The port can suppress dust and is designed to assist with OSHA’s final silica rule compliance.

Epiroc AB, the subsidiary of Atlas Copco Group with U.S. headquarters in Commerce City, Colorado, has introduced its SB series hydraulic breaker attachments that come standard with an internal water port for dust suppression, a feature that can assist in compliance with Washington-based U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) final silica rule dust regulations.

With an integrated water channel, operators can spray water at the source of dust creation to keep dust levels down. The integrated channel is designed to improve the working environment, enhance visibility and prevent dust from seeping into the bushings. SB breakers are also designed to protect operators and equipment by reducing noise and vibration.

Epiroc SB series breakers are designed for the 0.7- to 24-ton carrier class and are used in a wide range of applications that include demolition and renovation work, construction projects, tunneling, dredging and pile driving. Mining and quarrying applications range from overburden removal and scaling to primary, selective rock breaking.

SB series breakers include models to match a micro or mini excavator, backhoe, skid steer loader or demolition robot with service weights ranging from 120 pounds for the SB 52, the smallest breaker of the SB series, to 2,350 pounds for the SB 1102. Oil requirements range from just 3.2 gallons per minuts (gpm) at 1,450 to 2,175 pounds per square inch (psi) to 35 gpm at 1,185 to 2,610 psi.

Epiroc’s energy recovery technology is designed to absorb recoil energy, mitigating anvil effect and increasing overall performance. The result is higher impact rate from the same hydraulic input with less vibration.

All SB breakers come prepared for compressed air supplies without the need for modification or additional installations. Side-positioned ports can reduce risk to hoses and provide easy access for connecting compressor, water connection or ContiLube II micro lubrication supply lines or for monitoring operating pressure.

No special tools or adaptor fittings are required for servicing SB series breakers. The SB SolidBody concept uses a patented internal component design integrating the impact mechanism and the guide system into a single piece.

The accumulator is cast into the body and gas pressure is designed to be easily checked and adjusted. The supported diaphragm can reduce strain and distortion. Dual tool retainer pins can improve tool load distribution, require less grinding and protect against accidental damage to the tool and breaker.

Other standard features of SB breakers include integrated pressure relief valve for overload protection, auto start, air inlet for underwater applications, oil drainage plug, dust wiper, slip fit bushing and dual tool retainer bars for better support.

Bostrom has offices in Chicago and Washington and will help manage CDRA activities.

The Construction & Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA), Milwaukee, celebrated the 25th anniversary of its meeting, C&D World, in Nashville Feb. 20-13 and announced strategic initiatives designed to guide its efforts to serve the C&D industry. The group also held a fundraiser for its issues and education fund.

During the meeting, Troy Lautenbach, CDRA president, announced the group has retained association management company Bostrom, with offices in Chicago and Washington, to manage the group’s activities. “The Bostrom team brings tremendous organizational, government affairs, events and resource management experience to the CDRA. By leveraging this experience CDRA will continue its growth and expand member services and value,” Lautenbach said during C&D World.

Bostrom has begun its work with the association and will be collaborating with the CDRA board of directors to update its strategic plan. This will lead to a range of initiatives focused on driving increased awareness of the societal value construction materials and demolition debris recycling brings to communities throughout North America and continued market development for reclaimed resources. Bostrom’s Mik Bauer will serve as account manager. In this role, he is the primary liaison for CDRA. Bauer brings more than 6 years of managing professional membership associations and nonprofit organizations.

During C&D World, the association also held its annual fundraiser. The event raised nearly $63,000 to be used to fund research, education and other initiatives aimed at advancing C&D recycling. The fund has been active since 2000, funding several research projects and outreach efforts supporting all facets of C&D recycling.

Rotochopper University is a training event for companies that have purchased Rotochopper grinders in the past year.

Rotochopper, St. Martin, Minnesota, recently held its Rotochopper University training. Owners and operators gathered at Rotochopper’s manufacturing facility in St. Martin for the training the last two weeks of February. The customer service department hosts Rotochopper University annually for companies that have purchased Rotochopper grinders the past year.

The two-day class includes a manufacturing facility tour, equipment operation best practice training, a hands-on demonstration and plenty of networking opportunities allowing machine owners to learn from each other. This year the education focused on how to properly feed a grinder, how to perform preventative maintenance and how to troubleshoot. The hands-on demonstration showed attendees how to install B-Loc keyless bushings on a Rotochopper grinder.

