John Deere recently signed an agreement to purchase Unimil, a Brazilian company specializing in aftermarket parts for sugarcane harvesters. In the announcement, President of Deere’s Worldwide Agriculture and Turf Division in the Americas Cory Reed recognized Unimil’s outstanding reputation in the sugarcane business, and praised their cultivation of a loyal client base through “excellent service and products.” Should the deal go through as expected, the joint companies will further expand John Deere’s reach into the expansive sugarcane industry of Brazil.          

Welcome back to our weekly news roundup! This week brings several interesting stories on new, disruptive technologies, the launch of exciting construction projects and more. Keep yourself up to date with all the latest industry happenings below:

Komatsu America has unveiled its new low ground pressure dozer, the D155AX-8 LGP. Along with multiple blade options, this new 354 horsepower dozer features a 12% wider track gauge, 47% lower ground pressure and 9% longer track on ground than the standard D155AX-8 for “improved performance, flotation and stability.” The company is advertising the upcoming release as being the perfect site-prep solution for gas and pipeline operations.

It may be the end of the week, but things are just getting started with the next installment of our trusted news roundup! This week comes to a close with some great stories including important changes to Pennsylvania's hiring laws, reports of sustained economic growth in civil construction and a positive look at women making big moves in the construction world. Read ahead for the complete scoops: 

Concrete is to the construction industry what silicon is to tech. With approximately 22 billion tons of concrete produced each year, concrete is the most produced product by volume behind clean water. As such a critical component of modern day construction, it has never been more important for construction professionals to understand the inherent challenges concrete poses to our infrastructure long-term.   

Bobcat recently unveiled their new Next is Now campaign — a fresh initiative designed to reinvent the compact equipment industry with Bobcat as the global leader. Embracing the spirit of change, the company is committing themselves to new products and smart technologies that take advantage of the digitized, interconnected environment of the 21st century. The announcement was made at Bobcat’s new 44,400 square-foot training center in Aurora, Colorado, where it will deploy “world-class training to certified Bobcat compact equipment dealers” as part of the Next is Now strategy.

It’s Friday, which means it’s finally time to bust out the floaties and dip our toes into this week’s construction industry news roundup. We have plenty of great stories for you to catch up on today, including changes to Ontario’s Construction Act, economic updates on new construction starts and initiatives to battle the construction worker health-crisis in Massachusetts. Come on in, the water’s fine! 

People tend to take water for granted. When we turn on the shower or hold our Brita pitchers up to the faucet, we usually anticipate clean, cool water to pour out as if by magic. Most of the time the water does just that, all without giving a thought towards the hard work and engineering that goes into transporting, cleaning and delivering it into our homes and businesses. But what happens when we reach for our sink and the water we expect comes out undrinkable or not at all?   

Another week, another round of important news from the construction industry! Today we have several critical stories to share with you, including the passage of a new bill in California set to change the classification of independent contractors, a postponement of major alterations to value added tax laws in the UK, and the creation of a new certification program for concrete pump operators in Canada. Read on for the full stories!  

This month, Komatsu announced that it will soon deploy 41 of its new 930E-5 ultra-class haul trucks to BHP’s South Flank iron ore mine in Western Australia. As we reported on earlier in the year, this development follows recent initiatives in the autonomous mining space which have contributed to Komatsu becoming among the market’s most influential players. With more tonnes of material hauled autonomously than all competitors combined, Komatsu currently leads the field with 180 autonomous trucks operating globally across 3 continents and 9 mine sites on advanced LTE mobile broadband technology.