John LattaRoadbuildingHere’s an ideaAs our transportation infrastructure woes get more woeful, figuring out how to get work done for today and tomorrow and way into the future isn’t getting any easier. The American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) will present its second annual TransOvation Conference for transportation design and construction pros in Virginia in July. I went […]June 1, 2012RoadbuildingWe Are Not AloneI was reading a journalist’s work recently in which he makes the point that infrastructure problems are “impeding economic development.” George Okojie went to write: The problem has continued unabated because when transportation decision-makers at the federal, state, and local levels discuss possible investments in highway infrastructure and the impacts, they sometimes overlook one very […]May 21, 2012RoadbuildingAbout the small print CongressmanNext Monday, April 16, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is back in D.C. after a well-deserved (sic) break to consider finalizing a reauthorization bill. There’s not a whole lot of optimism here. The Senate’s two-year bill is waiting in the wings but Republicans in the House are unlikely to go for it, again. They […]April 11, 2012RoadbuildingShameLast Friday reauthorization was extended for the ninth time, this time for 90 days. You know what I feel about it. So does Ezra Klein apparently. “On Friday, President Obama signed the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012. Odds are you didn’t hear about it. There wasn’t a signing ceremony in the Rose Garden, and […]April 4, 2012RoadbuildingA bitter little House whine“I can’t, it’s too hard.” There are a lot of ideographic catch phrases we associate with Americans. This isn’t one of them. I don’t believe George Washington or Admiral Farragut or John Paul Jones or Abraham Lincoln ever said it. For that matter I don’t suppose Muhammad Ali or Tim Tebow ever did either.But it […]March 30, 2012RoadbuildingThe link that is not missing, and Shakespeare 116So extension number nine appears inevitable. House Transportation and Infrastructure committee chairman John Mica says its likely to be a three month extension. It will allow the House Republicans to come up with a bill of their own to pass the House (something they have not been able to do to date) , of unknown […]March 21, 2012RoadbuildingCivic LessonsWatching the reauthorization wheels go round and round remains one of the most frustrating occupations in our industry. The Senate Bill creeps ahead after some extraneous amendments have been hurdled. The House Republicans are now looking at a heavily reworked bill, and one that seems to have as much support as the pre-worked bill. Instead […]March 1, 2012RoadbuildingLet ‘em have it this week!I’m repeating myself, I know, but I want to urge as many of you as possible to take advantage of this week’s Congressional recess. Members are back in their districts and this is an election year. Put a little heat on them, a little pressure. Or, preferably, a lot. Congress has dithered and dithered when […]February 20, 2012RoadbuildingSeat backs and tray tables uprightAfter a really bad flight we are ready for a really bad landing. Both the House and Senate are closing in this week on final votes on their versions of a replacement for SAFETEA-LU, the too-tough-to-die surface transportation bill. We need reauthorization so badly that any landing may be the best news we could hear. […]February 13, 2012RoadbuildingCome Together, Right Now, Over BillThe Association of Equipment Manufacturers is taking what I think will become a pretty popular position on the House’s HR7 reauthorization bill, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act (AEIJA), just passed by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. It’s now with the Ways and Means Committee where sudden enlightenment on how to pay for […]February 3, 2012Previous PagePage 24 of 43Next PageTop StoriesSafety & ComplianceContractor Faces $394K in Fines After Worker Dies in TrenchThe worker was buried at the bottom of a 12-foot-deep trench, and his employer had been cited for similar violations in the past.Wheel LoadersLiebherr Debuts World's First Large Wheel Loader with a Hydrogen EngineDozersHyundai Breaks into the Dozer Market with HD100The DirtTest Run & Review: The Market's First Electric Mini Excavator, JCB’s 19C-1ECompact equipmentTakeuchi's TCR50-2 Crawler Dumper is Coming to North America