By nature, construction a dangerous occupation, the #1 most dangerous across all industries in fact, according to the Bureau of Labor statistics; tragically, in 2019 alone, for instance, 1,061 construction workers died on the job. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 1 in 5 deaths among U.S. workers occur in the construction industry.

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Pay big money for a project design only to have it be used incorrectly in the field? A new partnership between CM Labs and Trimble aims to provide operators with realistic training on grade control technology.

Launched at The Utility Expo in Louisville, Kentucky, the excavator simulation integration allows training organizations to provide operators of all experience levels access to technology on the modern job site.

The Trimble Earthworks for Excavators software works in parallel with CM Lab’s Vortex Studio software and runs on a tablet, which the user can connect to the simulator. Visual aids are overlaid onto the existing ground along with cut/fill information, slope data and other customizable reference points to provide the user with a better understanding of the work that needs to be done.

“To a user, this will look exactly like the Trimble application, but it’s going to be fed by what they’re doing in the simulation,” said Yannick Lefebvre, technical sales manager, CM Labs. “They can go into Earthworks, program the depth that they want to work at, and know when they are going over a hidden utility line – all of that comes into play.”

A variety of configurable views makes it easier to obtain the right perspective for maximum training value. The integration allows users to get familiar with technology without making costly errors in the field. “We’d like you to make the mistakes here. We’d like you to play with the design here,” said Gary James, training instructor/SimGuide specialist, CM Labs. “When you go to a job site, you’re ready to go. You understand exactly how to build a design, follow a map and customize offsets.”

But training isn’t the only use for the simulators. The system can also serve as a company’s first line of defense against bad hires. “It’s the fake it until you make it world we’re trying to get rid of,” said James. “We want guys and girls to go home at the end of the night. The money is not worth anybody’s life. It’s all about safety.”

Trimble Earthworks is available as an add-on with CM Labs’ Excavator Training Pack and will be expanded to other earthmoving modules. The software is compatible with all of CM Labs’ Vortex Simulators.

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Underground utilities were damaged in an estimated 468,000 excavation-related incidents in 2020, according to the DIRT Report released last month by the Common Ground Alliance (CGA). Despite those numbers being down 12% from 2019, the industry shouldn’t pat itself on the back quite yet.

CGA says the decline in damages coincides with a 4.2% dip in construction activity during the pandemic. The overall emphasis on safety because of the global pandemic may have led to less crowded and potentially less distracting jobsites.

No locate request and poor locating practices were tied at 32%, respectively, causing 64% of the reported damages that have known root causes. Those include failure to notify 811 and facilities not marked or marked inaccurately due to locator error or the presence of an abandoned facility.

Rounding out the “big three,” poor excavation practices was the next highest cause, at 30%. Digging before verifying marks by a test hole combined with a failure to maintain clearance were the most consistent causes of damages in the field.

The pandemic triggered a steep rise in homeowner locate requests and digging activities associated with home improvement projects, whether by homeowners or professional contractors. Despite the increase in homeowner activity, damages involving occupants did not increase.

While estimated damages in the U.S. decreased in 2020, the report shows a five-year trend in damage rates that has plateaued. The 2020 DIRT Report predicts the next few years will bring an increase in construction activity and the potential of a national infrastructure program that will require the damage-prevention industry to focus on addressing the consistent rate of damages and estimated $30 billion in societal costs incurred as a result of damages to buried infrastructure each year.

The most commonly damaged utility lines were telecommunications at 50%, natural gas at 23% and cable TV at 11%.

The report also found:

June was the month with the most total damages in 2020. Wednesday was the most common day of the week that damages occurred.Backhoes topped the list of known equipment-caused damages at 15%.

“The DIRT Report is a crucial tool for understanding the most pressing challenges in damage prevention – and to truly make progress on addressing the handful of damage root causes that are driving the vast majority of damages,” said Sarah K. Magruder Lyle, president and CEO of CGA.

“With the potential of significant infrastructure legislation becoming law coupled with an expected increase in construction activity in the coming years, we must focus on the challenges outlined in the DIRT Report and work together as an industry to improve each step of the damage-prevention process.”

CGA is a nonprofit association of the underground utility industry that seeks to prevent damage to North American underground infrastructure by promoting damage-prevention practices.

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A new report estimates that one-fourth of all critical infrastructure in the U.S. is at risk of flooding, and that percentage will increase as storms become more severe due to climate change.

The science and technology nonprofit First Street Foundation, in what it calls “the first ever nationwide community level flood resilience report,” says state and local governments are not equipped to handle the present and future flood risks to critical infrastructure.

“As we saw following the devastation of Hurricane Ida, our nation’s infrastructure is not built to a standard that protects against the level of flood risk we face today, let alone how those risks will grow over the next 30 years as the climate changes,” says Matthew Eby, founder and executive director of First Street Foundation.

The “Infrastructure on the Brink” report says that 25% of current “critical infrastructure,” such as utilities, airports, ports, and emergency services like police, fire and hospitals, is at risk of becoming inoperable due to flooding.

It estimates these other current infrastructure flood risks:

23% of all road segments in the country (nearly 2 million miles of road). 20% of all commercial properties (919,000).17% of all “social infrastructure” facilities (72,000). This includes such properties as schools and government buildings.14% of all residential properties (12.4 million).

The risks are expected to increase through 2051.

“Over the next 30 years, due to the impacts of climate change, an additional 1.2 million residential properties, 66,000 commercial properties, 63,000 miles of roads, 6,100 pieces of social infrastructure and 2,000 pieces of critical infrastructure will also have flood risk that would render them inoperable, inaccessible or impassable,” the report says.

