Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/138965
52 • JULY 2013 • WORLD FENCE NEWS July 1988 Here are some articles and news items from the July 1988 edition of World Fence News, published 25 years ago this month. • The cover photo showed Miami's Joe Robbie Stadium with a temporary left field fence to match the famed Green Monster at Fenway Park in Boston for a series of exhibition baseball games. E/Z SLIDE™ HEAVY DUTY NYLON CANTILEVER ROLLER SQUARE Frame: 2x2 SQUARE Posts: 4" & 6" Send For Free Brochure Celebrating Our 30th Anniversary Also Available For Round Frames And Posts INTERNATIONAL GATE DEVICES, INC. IGD slidegate.net 1-800-557-4283 (GATE) Fax 610-534-9682 Through the Years with World Fence News Murray Fence Co. of Miami was called to install a green tennis court windscreen fabric and foam pads at the bottom as player stops. Company owner Jim Murray claimed the structure was the biggest temporary fence in the country. • World Fence News presented an inside look at selling and installing color coated chain link fence systems. • Raw material prices were causing higher prices for stainless steel, but manufacturers disagreed on how this would affect barbed tape prices. • WFN contributing editor Jim Lucci examined the disadvantages of bidding agency jobs, in the second of a two-part series. • World Fence News contributing editor Herb Borner "narrowed the knowledge gap" on gate hardware. • Family business expert Leon Danco felt many family businesses could benefit from having an effective board of directors. • Fencer Jim Hart ran across some neighborly situations that turned downright nasty. Spite fence time! July 1993 Here are some articles and news items from the July 1993 edition of World Fence News, published 20 years ago this month. • The cover photo showed a beautiful slanted picket fence painted in black and white. The fence was in front of an old house in Bethel, Delaware. The entire town of Bethel is on the U.S. National Historical Register, according to photographer Robert J. Bennett. • Since model building codes can have a major impact on your business, it pays to familiarize yourself with them, said Terry Driscoll, a member of the Standards Committee of the National Ornamental & Miscellaneous Metals Association (NOMMA). • F.W. Dodge reported that its 1993 construction outlook showed that the current (at that time) recovery was different from what had been experienced in earlier cycles. The information reporting firm presented a look at what the rest of continued on page 72 The Dodge Report April construction starts drop one percent NEW YORK — New construction starts in April settled back 1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $473.0 billion, according to McGraw Hill Construction, a division of McGraw Hill Financial. The public works sector retreated from its elevated pace in March, and housing experienced a slight loss of momentum. Meanwhile, nonresidential building in April showed some improvement after its lackluster performance during the previous two months. On an unadjusted basis, total construction starts in the January-April period of 2013 came in at $141.1 billion, down 5% from the same period a year ago. The 2013 year-to-date amount for total construction was pulled down by a sharply reduced volume of new electric utility starts. If electric utilities are excluded, total construction starts would be up 12% year-to-date, with most of the lift coming from this year's stronger rate of homebuilding. The April statistics produced a reading of 100 for the Dodge Index (2000=100), compared to the 101 that was reported for March. For all of 2012, the Dodge Index averaged 100. "Total construction starts during the early months of 2013 have been able to stay close to last year's average pace, but the moderate upward trend that was present last year has yet to resume," stated Robert A. Murray, vicepresident of economic affairs for McGraw Hill Construction. "The housing market for the most part has maintained its recent strength, even with a slight pause in April, but new electric utility starts have slowed significantly from last year's record volume. "The boost that had been expected to come in 2013 from nonresidential building is at best only beginning to take hold, as the pickup in April followed weak activity in February and March. One relative bright spot so far in 2013 has been a stronger-thanexpected amount of public works construction, although the April downturn may well be a sign of diminished activity to come." Nonbuilding construction in April dropped 7% to $130.8 billion (annual rate). The moderate decline followed substantial volatility during the previous two months, with nonbuilding construction soaring 46% in March after plunging 33% in February. "Total construction starts during the early months of 2013 have been able to stay close to last year's average pace, but the moderate upward trend that was present last year has yet to resume." – Robert A. Murray The public works portion of nonbuilding construction decreased 15% in April after its heightened March activity, as declines were reported for most of the public works project types. Highway and bridge construction in April retreated 25%, following a 31% jump in March. April's rate of highway and bridge construction was down 13% from the average pace reported for 2012 as a whole, despite the April start of a $128 million highway project in New Jersey and a $108 million highway project in California. The environmental public works categories weakened considerably in April, with river/harbor development down 13%, sewer systems down 31%, and water supply systems down 35%. Miscellaneous public works, which is comprised of such diverse project types as mass transit and pipelines, was the only public works category to register an April gain, continued on page 54