acceleration and the economic benefits of the...

Special provision created.(Brief article)
December 29, 2006... Staff MnDOT developed a final new contract special provision stating a price adjustment clause for bituminous paving. The new provision is in effect beginning with the December 2006 lettings and will be applied only to jobs that use more...

Link-Belt promotes two.
December 29, 2006... Staff Link-Belt promoted Frank Snapp to senior product specialist for lattice cranes. He joined Link-Belt in 1989 as the crane test site coordinator and moved through manufacturing and support departments. George Arvin was named product...

AEM elects officers.
December 29, 2006... Staff The Association of Equipment Manufacturers elected new officers for 2007. Dennis Eagan, group president, Industrial Power and Equipment of Blount Inc., is chairman; Glen Tellock, president, Manitowoc Crane Group, is first vice...

Air barrier systems explained.(Brief article)
December 29, 2006... Staff The Henry Company, El Segundo, California, released its brochure, "Air Barrier Systems" that provides information on vapor-permeable, non-permeable, self-adhered, or liquid-applied air barrier systems and accessories. It explains the...

Trimble buys XYZ Solutions.
December 29, 2006... Staff In an all-cash transaction, Trimble bought XYZ Solutions, Inc. of Alpharetta, Georgia. XYZ Solutions provides real-time, interactive 3-D intelligence with positioning technologies to view a construction site from anywhere, anytime in...