3555 Pacific

A new report by the Arkansas Department of Transportation says its Heavy Bridge Maintenance Inspection Program should be placed under new management and reorganized for failing to locate a cracked tie girder that led to an emergency closure of a major I-40 bridge.

The Hernando do Soto Bridge over the Mississippi River between Memphis, Tennessee, and West Memphis, Arkansas, was shut down from May 11 to August 2 after a crack was discovered during a routine inspection. The closure of the major freight corridor cost the trucking industry an estimated $2.4 million a day and led to rerouting 55,000 drivers that use the bridge daily.

The After Action Report released November 10 outlined several management flaws in the bridge inspection program that let to the crack going undetected since at least 2016. The same day the report was released, two longtime bridge engineers retired, according to news reports.

The ArDOT report casts much of the blame on an inspector fired soon after the bridge was closed. The report says ArDOT asked the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General “to determine if this negligence constitutes a criminal action.” It says the inspector general’s office has interviewed ArDOT bridge inspection employees and been provided data and reports. ArDOT is awaiting the investigation’s conclusion.

The ArDOT report says the crack in a welded splice between two plates in a tie girder “was visible at least as early as 2016,” and the fired inspector “was directly responsible for inspecting that portion of the bridge in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020.”

A drone inspection in 2019 had photographed the crack. The 2021 routine inspection that led to the bridge’s closure was conducted by Michael Baker International, ArDOT’s consultant bridge inspector.

Management failure

The ArDOT report faults management of the agency’s Heavy Bridge Maintenance Inspection Program for failing to properly handle complaints about the fired inspector.

“Management’s failure to adequately act on reports by employees concerned with the terminated inspector’s job performance perpetuated a culture where team members did not feel they had the authority or support to question a lead inspector’s procedures or thoroughness,” the report says.

The bridge program failed to rotate inspection teams, which enabled the same lead inspector to inspect the same arch spans on the I-40 bridge four times between 2016 and 2020. The inspection reports “lacked adequate details,” failing to show which inspector was responsible for specific bridge sections and when specific elements were inspected.

It also said the bridge’s inspection in 2018, the one the fired inspector did not conduct, was performed by an inspector who had never inspected that portion of the bridge before, due to “a lack of adequate management and organization by administration.” That inspector “has been verbally counseled and will receive additional training.”

The report calls for committees to be formed for oversight, additional leadership and accountability, and the program needs more personnel to strengthen it.

A professional engineer should provide on-site supervision of each complex, heavy bridge inspection, and bridges that are fracture critical should not be inspected by the same inspector consecutively, the report says.

Internal cracking present for decades

The initial crack that led to the bridge’s closure formed in the interior face of the girder box during a repair when it was being fabricated in the 1970s and was not visible, according to the report.

The repaired area was more susceptible to cracking because of the steel and welding methods used in the 1970s. The report says the cracking likely started soon after the repair, was never detected, even during ultrasonic testing in 1982, and “remained unchanged for a number of years.”

The crack reported in May of 2021 had “fractured through the remaining thickness” and was photographed in a 2019 drone photo. The fracture extended up the “the remaining web, across the top flange.”

The report says the crack likely spread over time because of low temperatures, increased tie girder stress and heavier traffic loads.

While the bridge was closed over the summer, ultrasound inspections determined that multiple other welds on the bridge had hidden anomalies. That led to additional steel plating added by Kiewit, which was awarded the repair contract.

In all, the emergency repairs and follow-up inspections cost $10 million, the report said.

The ArDOT report says “it is highly unlikely that a similar fracture will occur” on the I-40 bridge because there was no evidence of fatigue crack growth elsewhere. But it also calls for continued “arms-length fracture critical inspections,” and that ultrasonic testing be performed periodically.

 

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McCoy Group has purchased eight John Deere Construction and Forestry stores from Erb Equipment Co., expanding its organization into Missouri, Indiana and Kentucky. McCoy plans to retain the 200+ current Erb Equipment employees as part of the acquisition.

