Ever want to play poker with a skid steer? Or, maybe you’d like to bash a pinata with a backhoe? How about using a telehandler to sling barrels at a giant stack of barrels?

I’m not making this up. The Discovery Channel on Sunday is launching a new reality series that pits three teams of equipment operators against each other in bizarre competitions that include the above and more.

The “Machines of Glory” series starts at 6 p.m. with a backhoe brawl where the teams will be pushing their skid steers to the limits in four challenges. At 7 p.m. crews will navigate a maze with the backhoes and launch projectiles from what’s billed as the world’s largest slingshot.

A third episode at 8 p.m. will have bulldozers flattening cars and excavators dropping bombs.

Twelve grand goes to the winning team.

Tune in or set your DVRs! Here’s a sample clip:

For more information, visit www.discovery.com.

Harbor Freight Tools has recalled its DrillMaster model No. 96526 cordless drills due to overheating.

The recall affects about 108,000 units imported from China by Camarillo, Calif.-based Harbor Freight Tools. If the black trigger switch on the 19.2-volt drills overheats it can pose a fire and burn hazard to users. There has been one minor injury reported.

The drills sold for $27-$30 at Harbor Freight stores nationwide and online between April 2008 and May 2012. Models with a gray trigger are not included in the recall.

Drill owners should remove the battery, stop using the tool and contact the company for a free replacement. Here’s where to do that: toll-free at (800) 444-3353 (8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday); by email at recalls@harborfreight.com; or online at www.harborfreight.com.

Washington State Department of Transportation maintenance workers will be in the pits this Sunday when they perform an annual cleanup ritual deep inside Seattle’s Montlake Bridge.
Leaves and garbage collect in the bridge pits where the counterweights sit, threatening to jam-up operations. Crews will be using a vactor truck to suck up the debris.
The left lanes in both directions will be closed from 6 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. for the work.

NPR’s science blogger Robert Krulwich reports that helicopter robots in France have built a 20-foot tower out of foam bricks.

While the project was only a small-scale demonstration, it begs the question: Will the future construction workforce consist of robots directed by computer programmers?

Check out Krulwich’s blog here. Watch the robots in action below.

Genie has issued a safety bulletin regarding instability in some of the GS-2669, GS-3369 and GS-4069 models. Serial numbers of the affected units range from GS6911-101 to GS6912-412.

Some of the machines in the serial range may have been manufactured incorrectly, including assembly of the hydraulic circuit in the oscillation system; and installation of axle pivot pins that are out of specifications.

Call Genie’s service department at (800) 536-1800 for more information.

3M issued a recall on its G-Series retractable lanyards. The company says to immediately stop using the devices and quarantine them.

The models affected are: GW-7, GW-11, GW-7-0241A, GW-7-0241H, GW-11-0241A, GW-11-0241H, GW-11NS, DLGW-7, DLGW-7-0241A and DLGW-11-0241A.

3M found that some of the lanyards returned to it didn’t properly lock up during pre-inspection pull tests on the webbing lifeline.

Owners of the lanyards should contact Ray Mann, 3M Fall Protection Technical Service, at (704) 743-2406.

The Colman Residence apartment building has jumped out of the ground at the corner of Columbia and Western near Pioneer Square.

Turner Construction crews are forming the tower’s 44 concrete columns and will start the first level’s concrete decks later this month, followed by level two’s decks in early to mid-October. They are also pouring the building’s two cores: one that will house elevators, a trash room and stairs; and the other a shear wall and second stair.

The concrete work team includes Stoneway (supplier), Pacer Steel (reinforcing steel) and Brundage-Bone (concrete pumper). Turner is in charge of concrete forming, placing and finishing.

When finished, the 16-story building will have retail at the ground level, parking on levels 2-5, and 208 apartments above that.

The project team is: Goodman Real Estate, owner; Turner Construction, general contractor; Weber Thompson, architect; and Magnusson Klemencic Associates, structural engineer.

DBM Contractors on Wednesday expects to finish what will now total 116 drilled shafts at the Colman Residence project across the street from the Journal Building.

The concrete and rebar filled shafts will support the 16-story, 208-unit apartment tower. Crews are now digging the grade beam foundations that will sit atop the shafts. They also have installed the rebar that will strengthen the concrete box that will support the project’s tower crane.

The project team is: Goodman Real Estate, owner; Turner Construction, general contractor; Weber Thompson, architect; and Magnusson Klemencic Associates, structural engineer.

OK, the video is sped up and WSDOT contractor Eastside Corridor Constructors performed the work. BUT, this 230-foot-long and 12-foot-wide fish culvert was installed last weekend while crews performed annual bridge maintenance and other work on state Route 520.
The larger culvert will improve fish migration and is the second of eight that will be installed between Medina and Bellevue over the next three years.
ECC is a joint venture of Granite Construction Co. and PCL Construction Services.

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The DJC has a front row seat for Goodman Real Estate’s Colman Residence project. With such a convenient location, look for frequent updates on this blog as construction progresses.

Crews from DBM Contractors this week have been drilling and installing concrete piles that will support the 16-story apartment building. That will be quite a task because plans call for 109 drilled shafts ranging in diameter from 24 to 48 inches, reaching depths of 40 to 145 feet.

Before DBM started drilling into the earth, Goodman pulled up 20 trees that had surrounded the site for decades. DJC colleague Katie Zemtseff wrote about that in May.

The project team has Turner Construction as the general contractor, Weber Thompson as architect and Magnusson Klemencic Associates as structural engineer.

The building will have retail topped by 208 apartments aimed at young urban professionals.

I wonder if any of them will cross the street to work at the DJC.