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By Jack Lucic When tough times hit in America, we see our share of bad things happen, but we see plenty of what we refer to as good old-fashioned American ingenuity. That power of creative imagination has helped our country solve problems, meet challenges, and create new things out of next to nothing. Now more than ever, American ingenuity is flourishing. It is helping American businesses in the construction market that have been hard hit by what some refer to as the Great Recession. These companies are...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: GPS, Machine Control, Technology
Written by Paul Hull Information is what makes some companies better than others. Information before the excavating starts is what makes many jobs easier than others, and more profitable. In just about every aspect of construction, from excavating and grading to the finished structure or repair, the location of the project, and what is to be found at the location, is of vital importance. That’s what a geographic information system (GIS) does. It locates and describes. You, like myself, ...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Equipment, GPS, Technology
Written by Don Talend Landfill grading, and cross-slope grading in general, poses a unique challenge for automated grade control technology: holding grade by accounting for cross-slope dozer blade angle. A New York contractor who was awarded the contract to cap a landfill on Long Island, NY, recently employed an automated grade-control system that suits cross-slope grading and maximized dirtmoving efficiency on a site that represented anything but an ordinary cut-and-fill project. Capping the...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Business Management, Equipment, GPS
Written by Larry Trojak No one likes to face the unknown on his own and—while the degree of stress may differ—that’s as true for a child headed off to school for the first time as it is for a smaller contractor making his initial foray into GPS. For the latter, abandoning tried-and-true techniques in favor of a new approach is temporarily akin to taking a step backward, a luxury most small firms don’t have. While their larger counterparts generally have existing staff on hand with a proven experti...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: GPS, Machine Control, Technology
The expression, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” refers to the idea that any attempt to improve something that already works well is pointless and may even be detrimental. Many established construction contractors abide by this idiom. After all, if they’ve been successfully making money for 15, 20, 30 years or longer, what is there to change? Plenty, according to Delta Construction of Oahu, HI. Established in 1978, the 30-plus-year-old company has changed its approach to its business, resulting in dra...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: GPS, Grading, Technology
By Carol Wasson
The “academic” definition of data mining is the ability to discover patterns stored within data, using them as a catalyst to enhance business processes by avoiding failure patterns and exploiting success patterns. When applied to mining data from construction machines, this information may (when used to its potential) be employed to optimize maintenance practices, detect trouble before it happens, identify sources of fuel savings, enhance equipment utilization, locate units in real-time, improve job cos...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: GPS, Machine Control, Technology
By Larry Trojak
The Marcellus formation in the northeast US holds one of the country’s largest shale gas deposits. Estimates of its content range from 260 trillion cubic feet (TCF) to 490 TCF—the equivalent of as much as 87 trillion barrels of oil. While only a fraction of that volume will ultimately be recoverable, the push to establish wells throughout New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia (as well as parts of Ohio, Virginia, and Maryland) has been moving forward at a blinding pace. Installing drilling pads, one ...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: GPS, Machine Control, Technology
By Daniel C Brown
This project has to rank as one of the most challenging 2.2 miles of highway to build anywhere in the nation. It’s a new alignment for Highway 141 in St. Louis, MO, and it passes through a floodplain with two substantive creeks, plus tributaries, running through the area. There are eight bridges to build totaling 2,437 feet in length—and 113,000 square feet of mechanically stabilized earth walls to erect. So it’s a swampy area, and this spring and early summer were among the wettest periods on record in...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: GPS, Paver, Paving
By Jeff Winke
The National Road Authority in Ireland has a plan. It intends to upgrade the N18 Limerick to Galway Road to a new dual carriageway with hard shoulder. Lollygagging sheep beware. Currently there is work being done on a 1,000,000-euro, 22-kilometer, dual carriageway scheme extending from Ballinger’s Corner, north of Gort, to Cragard, south of Crusheen, where it will tie into the existing N18 Ennis bypass. The project also includes 10 kilometers of local road realignment, 12 kilometers of accommodation acc...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Equipment, GPS, Paving
By Cori Keeton Pope
When Jeff Bremer was hired as the equipment division manager for Aggregate Industries’ western region in 2008, the heavy construction and paving company had a fleet of approximately 110 trucks, more than 1,400 pieces of yellow iron, and not a single Global Positioning System (GPS) among them. Today, the company manages its 408 most-used trucks and pieces of equipment using a fleet-and-asset management solution from Trimble—technology that paid for itself in the first year’s fuel savings alone. “Our 450 ...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Equipment, GPS, Telematics
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