From Muscle to Machines

Few travelers passing a building under construction or a highway repair project can understand the profound importance of the equipment and machinery operating on the site. Most observers to such situations are more inclined to feel inconvenienced by delays in travel times or temporary changes to the skylines and scenery. Relief would come easily to those who can imagine for a moment what citizens -- particularly laborers -- in ancient Egypt must have endured while the great pyramids were being built.

Construction equipment has traversed great distances in terms of sophistication since ancient Egypt. Pyramid architects and engineers had essentially no equipment other than the most rudimentary implements, such as levers, carts and hand tools. Legions of slaves provided the power.

Construction of the pyramids took two to three generations -- and many lost lives --to complete. Today, in stark contrast, using excavators, cranes, loaders and other types of heavy equipment, building the same pyramids would take perhaps only a few months to complete. Although pyramids have not been built for over 2,000 years, many other, more practical dreams have since been realized, with far greater benefit to far more citizens.

America's interstate highway system, railroads, airports and waterways -- our infrastructure -- were all made possible with the help of construction equipment. But it wasn't until the turn of the 20th century that interstate travel by car and rail began to see phenomenal development. Within only a few years, recreational activities increased dramatically, and new lifestyles began to emerge.

Construction hit a frenzied pace to meet the nation's public demands for everything from museums, libraries, health care centers and universities to parks, resorts and playgrounds.

With the advent of electricity, new public attention was focused on creating and building mass transit systems, water supply and treatment facilities, and power and communications utilities. In a period of less than 50 years, American engineering and construction delivered such colossal feats as the skyscraper and the interstate highway system. None of these would have been possible in such a historically short period of time without the aid of construction equipment. Construction equipment and machinery were, in effect, great inventions which became the instruments that turned other great ideas and designs into reality.

Chronology of Developments
As a generic, working definition, construction equipment is any portable machinery or equipment used for on-site, non-manufactured construction or demolition, or for the movement of materials. It is an extension of the operator, designed to provide the means of productivity, efficiency, speed and safety.

Historians point to the late 19th century as the era of turning-point developments in construction equipment, when industry was responding to America's growing needs. At that time, three main elements to construction equipment emerged... the power system, the carriage system and the on-board operating system. These systems were developed essentially in response to the needs of the railroad industry. Most construction machines were steam-powered and mounted on a rail car chassis. Farm equipment, such as plows and steel-wheeled haul carts, frequently supplemented the heavier, rail-mounted rigs on construction work. These machines were almost always horse-drawn.

Use of the horse and the steam engine began to fade after the invention of the diesel engine in 1892, and the gasoline engine in 1901. These inventions began to appear in dump trucks as early as 1905 and in other equipment, such as excavators, trenchers and ditchers, around 1909. The first diesel-powered tractor appeared later, in 1931.

The term "bulldozer" first entered our language in 1923. But it was during World War II that the entire vehicle, not just the blade, became so well known by this term. Other developments followed similar patterns for such equipment as scrapers, graders, haul trucks, cranes and, later, pavers and rollers. In the 1960's, the introduction of hydraulics, coupled with the increasing power of diesel engines, played a major pioneering role.

To Work or Rust
Today, an estimated 1.3 million off-highway machines are in operation in the United States alone. These are used by over 74,600 establishments in construction, mining, utilities and government -- the largest percentage being in highway/heavy and building construction. In the most recent census of equipment, this population showed a growth of 10.5% overall since 1987.

These machines, and the industry that builds and operates them, have made an enormous contribution to this nation's Gross National Product and employment. In normal, non-recessionary times, construction employs nearly 4 1/2 million people and accounts for more than $230 billion in spending -- close to 10% of the GNP.

But there is an emerging issue, in many ways relative to our economic condition and GNP, that has become the subject of considerable political attention lately: the need to repair and rebuild America's infrastructure. This overwhelming task will take an estimated $1.2 trillion over ten years. The necessary construction equipment is available to do the work, but the legislation and public and private funding needed to make it happen are seriously inadequate.

Revitalizing and rebuilding our infrastructure is critical to economic growth and would stimulate important public benefits. For every $1 billion spent on new construction projects, it is estimated that 56,000 new jobs are created. This includes 11,000 on-site and over 13,000 off-site jobs, with another 32,000 induced jobs triggered by the construction work. Spending $114 billion each year for ten years would mean 6.4 million jobs.

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), signed into law at the end of 1991, represents a small step toward repair and building of the transportation aspects of America's infrastructure. Its statement of purpose is "to develop a National Intermodal Transportation System that is economical, efficient, environmentally sound, provides the foundation for the Nation to compete in the global economy and will move people and goods in an energy efficient manner." However, the ISTEA Bill provides only about $155 billion in public funding for fiscal years 1992 to 1997, which leaves a shortfall in excess of $1 trillion for what is needed nationally over the next ten years. In addition, the real percentage of the available ISTEA funding that will actually be used for infrastructure repair and construction is expected to be fractional at best and remains to be determined.

America has created the most extensive and complex infrastructure of any nation on earth. Construction equipment, in large part, has made that possible. But equipment has received little or no recognition for its profound contribution since it first appeared at the turn of the century. Nor have the great inventors and leaders of this industry received the public acclaim they deserve. However, that situation changed in 1993 when the Construction Equipment Hall of Fame was created.