Based in Dubuque, Iowa, the new McCoy Construction & Forestry locations will join an organization that is already home to six subsidiaries, including Midwest-based Freightliner dealerships Truck Country and Stoops, and bulk tank transportation companies, Foodliner, Quest Liner and W.W. Transport.>

Vermeer Texas-Louisiana becomes Fecon dealer

Vermeer Texas-Louisiana is now a Fecon dealer. With 13 locations throughout Texas and Louisiana, the company will sell and service Fecon’s line of forestry mulching tractors and attachments. The offering will complement their full lineup of Vermeer branded forestry equipment. 

National Equipment Dealers LLC named Dynapac dealer

National Equipment Dealers LLC is expanding its current footprint for Dynapac products into North and South Carolina. The expanded partnership with the compaction and paving equipment manufacturer creates access to new, used and rental equipment along with product support in the region. This will add to NED’s existing footprint of Dynapac products in Florida.

RB Scott Equipment opens Minnesota location

RB Scott Equipment, a specialized dealer of process equipment and wear parts for the sand and gravel, crushed stone, frac sand and recycling industries, opened a new location in Clearwater, Minnesota on October 26. Major lines include Metso, Superior, StraightLine, MDS and Atlas Copco. The company is headquartered in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and serves Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Messick’s Equipment will parade 100 pieces of machinery to its new location on November 20.Messick’s EquipmentMessick’s Equipment Prepares for Move with Tractor Parade

Rural Pennsylvanians are afforded a unique opportunity to view a “tractor parade” as Messick’s Equipment moves approximately 100 pieces of equipment from its current location in Elizabethtown to its new location in Mount Joy. The public is invited to observe as 100 customer volunteers help move the inventory along the seven-mile route.

Messick’s Equipment plans to start serving customers at the new location prior to Christmas 2021. The new location will offer increased equipment displays, consolidation of all parts inventory, additional parking, year-round training and educational opportunities and more. 

MANUFACTURERS, SUPPLIERS

CemenTech expands production, staffing

CemenTech says its added a second production shift and is increasing its staffing levels by more than 25 percent to keep up with growing demand for volumetric concrete mixers. In addition to hiring, the company also is investing nearly $3 million to upgrade facilities, equipment and technology.

The lowa-based company made the strategic move after its sixth consecutive year of double-digit sales growth. CemenTech’s volumetric mixers enable contractors to mix their concrete on the jobsite to exact specifications for the job at hand.

Lindmeyer takes over the region previously served by Daniel “Boone” Larsen, who retired in May 2021.Felling TrailersFelling Trailers names Joel Lindmeyer Regional Sales Manager

Felling Trailers has named Joel Lindmeyer as regional sales manager for the Great Lakes region. Lindmeyer will be responsible for all sales development, activity and dealer support within Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky in his new role.

Lindmeyer brings more than 25 years of experience in the truck and trailer industry and previously held sales and customer service roles at Monroe Truck Equipment and Big Rivers Ltd.   

Felling Trailers is a national industrial and commercial trailer manufacturer.

Shain Wells will help facilitate continued growth for JCB, as the market for construction equipment has rebounded significantly after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.JCBJCB taps Shain Wells as new Operations VP

JCB North America has announced Shain Wells has been hired as vice president of operations. In his new role, Wells will oversee the production of JCB machines for the agriculture, construction, industrial and military divisions, including skid steer loaders, compact tracked loaders, telehandlers and backhoe loaders. This includes design and development, purchasing and logistics, manufacturing operations and quality.

Prior to joining JCB North America, Wells served in management and executive roles at Wabash National Corporation and Chrysler.

Three construction industry groups have joined in the landslide of legal challenges to the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees.

They filed a petition for review November 15 with the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, saying the mandate risks causing workers at larger construction companies to quit to work for smaller firms.

“Encouraging vaccine-hesitant workers to shift to smaller employers won’t improve health and safety,” said Stephen Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General Contractors. “It will just put firms that employ 100 or more workers at grave risk of losing the workers they need to complete projects.” The AGC is joined in the legal challenge with the American Road and Transportation Builders Association and the Signatory Wall & Ceiling Contractors Alliance.

The mandate is currently blocked from being enforced by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which extended a stay of the emergency temporary standard issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA’s standard would require employees of companies with 100 or more workers to get vaccinated by January 4 or undergo weekly Covid testing. Unvaccinated workers would also have to wear masks at work starting December 5.

