Author
New data on U.S. bridge repair needs emerges
An analysis of the 2013 National Bridge Inventory database that the U.S. Department of Transportation released shows cars, trucks and school buses cross more than 63,000 structurally compromised bridges across the country 250 million times every day. The most heavily traveled are on the interstate system. And the problem could get a lot worse, the chief economist for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) says, as states across the nation face a slowdown in reimbursements for already approved federal-aid highway projects in August. Without congressional action, ARTBA's Alison Premo Black says there will be no Highway Trust Fund support for any new road, bridge or public transportation projects in any state during fiscal year 2015, which begins Oct. 1. “Letting the Highway Trust Fund investment dry up would have a devastating impact on bridge repairs,” Black says, noting the trust fund has supported $89 billion in bridge construction work by the states over the past 10 years. “It would set back bridge improvements in every state for the next decade.… Keep Reading
Sandvik appoints general counsel, president of mining division
Asa Thunman was hired as executive vice president and general counsel of Sandvik, and Scot Smith was named Sandvik Mining president. Also, Gary Hughes, president of Sandvik Mining, will assume the position of sales and marketing head. According to a press release, Thunman is currently senior vice president and general counsel of Securitas AB. She has held that role since 2011, having joined the company in 2009. Smith, meanwhile, is president of the Sulzer Pumps Division. He was previously head of the Weir Group’s mining division – a post he held for 11 years. Keep Reading
Major Wire names territory manager for Western U.S.
Major Wire Industries Ltd. hired Darek Carnes as territory manager for the Western United States. Carnes will fill the role previously held by Jim Siler, who accepted a dealer development manager position with the company. Carnes will work directly with Major Wire dealers and aggregate, mining and recycle customers in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, western Kansas, Montana, western Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, the El Paso area of Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Before joining Major Wire, Carnes was in territory sales and product support for the aggregate equipment and parts division of Power Equipment Co. in Salt Lake City. Keep Reading
Superior expands territory for dealer into Arkansas, Oklahoma
Superior Industries Inc. expanded the territory of dealer McCourt & Sons Equipment Inc. into Arkansas and Oklahoma. McCourt & Sons already represents Superior’s conveyors in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Keep Reading
Bridgestone plants earn safety and health awards
Bridgestone Americas received four awards from the Rubber Manufacturer's Association's (RMA) Safety and Health Improvement Program (SHIP) for safety performance of plants Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) operates. According to a press release, the awards were presented for demonstrating workplace safety improvements measured by lost workday incidence rates. Bridgestone captured two Excellence Awards and two Improvement Awards at RMA’s annual meeting. Bridgestone received Excellence Awards for its Long Beach, Calif., and Oxford, N.C., plants for achieving a Days Away Restricted Transfer (DART) rate that is 75 percent better than the average achieved by plants that provide data to the RMA. The company captured Improvement Awards for its Wilson, N.C., and Abilene, Texas, plants for achieving a DART rate that is both 10 percent better than its rate in the previous year and the same or better than the RMA average incidence rate. Keep Reading
Martin Marietta chairman Zelnak plans to retire
Stephen Zelnak Jr., Martin Marietta Materials Inc.'s chairman of the board, announced he plans to retire May 22 of this year. Ward Nye will take over as chairman and also remain as CEO. According to a press release, Zelnak has served Martin Marietta for 33 years. He joined Martin Marietta Corp. as vice president of planning and business development in 1981. One year later, he was appointed president of the company's new Aggregates Division in Raleigh, N.C. Zelnak, 69, led the initial public offering of Martin Marietta stock in 1994, and in 1996 he led the offering of the remaining stock held by Lockheed Martin as Martin Marietta became an independent New York Stock Exchange-listed company. Keep Reading
Surface transportation advocate Petri to step away from Congress
Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.) announced April 14 that he would not seek re-election this year. According to NSSGA, Petri has a long history on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he currently chairs the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. Petri also has served for years on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. NSSGA says transportation stakeholders are hoping the retirement announcement will free Petri to concentrate on surface transportation reauthorization in the months ahead. Petri has been an outspoken advocate of transportation for many years, the association adds. Keep Reading
Transportation secretary embarks on tour to drum up highway bill support
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx kicked off a weeklong bus tour April 14 that will take him through eight Midwestern and Southern states, NSSGA reports. Foxx is delivering a message along the way that America’s infrastructure is in desperate need of repair and that Congress must take immediate action. According to NSSGA, Foxx began the week in Columbus, Ohio, before swinging through Cincinnati, Dayton and Louisville, Ky. Foxx highlights a local project at each stop in which federal investment and local commitment led to the successful completion of a needed road or bridge. Foxx is also asking voters to join him in encouraging Congress to pass a long-term, well-funded surface transportation bill before the Highway Trust Fund runs out of money this summer. NSSGA says the bus tour will also travel to Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. Keep Reading
Pit & Quarry Hall of Fame Profile: Ralph Rogers
Pioneer seized great opportunities, helped grow the nation. Ralph Rogers laid the groundwork for what is now the largest privately owned aggregate company in the United States. The company that started in 1908 with a single roadside operation in Bloomington, Ind., now operates quarries, asphalt plants and construction units in six states across the Midwest and Southeast. According to grandson Rick Rechter, a past Rogers Group chairman of the board, his grandfather started his life with little to his name. Rogers was not educated beyond the eighth grade, and it’s a mystery to the family how Rogers was able to finance the rapid growth of the company during World War II years. Regardless of how Rogers financed his company early on, he had the foresight to make investments at a time of great opportunity. “When the war began Mr. Rogers had anticipated it and had purchased and put in storage a vast amount of construction and crushing equipment,” Rechter says. “He stored it in an underground mine in Louisville, Ky.… Keep Reading