This chart shows the expected increase in flood risks by infrastructure category over the next 30 years.First Street Foundation’s “Infrastructure on the Brink” report

The report shows these four states facing the highest concentration of current risk: Louisiana, Florida, Kentucky and West Virginia. Of the top-20 at-risk counties in the U.S., 17 are in these four states.

The report also provides data on all at-risk cities and counties, and you can search on First Street’s website to find the flood risk for your property with the nonprofit’s free FloodFactor tool.

This chart shows the top-20 counties most at-risk to physical infrastructure flooding and the percentages of their infrastructure categories that are at risk. (Note: The “Infrastructure” column represents “critical infrastructure,” such as airports, fire stations, hospitals, police stations, ports, power stations.)First Street Foundation’s “Infrastructure on the Brink” report

For cities facing the most flood risk today, Moliere and New Orleans, Louisiana, top the rankings, with most, if not all, of their infrastructure vulnerable. Cities in California, South Carolina, Florida and Alabama also made the list.

This chart shows the top-20 cities most at-risk to physical infrastructure flooding and the percentages of their infrastructure categories that are at risk. (Note: The “Infrastructure” column represents “critical infrastructure,” such as airports, fire stations, hospitals, police stations, ports, power stations.)First Street Foundation’s “Infrastructure on the Brink” report

The report also looks into the future, showing which counties will see the largest percentage increase in infrastructure risk by 2051. Virginia has several metro areas facing a significantly increased threat. The list also includes counties in North Carolina, Massachusetts, Maryland and Texas.

This chart shows the top-20 counties with the highest estimated percentage increase of risk to physical infrastructure flooding by 2051 and the percentages of their infrastructure categories that are at risk. (Note: The “Infrastructure” column represents “critical infrastructure,” such as airports, fire stations, hospitals, police stations, ports, power stations.)First Street Foundation’s “Infrastructure on the Brink” report

The report says the impact of the increased risks could devastate local communities. It notes that in Harris County, Texas, home to Houston, 770 hospitals, public utilities and water-treatment plants currently risk becoming inoperable due to flooding this year.

Miami-Dade, Florida, has 1,640 schools, churches and museums at risk. The Chicago metro area has 225,000 residential properties at risk. And in the New Orleans area, 99% of the roads are at risk of becoming undrivable because of flooding, the report says.

First Street Foundation hopes the data will help prioritize funding toward protecting infrastructure from flood risks.

“Our work aims to determine the amount of flooding that would render infrastructure either inoperable or inaccessible,” says Dr. Jeremy Porter of First Street Foundation. “By applying research on depth thresholds and comparing them to flood data and probability metrics, we can determine roughly the extent of flooding that would cause a road to be impassable to cars, or a hospital to be shut down.”

This map shows where the greatest flood risks are to infrastructure.First Street Foundation’s “Infrastructure on the Brink” report

H&E Equipment Services has opened a new rental branch just north of Salt Lake City in Ogden. It is the company’s third Utah facility.

The 8,500-square-foot facility sits on three acres and features a fenced yard, offices, parts warehouse and separate repair shot with six service bays. The facility will offer construction and general industrial equipment for customers in northern Utah, southeast Idaho and western Wyoming.

Chris Baron, who also leads the company’s Salt Lake City branch, will manage the location. 

Kirby-Smith names Kunin VP, adds Atlas

Kirby-Smith Machinery (KSM) has named Mike Kunin vice president of national accounts, following the promotion of John Arapidis to president and CEO.

Kunin will oversee the management and continued development of strategic partnerships between the company and its national account customers. He comes to the dealership after having held several key positions at Komatsu America during the past 21 years, including parts sales, construction and support equipment and most recently as business director of Komatsu’s central region. He will be located in KSM’s headquarters in Oklahoma City.

SMH GroupKMS has also added the SMH Group US’s line of Atlas material handlers and will represented the line in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois. The Atlas line includes mobile industrial and industrial tracked machines for the scrap, wood and recycling markets, among others.

KMS has 12 branch locations in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Missouri.

W.W. Williams relocates Charleston store

W.W. Williams Company’s Charleston, South Carolina, branch has moved to a new location. The 20,000-square-foot facility has 14 service bays for repairing and servicing medium- and heavy-duty trucks, fleets, construction equipment, emergency vehicles and marine vessels in addition to power generation sales and service. 

Maverick Environmental adds Morbark line

Maverick Environmental Equipment has become a Morbark Industrial Products dealer for Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky ad western West Virginia. The company will sell and service Morbark’s line of tree care, forestry, sawmill and wood recycling equipment.

Herc buys Rapid Equipment Rental

Herc Holdings, parent of Herc Rental, has bought Toronto-based Rapid Equipment Rental. Rapid Equipment Rental currently has 110 employees and seven locations. Founded in 2013, it serves the industrial and construction markets in Toronto and the surrounding areas. 

Herc says the acquisition supports its long-term strategy to achieve greater density and scale in select urban markets across North America. It currently has 295 locations in North America.

MANUFACTURERS

Bomag adds milling, paving VP

Bomag Americas has named Chris Colwell its vice president of milling and paving, responsible for overseeing the company’s new business unit segment. Colwell’s industry experience includes positions with Astec Industries, Carlson Paving Products and managing a road construction equipment dealership.

Generac expands in Wisconsin

Generac has announced it will invest $53 million in facilities across the state over the next three years, creating more than 700 jobs. Expansion plans include a new administrative and R&D facility in Pewaukee, announced in July. The company’s global headquarters will remain in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

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