The 5th Circuit opined November 12 that OSHA overstepped its authority, and that “the mandate has contributed to untold economic upheaval in recent months.”

The construction industry groups reiterated that position in their legal challenge. They also note that 64 percent of construction jobs are with smaller companies, and with the current labor shortage, employees at larger firms have plenty of options to move to smaller ones.

“The Biden Administration and Congress are in the process of launching a historic federal infrastructure investment initiative,” ARTBA President Dave Bauer said. “Unfortunately, OSHA’s proposal would disproportionally impact the same transportation construction industry employers and workers who proved they could safely deliver essential mobility improvements during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

OSHA’s response to the 5th Circuit petition says the emergency standard “is necessary to address a grave danger” and that the “legal objections lack merit.”

OSHA has argued that the emergency standard is not a mandate because employees have a choice on whether to get vaccinated or get tested.

The standard does not require employers to pay for weekly Covid testing, and Covid vaccines are free. However, employers would be required to pay for time off for workers to get tested and vaccinated, as well as time off for any side effects from the vaccine.

The construction groups say they are supporting successful promotion efforts to get workers vaccinated, but the mandate would have the opposite effect.

“This industry supports the coronavirus vaccine and is working to get as many workers vaccinated as possible,” said Scott Casabona, spresident of SWACCA. “But crafting an unworkable rule that will do little to get construction workers vaccinated is an approach that is not only wrong, but likely counterproductive.”

A random drawing is expected to be held this week to determine which appeals court will hear the case, according to NPR. The cases will be consolidated into one.

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The chimney is one of the most important parts of a fireplace. It is used to take the smoke and gases that come from a fire up and out of the house. When there’s a leaky chimney, many issues can arise that put the safety of your home and family at risk. If the leak is minor enough, you may not notice it for a while as smoke billows from the chimney into your home, but it’s vital that you don’t ignore the issue. If there is a significant leak in your chimney, it is best to have a professional inspect the issue. They will be able to tell you how much work needs to be done, if any at all.  Because there are several things that may go wrong with your chimney that have severe implications if they do, you should not put off getting it repaired for the following reasons:

The expense

Leaking chimneys can lead to more expensive repairs in the future. If you have an older home, there is a good chance that some parts of your chimney are made from clay and other materials. When moisture gets into these parts, they expand and begin to crack. This leads to the need for more extensive repairs in the future.

The negative health implications

The adverse effects on your health from breathing in all the smoke and soot can be severe and fill the house with danger for you and your family. If you have a leaky chimney, it is possible that soot and smoke will come into your home through the fireplace or any other area where the chimney is cracked or damaged. This can cause severe respiratory issues and even illness in some cases when inhaled. Also, if the fire in your chimney is not burning well, it could cause a carbon monoxide leak, which can be fatal.

More smoke than needed

The more smoke is leaking from the top of your chimney, the less it will be able to draw up the bottom of your chimney and out through the flue, which could mean that your chimney makes more smoke than it used to. This could be a sign that it is time to have your chimney inspected and repaired.

Internal home destruction

A leaky chimney can create soot and debris that will turn into black streaks on your ceilings and walls. This can be very frustrating, time-consuming to clean and reduces the value of your home for future resale. The best thing to do is have the leaky chimney inspected and repaired as soon as possible in order to avoid this destruction to your home’s infrastructure and decor.

Contact Mr. Roof

As you can see, there are several good reasons to have a leaky chimney repaired as soon as possible. Fortunately, it’s not complicated or overly costly to do so. Connect with Mr. Roof today for more information and start living in a healthy, smoke-free environment right away.

The post Top 4 Reasons You Shouldn’t Wait to Fix a Leaky Chimney appeared first on Mr Roof.

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Bill Panunzio was employed by a construction firm and looking for his chance.

“I was running their jobs and thought, ‘If these guys can do it, why can’t I?’” Panunzio says. “So at 49 years old, I started all over again.”

Industry veterans Curtis Collard and Ryan Greenwood were also looking for new opportunities. Collard had been running FP Asphalt & Crack Sealing and Greenwood was running his sealcoating division. The three got together and formed Preferred Paving in 1997.

Wes Turner, project manager and estimator for the company, had joined Collard’s business before Preferred was formed. “At that time, we did primarily crack sealing and small patching,” Turner says. “When Bill came, we bought the paver and got after it.”

