Construction Contract Values Drop in Feb. F.W. Dodge, a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies, reported the value of February's new construction contracts was at an annual rate of $363.3 billion, a 5% drop from January. The Dodge index was at 144 (1992=100) for February, down from January's revised figure of 151.

Geographically for the year, the South Central was flat, the South Atlantic was down 2%, the Midwest was down 4% and the West was down 10%. The Northeast was up 6%.

MSHA Tags Arizona Mine for 1998 Death The Mine Safety and Health Administration hit Paulden Sand & Rock, Chino, Ariz., with a $200,000 civil penalty for violations that led to an employee's death in September 1998.

A 55-year-old wheel loader operator fell to his death when the loader he was operating rolled over a 15-ft highwall. At the time of the accident, he was backing away from a hopper to retrieve a load.

MSHA cited the company for failing to provide service brakes capable of stopping and holding the loader. The investigator reported both master cylinders on the brakes were inoperative, both front wheel cylinders were leaking brake fluid, the air pressure side of the brake system leaked, and the left rear wheel cylinder could not be bled. The agency reported that the company knew for several months prior to the incident that the service brakes were inoperative.

MSHA said the company failed to conduct pre-shift inspection, that it said would have detected problems before the accident.

The company also was cited for failing to provide a berm or guardrail where a drop-off exists. The hopper was about 35 yards from the highwall, MSHA said. The company has the right to appeal the penalties.

NSA Sets Training Academy To meet the growing part training plays in National Stone Association activities, the group established a training academy and its board of directors. The academy is designed to consolidate the training activities of the group's various divisions.

NSA employee training concentrates on career development, recruitment, professional development, skills orientation and retention. The training program covers safety and health, environment, operations and marketing.

Rumbaugh Wins Commitment Award The second annual Barry Wendt Memorial Commitment Award was given to McLanahn Corp. Chairman Roy Rumbaugh. The award is sponsored by both the National Aggregates Association and the National Stone Association. He was presented the award twice, once at each association's annual convention held in conjunction with CONEXPO-CON/AGG '99.

News Makers Stan Lanford, was named 1999 chairman of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. The group also gave its 1998 ARTBA Award to Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) and the association's past seven chairmen (John Rutter, James Madara, Kenneth Rezendes, William Mulligan, Jay Taylor, Max Sproles and David Kraemer) for their work on TEA-21.

James Pierce was named 1999 chairman of the American Society for Testing and Materials. Pierce is a member of the leadership team for the technical service center of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Richard Hamilton was elected chairman of the Kentucky Crushed Stone Association, succeeding Don Williamson. Also serving on the board are Vice Chairman Alex Boone and Treasurer Tom Hinkle.

Manufacturer News Briefs Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers said it completed the acquisition of the auction business of Forke Auctioneers.

Valmet Corp. and Rauma Corp. agreed to merge. Nordberg Group, maker of crushing equipment, and Neles Controls, maker of valves and flow control systems, are subsidiaries of Rauma.

Svedala Industri will distribute Boart Longyear rock tools under the name Svedala Rock Tools. Svedala also acquired Ludlow-Saylor, a screening media producer.

Trimble and Autodesk have joined to create integrated software solutions for land development.

* Mine operators must adopt miner health and safety training programs at their operations. Plans that include the minimum information specified would not have to be submitted to MSHA for formal approval.

* New miners must receive at least 24 hours of training, with instruction in four specific areas: introduction to the work environment, instruction in recognizing and avoiding hazards, review of escape and emergency plans, and the health and safety aspects of the task assigned.

* Every 12 months miners must receive at least eight hours of refresher training which, at a minimum, would address major changes at the mine. New task training would also be required for every miner before the miner is assigned to a new task.

* Training must be provided by someone with the ability, training, knowledge or experience to provide training to miners on a particular subject. Training instructors would not need MSHA approval.

* Mine operators would be allowed to substitute equivalent training required by OSHA or other federal or state agencies to satisfy MSHA training requirements.