Oct. 23, 2020 – Last night was the second and final debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. While many are praising the debate participants for a particularly vigorous exchange – in direct contrast to the first time they came together – I do find it disappointing that America’s infrastructure was not on the agenda. Yes, the…
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Oct. 21, 2020 – Over at our sister publication Concrete Products, the latest ready mixed production numbers are out. According to the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, the estimated ready mixed concrete produced in July 2020 is 36.2 million cu. yd., 2% lower than that in July 2019. The estimated production in the United States for 2020 through July is 212 million cu. yd., 2% higher than that…
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Oct. 19, 2020 – There is an interesting statistic released by the National Association of Home Builders: Home sales are outpacing starts by a historic margin. Housing demand has increased so rapidly in recent months that there is now an unprecedented gap between sales and home construction. Sales of new single-family homes in August increased 4.8% to an annual rate…
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Oct. 13, 2020 – I am pleased to be presenting at CDE Global’s virtual online conference this week. At the company’s Engineering Insights virtual event, I will provide an update on the current state of the U.S. aggregates industry, the status of the infrastructure bill, the presidential election and industry trends. You can register for FREE here.
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Oct. 8, 2020 – There may have been a debate in Salt Lake City last night, but of equal interest is the debate in this article from the Salt Lake Tribune, which chronicles the issues of a commercial cherry orchard trying to co-exist with nearby quarry operations. While on the surface the article may be about land-use issues facing agriculture and mining, these two…
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Oct. 6, 2020 – So we decided it was time to freshen things up a bit, get some additional functionality and serve our readers a little bit better. Thus, you are reading this on our newly designed website. With greater content access on the main page, marquee positions for our columnists, and ever-more equipment and technology articles to explore, I…
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Oct. 1, 2020 – The Senate approved a one-year extension for the FAST Act, the current surface transportation authorization law, which was set to expire on Sept. 30. The highway program provision was attached to a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through Dec. 11. The House approved the CR last week. President Trump signed the measure. The FAST Act extension includes $13.6 billion…
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Sept. 25, 2020 – California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he has directed the state to ban gasoline-powered cars beginning in 15 years. The new executive order aims to eliminate new models of traditional cars and put more vehicles powered by clean technologies such as fuel cells and batteries on California’s roads. I get that. But, what about gasoline taxes that go…
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Sept. 22, 2020 – The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) continued its virtual Legislative & Policy Forum with a series of networking discussions. Nile Elam, NSSGA director of legislative affairs, was the lead on a discussion of infrastructure policy. He broke the news that Congressional leaders unveiled a Continuing Resolution for FY2021, which includes a one-year extension of current surface transportation authorization…
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Sept. 21, 2020 – The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) kicked off its Legislative & Policy Forum with an election outlook session offered by analysts Charlie Cook (The Cook Political Report) and Stuart Rothenberg (Inside Elections). Cook and Rothenberg read the tea leaves as they see them approximately six weeks out from the election, using statistical tools and historical…
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