Combined they have more than 100 years of construction experience, and that showed in their results. The first year, the company had $1.7 million in revenues doing a combination of commercial and residential asphalt work.

“We all just worked our guts out,” Panunzio says bluntly.

Between them, Ryan Greenwood, Bill Panunzio and Curtis Collard (l. to r.) offer more than 100 years of construction experience.Preferred PavingPreferred Paving now has revenues between $10 million and $13 million, around 40 employees and specializes in commercial grading, site excavation, asphalt paving and maintenance.

“We have the luxury to choose to do the jobs we want to do and do them right,” Panunzio says. In fact, the company motto is “don’t just do it – do it the best.”

Preferred Paving at the High West Distillery.Equipment WorldAll three take a hands-on approach to the business. They have served various roles throughout their time together – basically whatever needs to be done.

Collard now serves as an estimator, project manager and oversees safety. Safety is an integral part of the tight weave that makes Preferred Paving’s jobs run smoothly.

Click here to enter this year’s Contractor of the Year contest. Hurry! The deadline for nominations is Nov. 19th.

Suzanna Allen, who has been with Preferred for more than 20 years, runs the company’s sealcoating division, which provides a variety of repair services. “She’s awesome,” Oredson says. “And at their core, the whole team is about doing things right. They’ve got a good transition team to perpetuate the company going forward.”

In the early days, the company created an accounting system that serves them today. After a general contractor required them to go through complicated invoicing hoops that delayed payment, Preferred Paving developed a work order system that included the job and invoice numbers that the GC signed on the spot.

“The way we do business is really simple,” Collard says. “Our work order is also our invoice number. We have a low percentage of uncollected invoices.”

Core and a spare

Preferred has a fleet of pavers, graders, excavators and rollers.

“The Cat 555-size pavers work out perfect for us because you do both big and small custom jobs,” Greenwood says. The company has four pavers, which usually translates to three out on jobs and one spare. “That spare has really helped us,” Panunzio says.

The Cat 120 grader is also a good fit. “It’s just versatile,” Greenwood says. “You can do both a subdivision with it and a custom driveway.” Same with utility rollers that can be pulled with a pickup and transported anywhere. 

“Very rarely is our equipment in our yard,” Panunzio says.

Heated driveways

Residential and commercial customers are now starting to request heated driveways. “They get so much snow up in areas like Park City, and they don’t want to shovel their driveways,” Turner says. “We’re paving asphalt over heat tubeing, and we’re one of the few companies in Utah that will do that.”

This work requires digging down around 10 inches and putting down the road base. Preferred then hires a firm to place the heat tubing that runs a mixture of heated water and antifreeze in a closed-loop system. The sub then connects it to a boiler located in a house or building and pressurizes the system.

Preferred Paving then comes back in, places sand around and above the piping, a job that requires hand placement. “You rake it out by hand, then you can water it and roll it,” Turner says. “At that point, you can put a paver and truck on it, but you can’t turn. You really have to pick your angle and then go straight out and pick another angle.”

Utah homeowners like that, even in a snowstorm, they’ll have a wet driveway with no accumulation.

dvice for those getting into construction

Equipment World

Collard warns contractors not to get too excited about their first big profit on a job. “Don’t make $10,000 and then buy a boat, jet skis and four wheelers,” he says. “If the next two jobs are losers, you’re trying to figure out how to pay for materials. Wait to buy the toys and make sure you have a good accounting system.”

“And don’t do it unless you have access to good people because people are everything,” Collard emphasizes. “You can buy all the equipment in the world, but if you don’t have good people, you won’t go far. If you don’t have experience, you must have people who have experience.”

“They are outstanding professionals,” says client Andrew Carlino with CR England. “They treat people like people and not like numbers, and they’re quick to get a job done. Everybody works hard and everyone works together as a team. In fact, I wish I could load them up and take them with me to the other states I cover.”

“We have plenty of options in the valley with paving contractors, and the fact that we use them almost exclusively speaks volumes,” says Tony Treasure with Noland & Son. “They do excellent work. They know it’s about more than being a contractor; it’s about being a craftsman and truly being bought in to the quality of work you’re putting out.”

