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By Ed Ritchie Certainly, there’s good news about construction employment across the US. According to a recent analysis of federal employment data by the Associated General Contractors of America, 139 out of 337 metropolitan areas added jobs between December 2011 and December 2012. Association officials noted that growing private sector demand for new construction projects boosted employment in a slight plurality of metro areas. Though there are declining numbers in almost as many metro areas, the positi...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Construction and Demolition, Management, Software
Written by Debbie McClung Few facets of running a construction business are more fiscally insightful than real-time observation of your valuable mobile assets. If you have not incorporated a fleet management tool based on a global positioning system into your operation, you might be surprised to know the growing impact this technology can have on your bottom line. GPS-based fleet management systems have proved to be successful in the railway and trucking industries. Now they are bringing operationa...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Management, Software, Technology
Written by Carol Brzozowski “We are definitely in a changing insurance market, however short-lived it might be”— Aon Risk Solutions 2012 Construction Industry Report The biggest challenge for the construction industry in terms of insurance and bonding is truly understanding what is needed and the consistency of what’s available in the marketplace. So says Seth Hausman, senior vice president and head of operations in construction practice for Zurich Insurance. “Owners and organizations they’re...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Business Management, Legal, Management
Written by Daniel C. Brown The versatility of hydraulic excavators is virtually unmatched in the world of construction equipment. Whether you’re talking about compact, mid-range or large hydraulic excavators, these machines can take on a variety of jobs in many different conditions by changing between dozens of approved attachments. Other than excavating with a bucket attachment, one of the most frequent tasks performed by hydraulic excavators is that of lifting loads or materials. On the job site,...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Human Resources, Management, Safety
Written by Penelope B. Grenoble “If you don’t have confidence in your takeoff, it’s worthless,” says Coy Lowden, estimator/project manager at Lowden Excavating Inc. in Kyle, TX, “You might as well not have done it.” True enough, but how do you get there? Four years ago onscreen takeoffs all but made digitizers obsolete. The current standard, from Roctek to Trimble, is the ability to import and work with vector PDFs. Three-D is another feature, and depending on how far you want to go, both Topcon an...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Management, Software, Technology
Written by Penelope B. Grenoble Time to gear up, get the equipment in shape, start lining up the operators, and get them up to speed. And that means training: at the least a refresher course for the guys who are coming back and a little this-is-how-we-do-it-here advice for new hires. The question is not only what you think you want your crews to know, but also why, and how you’re going to get them what they need. Otherwise you’re wasting their time and your money. What follows is a compilation of t...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Human Resources, Management, Training
Written by Penelope B. Grenoble Time to gear up, get the equipment in shape, start lining up the operators, and get them up to speed. And that means training: at the least a refresher course for the guys who are coming back and a little this-is-how-we-do-it-here advice for new hires. The question is not only what you think you want your crews to know, but also why, and how you’re going to get them what they need. Otherwise you’re wasting their time and your money. What follows is a compilation of t...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Human Resources, Management, Training
Written by Paul Hull In the past, many contractors and local authorities thought the remedy for soft or wet soil conditions was to add more gravel. Unfortunately, the increasing number of vehicles (and, in many cases, heavier vehicles or machines) on the new base soon mixed the new gravel with the wet soil below, and the remedy did not work for long. It’s the long-lasting, durable aspect of roadbuilding that has been helped so much by the use of geosynthetics (or geotextiles, or geogrids). As the q...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Management, Technology
Written by Nate Heying If you are like many heavy contractors, you hate the insurance renewal process and you rely on your agent (most likely a close friend) to get you the best rates while hopefully providing loss control services to drive down claims resulting in lower insurance costs. Yet you continue to deal with yearly issues at renewal time when insurance carriers tell you that your rates are increasing not because of your claim history but because of your risk sensitive industry. As a succes...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Business Management, Management, Operations
Written by Penelope B. Grenoble Once in a while you hear about someone taking the bull by the horn and stepping in to fill a gap. A case in point is the New Hampshire–based Construction Education Academy, the brainchild of Tim Edes of Eastpoint Lasers LLC, a laser, construction layout, and engineering supplier in Hooksett, NH, and Kent Brown of Brown Engineering LLC in Meredith, NH. Edes has 30 years experience training construction personnel how to use layout tools and software and Brown has spent...... continue reading
From: Grading and Excavation Contractor Topics: Management, Operations, Training
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