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Put to the test
A massive portable cone crusher helps a West Coast producer maintain production while moving from site to site. Few producers ever get a chance to work closely with a manufacturer to help research and develop a product. J.L. Storedahl & Sons Inc. was recently given this chance, specifically to test the largest cone crusher one manufacturer makes. The opportunity was too good for the producer to pass up. J.L. Storedahl, which is located about three hours from KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens’ Oregon manufacturing facility, first considered a partnership with the manufacturer when it began searching for a portable, heavy-duty, 500-hp cone crusher in 2013. After meeting with Astec AggReCon West, a KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens dealer based in Eugene, Ore., J.L. Storedahl determined it would test one of the company’s new Kodiak Plus K500+ cone crushers in exchange for providing feedback on the machine’s performance. Although the arrangement was initially intended to last four to five months, the company is still using the cone crushing plant today – nearly… Keep Reading
Last of its kind: Shipping by rail
Rail is the key to viable markets for one aggregate-producing company that calls the Colorado Front Range home. Few trucks make their way across the narrow bridge suspended over the Arkansas River that separates Front Range Aggregates from U.S. Route 50. It’s simply not economical for most customers to pick up material at the operation, which is located about 12 miles west of Cañon City, Colo. Still, Front Range’s Parkdale Plant is an ideal source of aggregate material, having an alluvial pit that has about 10 years of life remaining and a 90-acre granite quarry that has yet to be mined. So the most logical way to move material from the operation to the markets where it’s needed is via train. In fact, Front Range President Michael Sheahan says 90 percent of product is railed out. “We’ll ship 5,000 tons at a time,” he says. “It does require some notice to deliver those tons, but before we know it, we can have it on the ground where it’s needed.” One… Keep Reading
Transportation secretary calls for long-term bill in committee hearing
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx met with the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Jan. 28, calling once again for a multi-year highway bill. According to The Hill, Foxx said short-term extensions are eroding states’ ability to commit to road projects. “Last year we sent Congress a comprehensive multiyear proposal, the Grow America Act, which included 350 pages of precise policy prescriptions and substantial funding growth, all focused on the future,” Foxx said at a committee hearing. “What America received in response was a 10-month extension with flat funding, which, while averting a catastrophe, falls short of meeting the country’s needs. “It was not the first short-term measure, or patch, that has been passed,” he continued. “It was by my count, the 32nd in the last six years. And as a former mayor, I can tell you these short-term measures are doing to America what the state [Department of Transportation] says they’re doing in Tennessee – literally killing their will to build.” “America is in a race. Not just against our… Keep Reading
2015 Hall of Fame class unveiled
Pit & Quarry's 2015 class of Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at a black-tie induction ceremony and dinner at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 15. The event follows the NSSGA Chairman's Welcome Reception at the Hilton Baltimore. The four new inductees, detailed below in alphabetical order, were selected by a group of peers from a pool of nominees submitted by industry experts and you, our readers. This group joins the 13 current members in the Pit & Quarry Hall of Fame. To purchase tickets to the black-tie induction ceremony and dinner, click here. In addition, you can nominate a worthy individual for the 2016 class of the Pit & Quarry Hall of Fame today at stage.pitandquarry.com/hall-of-fame. Glen Barton, Caterpillar Glen Barton, who joined Caterpillar as a trainee in 1961, led the company into the 21st century during a career that spanned nearly 43 years. Barton was named chairman and CEO of the company in 1999, emphasizing diversification of products and services during his five-year leadership term. He is credited… Keep Reading
Changing up education practices
Pete Lien & Sons removes its employees from the classroom and brings safety training directly to them. Are eight hours of classroom safety training in one sitting truly effective? That’s the question leaders at Pete Lien & Sons discussed the last couple of years as they evaluated their employees’ annual safety-training program. “Eight hours of class time can be really difficult for a team that’s really active,” says Danielle Wiebers, manager of environmental and safety affairs at Pete Lien & Sons. “We’d see almost zero participation from the audience during the training. It’s hard to measure how effective that is.” Plus, Pete Lien & Sons has a variety of operations, so the safety topics covered at the school providing the training weren’t always applicable to those getting the education. “We were seeing a lot of things we could improve if we could spread out the training and better manage it,” Wiebers says. In 2013, Pete Lien & Sons decided to develop its own customized, monthly safety-training program with its own… Keep Reading
Rare restoration: A unique ecosystem
A former sand-and-gravel pit is recognized with a prestigious award for its scarce ecosystem. The site where a sand-and-gravel pit once operated in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada, now serves as a public recreation area that features a rare tallgrass prairie plantation, a fen and a pond that supports native plant species, amphibians and reptiles. The pit – the Wildwood Pit – is now about 40 years gone, but the unique environmental restoration work done there over several decades caught the attention of the Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (OSSGA). The association recently recognized the Wildwood Pit within the Wildwood Conservation Area with its highest honor, the Bronze Plaque, because of the unique ecosystem created there over time. The pit is the 20th site in Ontario to earn the award since it was established in 1975, and the public can see the restoration work for itself by taking the Wildwood Lake Trail. “This represents the best of the best among the thousands of rehabilitated former aggregate extraction sites in the province,”… Keep Reading
Lafarge, Holcim form executive committee for future company
Lafarge and Holcim took a step to complete the merger of their companies, naming members of its future executive committee. According to Lafarge, Bruno Lafont, who will serve as CEO of the combined company, will head a project team of 10 managers who will lead the transition until the completion of the merger. Once the merger is finalized, the members of this project team will be officially named members of the executive committee of the combined company by the future board, which Wolfgang Reitzle will chair. Among those on the future executive committee are Alain Bourguignon, who was previously in charge of North America and the United Kingdom at Holcim; Thomas Aebischer, who is currently in charge of finance at Holcim; Roland Köhler, who is currently in charge of Europe at Holcim; Ian Thackwray, who is currently in charge of East Asia Pacific and trading at Holcim; Eric Olsen, who is currently in charge of operations at Lafarge; Saâd Sebbar, who is currently in charge of Morocco at Lafarge; Urs… Keep Reading
Vulcan completes California quarry acquisition
Vulcan Materials Co. acquired West Coast Aggregates' Pilarcitos Quarry near Half Moon Bay, Calif., the Half Moon Bay Review reports. The sale is reportedly part of a deal for four quarries between Vulcan and West Coast Aggregates. The amount paid for the quarry was not disclosed. According to the Half Moon Bay Review, the Pilarcitos Quarry annually produces about 500,000 tons of granite material. The quarry became a more lucrative property in recent months, the newspaper reports, after San Mateo County officials signed off on a 70-year expansion plan that would grow the mining operation to cover 147 acres. As part of the expansion, West Coast Aggregates pledged to conserve 192 acres north of the mining site as natural habitat, the Half Moon Bay Review reports. Keep Reading
FMI whitepaper offers insights on executive pay
Management consulting and investment banking firm FMI released a whitepaper on executive pay trends that is available as a free download here. The whitepaper, authored by Mike Rose, offers a few key takeaways according to FMI. One takeaway is that long-term compensation and total compensation are heavily influenced by profitability. These have seen the sharpest declines for executive officers, including CEOs, CFOs and COOs. Also, executive total compensation has experienced an 8 percent decline, and financial executives and business unit executives have seen the steepest declines in bonuses. According to FMI, this decline reflects the consolidation of executive power into the corporate suite and away from the business unit. Keep Reading
