Author
Oldcastle chief operating officer leaving company
Doug Black, COO of Oldcastle Inc. is leaving the company to pursue other interests. Three Oldcastle chief executives – Keith Haas (building products), Bob Feury (distribution) and Joe Myers (building solutions) will now report to Mark Towe. "We would like to express our appreciation to Doug for his significant contribution to the development of our North American business over a long career with Oldcastle and we wish him well for the future," says Myles Lee, chief executive of parent company CRH, in a press release. Keep Reading
Martin Engineering acquires dust management company
Martin Engineering acquired TNJ Industries, an Arizona-based firm specializing in dust management for crushing and conveying mined materials. According to a press release, Martin Engineering made the move to strengthen its position in dust control for bulk material handlers. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “With this acquisition, we’re better positioned to design, install and service dust solutions of all kinds, both in minimizing dust creation at the source and controlling fugitive airborne particles,” says Mark Strebel, Martin Engineering's product support manager. “Whether it’s conveyors, crushers, stockpiles, storage bins or railcars, there are combinations of different technologies that we can implement to solve customer problems.” Keep Reading
August construction rises 2 percent
New construction starts in August advanced 2 percent compared with July, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. According to the firm, nonbuilding construction rebounded after momentum was lost in July. At the same time, McGraw-Hill Construction says nonresidential building retreated from an improved July, continuing the up-and-down pattern that’s occurred throughout the year. The August data lifted the firm's Dodge Index to 104. The index was at 102 for July. So far this year, the index has hovered between 98 and 106 after averaging a 103 in 2012. “On balance, the construction industry is showing modest growth in 2013, although by major sector there’s been divergent behavior,” says Robert Murray, vice president of economic affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. “Housing continues to lead the way, with consistent gains reported for both single and multifamily housing. Public works has edged up slightly from last year, helped by the start of several very large projects and withstanding for now the negative impact of the sequester. New electric utility starts have fallen substantially from last year’s… Keep Reading
Sand-and-gravel pits excluded from Clean Water Act rule expansion
The Environmental Protection Agency sent its rule defining United States waters to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review, according to NSSGA. The expanded rule reportedly excludes "pits excavated in uplands for fill, sand or gravel that fill water." NSSGA members met earlier in the year with EPA and discussed the industry's opposition to the rule. Members said the rule lacked clarity for stone, sand and gravel operations. Keep Reading
Nye, Main discuss several topics at NSSGA-MSHA meeting
Martin Marietta Materials CEO Ward Nye, chairman of NSSGA's board of directors, met Sept. 11 with MSHA's Joe Main on behalf of the association. MSHA's Patricia Silvey, deputy assistant for policy, and Marv Lichtenfels, acting administrator for metal/non-metal, accompanied Main. NSSGA President and CEO Mike Johnson and Vice President for Safety Services Joseph Casper accompanied Nye. According to NSSGA, Nye stated that NSSGA remains committed to working reasonably and constructively with MSHA. Nye, however, also stated that some NSSGA members are expressing concerns that the association is at times too close to MSHA. Nye further said that assuring an open and engaged, but candid, relationship between the association and MSHA is in everyone’s best interests. Nye also reportedly told MSHA that the industry appreciates its work on inspector consistency but that it seeks more consistency. He brought up the notion of a transparent metric to illustrate progress on consistency, suggesting that the agency could periodically update operators and inspectors when citations are modified or vacated. In response, Main said he’s… Keep Reading
Wendt Memorial Scholarship awarded for 2013
A panel of industry judges chose Matthew Blake, a sophomore at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, as the recipient of the 2013 Barry K. Wendt Memorial Scholarship. Blake began his college education at Northeastern University but left to work in residential construction. He then joined a sand-and-gravel operation, where he worked for nearly 10 years before moving to Alaska in 2010 to work at a remote gold-mining operation in the southern Brooks Range. According to NSSGA, Blake hopes to make a career in the aggregates industry. Keep Reading
Thompson Pump moves Atlanta area branch location
Thompson Pump & Manufacturing Co. Inc., headquartered in Port Orange, Fla., recently moved its Atlanta area branch in Conyers, Ga., to a larger facility within the same city. The new branch location is situated on about 3.2 acres near Interstate 20 and features a larger office facility for Thompson Pump's staff and a 5,500-sq.-ft. warehouse facility with a large parts room. According to Thompson Pump, the new location will better accommodate the company’s growing customer needs for rentals, sales, parts and service in Georgia, eastern Tennessee and parts of western North and South Carolina. Keep Reading
FMI still sees 2014 construction growth, yet its forecast is tapered
FMI forecasted growth in both residential and commercial construction for 2014 upon releasing its third-quarter construction outlook, but the management consulting and investment banking organization reined in its expectations based on recent market developments. As part of its Q3-2013 Construction Outlook Report, FMI reduced its annual construction put-in-place predictions to $909.6 billion. That figure is down $4 billion from previous predictions. Still, FMI expects continuous growth of 7 percent for 2014 – driven in part by residential and commercial construction. In residential construction, FMI expects growth yet for that growth to taper off to 12 percent in 2014. FMI's total predicted residential forecast is $379.6 billion, compared with $338.2 billion for 2013. In commercial construction, FMI's current forecast calls for a 5-percent increase in 2014. Although retail sales as of June 2013 were up 5.7 percent over the previous year, FMI says new brick and mortar retail space, along with commercial other construction growth, will remain slow to recover. Keep Reading
Liebherr ADTs on the way
Liebherr introduced a 30-ton articulated dump truck (ADT) at its media open house Sept. 12 in Newport News, Va., and it offered performance comparisons of a crawler tractor and a wheel loader against competitive equipment. The 30-ton ADT the company introduced, the TA 230, will likely be available in 2015 along with a 40-ton model from Liebherr. The TA 230 is currently being tested at Liebherr's headquarters in Newport News. The TA 230 was not demonstrated at the open house, but Liebherr's PR 734 crawler tractor and L566 wheel loader were. Robert Klima, the company's crawler tractors product manager, led a demonstration of Liebherr's PR 734 against a competitive model. One key difference Klima noted is the PR 734's ease of operation. "It's easier to run a hydrostatic machine [like the PR 734]," Klima says. "There's no gear shifting and no engine speed changes." A comparative demonstration was also done between Liebherr's L566 wheel loader and a competitive model. Liebherr created a scenario in which both loaders were put in… Keep Reading
