May 7, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

The gubernatorial race in North Carolina has come down to Bev Perdue (D), current Lt. Governor of N.C., and Pat McCrory (R), current mayor of Charlotte, N.C. The next few blog topics will present the positions of these two candidates regarding issues that affect the construction industry. These summaries have been compiled from the candidates’ web sites.

Pat McCrory: McCrory pledges that there will be no more transfers from the Highway Trust Fund, and he will ask the State Auditor and State Treasurer to investigate past “transfers” of money from the Highway Trust Fund so that any money that was used improperly will be repaid. McCrory plans to develop a 50-Year Transportation and Road Plan for the state that will take a detailed look and curre...Read More

April 23, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

I recently visited Christiansburg, Virginia, for a story opportunity with Norfolk Southern Railroad. Norfolk Southern is in the process of modifying 28 tunnels on a route between Hampton Roads, Virginia, and Chicago in order to accommodate double-stacked railcars. (You’ll read more about this in an upcoming issue of Construction.)

            In this case, the tunnel I visited, which was originally constructed between 1911 and 1919, was having the cap of its concrete liner removed – along with installing rock bolt reinforcements and shotcrete to the exposed rock – to make way for these double-stacked cars. This particular tunnel is the longest on the route at 0.6 miles, and to observe the equipment in the tunnel and see the work in progress, I h...Read More

April 17, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Downsized Six-Year Plan Hearings Kick Off April 16

The Commonwealth of Virginia will host six public hearings across the state in April and May to receive public input on a scaled down program for highway and transit improvements. Hearings will be held at the following locations. For a list of locations click here.

Six-year transportation revenue projections are down $1.1 billion from a year ago. These revenue shortfalls will result in a 44-percent reduction in funding for primary, secondary and urban highway construction, and a 10-percent reduction in transit allocations.

The ...Read More

April 3, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

On Saturday, May 3, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., the Hispanic Contractors Association of the Carolinas (HCAC) will hold a Construction Safety Fair at Plaza Fiesta Carolinas in Fort Mill, South Carolina. HCAC is concerned about the tragic statistics of Latino construction fatalities registered in the past few years. As a response to this problem, the HCAC is organizing a Construction Safety Fair with the purpose of educating the Hispanic construction community about the importance of safety and its impact on Latino families. HCAC believes that the construction worker should not be the only one with a safety mentality about work, but that their families should also be supportive in order to make sure that each family member returns home safely every day.

HCAC intends to continue...Read More

April 2, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Fatalities from workplace accidents fell 30 percent in North Carolina last year — the largest decrease ever recorded according to the N.C. Department of Labor (NCDOL). The number of fatal work accidents fell from 65 in 2006 to 45 in 2007. NCDOL investigated 68 workplace fatalities in 2005 and 75 in 2004. In 2000, North Carolina had a workplace injury and illness rate of 5.7 cases for every 100 fulltime workers in the private sector.

            The latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show by 2006 the state’s injury and illness rate had dropped to 4.0 in the private sector. The national rate was 4.4 for 2006.

Of the 45 fatalities in 2007, 20 occurred in constru...Read More