Hydrogen-fueled equipment to come in 2022

JCB is investing $138 million on a project to produce carbon-free hydrogen engines, the company announced last month. The first hydrogen-fueled machines will be ready for customers by the end of 2022.

According to JCB Chairman Lord Bamford, the company is investing in hydrogen because electric power has limits and is not an all-around solution, especially when it comes to larger machines. “We will carry on making engines, but they will be super-efficient, affordable, high-tech hydrogen motors with zero CO2 emissions, which can be brought to market quickly using our existing supply base,” says Bamford.

The company has already shown a prototype hydrogen-powered JCB backhoe loader. A second JCB machine – a Loadall telescopic handler – was unveiled October 19 at an event in London attended by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.        

Firmatek acquired Kespry’s drone-based aerial intelligence platform.BuildwittDrone maker Kespry bought by Firmatek

Two leaders in the world of drone applications for the construction, mining and aggregate industries have joined forces. The combination of Firmatek’s drone-data processing and engineering services with Kespry’s drone-based mapping intelligence platforms will create new opportunities to deliver a vertical SaaS platform for drone-based analytics.

The acquisition will accelerate the use of artificial intelligence technologies and deep-learning frameworks to analyze and process topographic analysis of mining and aggregate worksites, increase data accuracy, improve site safety and eliminate potential risks.

“By combining Firmatek’s resources with Kespry’s expertise and leadership in AI-driven, SaaS software, we can provide better outcomes for our customers,” says Lauren Elmore, Firmatek’s chief executive officer.

Equipment World has reported on Kespry’s offerings several times in the last few years. To learn more about its technology, check out the links below.

With three big updates, Kespry gives construction customers little reason to take their drone data elsewhere

John Deere dealers to offer Kespry’s automated construction drone service in exclusive deal

Kespry Drone 2s brings centimeter-level survey accuracy, single base station setup to automated drone platform

Tag tools and attachments with the Kin asset tracking system and you’ll always know where they are.TrackunitIf you can’t find a tool, try checking your Kin

Everybody knows that workers waste significant amounts of time searching for lost equipment. And according to Trackunit, only one out of five lost tools are ever found. One solution, announced at the ARA show in Las Vegas, is Trackunit’s new Kin Asset Utilization, which collects movement data from tagged assets and shows you in real time if the equipment is being used.

The Kin ecosystem resides within a platform to greatly increase the scope of data available to users and organizations and continues to enhance solutions in an ever more data-led construction market.  

The Kin tags leverage the company’s mesh network and connect to the company’s Raw (TU600) installed network of devices via the Trackunit Manager and the Trackunit Go app. Each connected tag links to the TU600 network installed on machines around the globe, connecting the user and expanding the data available for business insights.

Couplers and work tools bearing this logo can work with any excavator from OEMs that are members of the Open-S Alliance.Open-S AllianceVolvo joins Open-S Alliance

Recently Volvo announced it has joined the Open-S Alliance. The alliance is a group of manufacturers that have agreed to design hydraulic attachments in such a way that their quick couplers and adaptors will work with any excavator regardless of the brand of the machine. This makes it easier for contractors to use different couplers, tiltrotators and work tool brands without being locked into a proprietary solution from one manufacturer.

The Open-S Alliance is a manufacturer-independent organization. There are three levels of membership: full, associate and supporting, depending on if Open-S products are developed, produced in-house or sourced. Since early 2021, Volvo CE has delivered quick couplers and adaptors directly from the factory and is now joining the Open-S Alliance as a supporting member.

Survey says data driving AEC transformation

More bricks than bytes, construction has been slow to adopt digital technology. But that is changing, according to a new report from Dodge Data & Analytics and Autodesk. The study finds the most frequently used BIM (building information modeling) technologies by architecture, engineering and construction firms are cloud computing (42%), model-based simulation (33%), virtual/augmented/mixed reality (28%), 3D printing (25%) and reality capture (25%).

The technologies best poised for growth, with a relatively high percentage of respondents who expect to adopt them in the next two to three years, include generative/outcome-based design (20%), 3D printing (19%), model-driven prefabrication (18%), model-driven simulation (18%), robotics/automated equipment (18%), reality capture (17%) and AI/machine learning (17%).

More details the free report can be accessed at www.construction.com

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