Construction Industry News and Articles
Ranch owner Art Guttersen turned a blizzard into a business. “Nobody could get to work, and there were oilfield companies installing wells on the property. I leased a motor grader to move the snow and open the roads for them. I think I moved the same snow every day for three months,” he recalled. Guttersen saw an opportunity to provide additional resources to the oil and gas companies working the 32,000 acres that comprise Guttersen Ranch, and that was theRead More
Industry estimates put owning expenses at 25 to 30 percent of the total machine owning and operating picture. These costs, which include finance, interest, depreciation and tax, tend to be fairly straightforward. The remaining balance – 70 to 75 percent – includes labor, fuel, parts, repairs, operator expenses and other related items that make up the operating component, which is more variable and comprehensive. Calculating operating costs is the more difficult of the two because so many factorsRead More
Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS) is one of the largest waste and recycling companies in the Chicago area. In order to process the massive amount of waste material that comes through its seven locations, LRS requires equipment that is dependable, versatile and durable. It found a solution with a fleet of 15 Komatsu PC210LC excavators outfitted with Komatsu waste packages. “Our PC210s run up to 20 hours a day – sometimes as many as 11 hours straight – which is vitalRead More
Mark Ballard, President, R.A. Alexander & Sons Advantages immediately apparent “Augmenting our fleet with intelligent Machine Control equipment made us 40 to 50 percent faster, and we’re achieving accuracy within two-tenths of an inch,” stated Ballard. “Having a model that we can plug in and follow, speeds us up significantly. We save the most time on minor details associated with parking lots and streets. It’s also phenomenal on earthmoving projects with major grade changes. There’s no lost time with operatorsRead More
Ninety-two percent of companies that use drones say the benefits of this innovation exceed the costs, according to the “State of Commercial Drone Use” report released by Blue Research, which contacted more than 1,700 medium and large businesses for its study. The findings noted that 10 percent of surveyed companies with revenues of more than $50 million currently use drones. For 88 percent of respondents that utilize the technology, return on investment was achieved in a year or less. AboutRead More
During the past two decades, the development and acceptance of construction technology has made huge strides. GPS-based grade control is a perfect example. It has evolved from masts and cables on the outside of machines to integrated systems that can automatically raise and lower dozer blades. Today, companies are increasingly accessing information about their machinery via mobile platforms such as smartphones and tablets, using Wi-Fi or cellular networks. Construction companies that fail to embrace these new strategies may fall behindRead More
The Midway Division of Waste Connections, Inc. serves the Chicago area through its Winnebago Landfill in Rockford, Ill. The 500-acre facility accepts 16 million pounds of solid waste daily, so having reliable equipment is paramount to the operation’s success. When his dozer fleet began experiencing earlier-than-anticipated component failures, Midway Division District Manager Lacy Ballard decided it was time to make a change. He turned to Komatsu and his local distributor to add a D155AX-7 dozer with a waste package, whichRead More
The marketing field is in a state of flux. Never before have we had so many mediums and so many devices to think about. Most people can relate – think about the last time you were watching TV or listening to music. Maybe you had a laptop or tablet in front of you. Your phone was likely within an arm’s reach. Your attention was divided, and so is our customers’. This is where content comes in. Check out the presentationRead More
by Lucia Pía Torres Modern society – and its ability to manage technological changes, while also combining classic thought with modernity and coexistence with advancement – leaves no alternative but to build on a foundation of gender, social and culture diversity. In a globalized world, every profession or occupation is interconnected with technology; it is clear that we need more engineers, scientists and technologists. In order to achieve our goals and develop these professions, we need to be more inclusiveRead More
Komatsu augmented its intelligent Machine Control lineup with the addition of the new PC290LCi-11 that provides first-to-last-pass accuracy. Like its predecessors, the excavator features Komatsu’s unique sensor package – stroke-sensing hydraulic cylinders, an inertial measurement unit sensor and global navigation satellite system antennas – that utilizes 3D design data to accurately check its position against the target elevation and semi-automatically limit overexcavation. “The PC290LCi-11 is perfect for applications where customers are looking for good stability and working range. It hasRead More