Rotochopper offered two class options with nearly 70 students from 38 companies across the U.S. and Canada attending.

“The training as a whole was excellent. The real-life examples used are easy to relate to and provide valuable insight in our own operation. Spike and the customer service team did a great job of making the class fun and enjoyable yet very informational,” Andy Kosek, an attendee representing Creekside Soils, Hutchinson, Minnesota, says.

Rotochopper manufactures industrial wood waste grinding equipment including horizontal grinders and mobile baggers.

The B30E will be displayed at Intermat 2018 in April.

Bell Equipment, with U.S. offices in Houston, has introduced the Bell B30E 4x4, an articulated dump truck (ADT) that will be displayed at Intermat 2018 April 23-28 in Paris. The B30E 4x4 is suited for small to medium-sized quarries with integrated aggregate production facilities.

According to Tristan du Pisanie, Bell product marketing manager, the Bell B30E 4x4 is a supplement to the company's traditional 6x6 ADT range by providing an alternative to those customers who have had to choose between tipper trucks, rigid dump trucks and 6x6 ADTs. In addition to smaller quarry operations, the truck will also target specific markets, such as tunneling.

While not possessing the extreme off-road capabilities of a 6x6, the B30E 4x4 still offers all-weather characteristics on haulage roads and light terrain and is designed to maneuver better in confined material handling areas or stock yards. Having one less axle is designed for reduced tire wear compared to 6x6 applications on hard ground. The front tires are typical 23.5R25 tires.

The new two-axle truck is based on the 6x6 model Bell B30E and shares the front chassis and oscillation/articulation joint. Real-time data is collected by the truck’s sensors (onboard weighing, pitch/roll sensor, etc.) and are controlled by embedded software in the truck controller. The wet brake system is the same as the B30E on the front axle while the rear axle has a larger set of brakes from Bell’s 6x6 B40E.

With an identical payload to the B30E 6x6, the major differences are the shorter rear chassis with a solidly mounted Bell 36-t axle and the shorter bin. The short bin is designed for optimal loading times for silo discharge or with wheel loaders and is also compatible with the more typical excavator loading method.

All Bell ADTs include the company's satellite-based fleet management system, Fleetmatic, designed to provides customers with information that assists them to improve production and safeguard machine condition.

Spending fell 0.1 percent on a monthly basis in January 2018 while year-over-year spending increased, ABC says.

Nonresidential construction spending fell 0.1 percent on a monthly basis in January 2018, while year-over-year spending increased, according to U.S. Census Bureau data analyzed by the Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. (ABC), Washington. Nonresidential January spending totaled $732.9 billion on a seasonally adjusted annual rate, adding up to a 2.4 percent increase year over year. 

Private nonresidential construction fell 1.5 percent for the month, while public sector nonresidential spending increased 1.9 percent. The largest year-over-year increases occurred in public safety (33.5 percent) and transportation (20.2 percent).

“Today’s data indicates that nonresidential spending continues to expand erratically and unevenly,” ABC’s Chief Economist Anirban Basu says. “On a monthly basis, nonresidential construction spending declined in January. While the decline was minimal and may have been primarily attributable to freezing temperatures in much of the country, there has been a long-lived pattern of occasional spending setbacks in the context of broader expansion cycles. The result of the most recent spending setback is that nonresidential construction outlays are only 2.4 percent above year-ago levels. 

“Interestingly, there is evidence of a reversal of fortune as spending picks up in certain public segments while flattening out in certain private ones,” Basu says. “With the housing market recovering, property tax and other forms of real estate tax collections have increased. This has positioned a growing number of public agencies to step up construction spending in education, public safety and other publicly financed categories. 

“Meanwhile, there are growing concerns regarding excess inventory of commercial and office space in certain metropolitan areas,” Basu says. “This may help explain recent construction spending setbacks in a variety of privately financed construction segments. That said, there is little reason to believe that private construction will falter in 2018. Economic growth, including job growth, remains robust. Confidence is surging among many economic actors, including bankers and developers. The combination of capital and confidence should be enough to drive spending growth in most private segments as 2018 progresses.”