July 2010 Issue #1220

Featured Articles

• A Broadband Initiative

  Despite the unsteady state of the nation’s economy, the telecommunications industry continues to expand with broadband services as the primary driver.

• Mastering the Smart Grid

  The smart grid concept is transforming- how the United States will produce, deliver and manage electric power to factories, schools, offices and homes. A continental end-to-end rebuild may be years away, but its development is now. Learning what a smart grid is and how to meet installation, maintenance and expansion needs is a sure way for electrical contractors (ECs) to get into the game.

• Heart of the Matter

  Only eight weeks after having undergone heart surgery, comedian Robin Williams was a guest on “The Late Show with David Letterman” in May 2009. Chatting with Letterman about his surgery, he pulled a piece of paper out of his coat pocket, and said, “A lot of people have thanked people for the Academy Awards... . I also want to thank my doctors.” The list included cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Marc Gillinov, who performed his surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. “I had this done in Cleveland,” Williams said, “and if you ever can, have it done there.

• The 2010 Profile of the Electrical Contractor

  Every other year, ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR conducts a survey of its readers to provide a checkup on the industry and to gauge the temperature of its chief participants. By carefully listening to those who make the industry tick and then examining their responses, we can provide an accurate diagnosis of what is happening in the electrical construction market and how electrical contractors (ECs) are faring.

• Cementing Its Position

  Rock reduction plants, which process rock into products such as cement or sand, require specialty electrical construction that only a handful of electrical contractors have taken on. One such contractor, Farnham Electric Co. of McMinnville, Ore., does this work around the world. In 2009, the company completed a portable rock crusher and conveyor belt for Hawaiian Cement, Maui Concrete and Aggregate Division. The 3,000 feet of conveyor belt and portable rock crusher is one part of a mile-long system that transports tons of volcanic rock from the quarry to the plant where the rock is processed into cement and other products. Farnham Electric was established in 1920 and has specialized in rock reduction plants since the mid- to late 1960s.

• Centers of Opportunity

  The flood of information being generated, stored and transmitted over the Internet has created a massive demand for new data centers. For electrical contractors that also do telecommunications work, data centers are immense opportunities, involving power, mechanical structures, cabling and security systems.

• Lights Over the Hudson

  The 6,800-foot bridge over New York’s Hudson River dates back more than a century when it served as the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge. It now is used as a walkway. But the lights that illuminate the walkway, and the security system to provide assistance to those crossing its expanse, have had a much shorter lifespan. In fact, All Bright Electric only completed the lighting installation in March 2010. All Bright also installed surveillance cameras, a suicide-prevention phone and speaker system on the bridge.