John LattaRoadbuildingTexas DOT may get back into the toll businessCome January there will be increasing pressure on TDOT to get into business with private toll road companies. Two years ago lawmakers took away that authority. What a difference two years — at least these last two years — makes. The move fits a rough pattern we are seeing all over the country. As funding […]August 23, 2010RoadbuildingWe’re moving towards more tollingItr’s possible that the (voting) public is begining to see what happens when there is too little money for highways and bridges. But the process moves like molasses in winter. Last week the Wall Street Journal picked up the movement in some states to pro-actively turn badly deteriorating asphalt and concrete roads back to gravel roads. […]August 4, 2010RoadbuildingRaising the ante for airport terrroristsAmerica now has a new weapon in the fight against terrorists who might target our airports. Poker. The art and science of poker playing has led better security at Pittsburgh International Airport. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette a couple of cool scientists who approached the game as a problem solving exercise have done us all […]August 3, 2010RoadbuildingOhio DOT’s ‘Chia Pet’ sound WallGreen may coming to yet another segment of our industry that used to be concrete’s domain. According to a Cleveland Plain Dealer story on Cleveland.com, Ohio DOT is trying to find an eco-friendly highway noise abatement system that will work long term. The Ohio Department of Transportation will test a 12-foot-high wall of stacked, 70-pound bags sprouting plants […]July 20, 2010RoadbuildingA bumpy ride back to the futureYou know it’s been happening, and now the Wall Street Journal has noticed so maybe the rest of the country will notice. Here’s part of the introduction to the paper’s story today: Paved roads, historical emblems of American achievement, are being torn up across rural America and replaced with gravel or other rough surfaces as […]July 19, 2010RoadbuildingArticleJuly 8, 2010RoadbuildingGo Ray, GoIn reality, we know so little about Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Cabinet Secretaries are distant from us despite the masses of coverage they get. We see a version of them. So if you want to know more, check out this Washington Post profile of the the man the venerable Post calls a ‘sensation’. Odd, […]July 8, 2010RoadbuildingValet BikingIf you build roads or cause them to be built, you’ve heard of the Administration’s ‘livability’ mantra which argues that all forms of transportation, not just vehicles, should be considered when building communities. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood wants to see much more consideration for bike users when plans are drawn up for new transportation […]June 16, 2010RoadbuildingTime’s up Mr. President. Wait, now I need more timeWe will have to wait a little longer to find out exactly where the White House stands on reauthorization. According to Audrey Dutton writing in today’s edition of The Bond Buyer Newspaper Transportation stakeholders are concerned that the Obama administration has not released a set of reauthorization principles by the time Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood […]June 14, 2010RoadbuildingDrive Less, Text More, Who Needs New RoadsCould it be that the internet could change the way America drives, challenging, to say the least the automobile industry’s way of life (and the way we build roads)? This  is the question that Jeff Neck wonders in a story he writes in Ad Age. And he makes a case. Fewer young people have driver’s licenses and […]June 7, 2010Previous PagePage 33 of 43Next PageTop StoriesTelehandlersBobcat Unveils Electric Telehandler PrototypeThe new zero-emissions machine is powered by liquid-cooled batteries and has a rated operating capacity of 5,511 pounds.Safety & ComplianceContractor Faces $394K in Fines After Worker Dies in TrenchWheel 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-1E