Boart Longyear Group Ltd., a provider of drilling services, drilling equipment and orebody-data-collection technology for mining and drilling companies, announced that its Geological Data Services division will now operate as a separate entity called Veracio. As a result of a decade of testing and development in sensing, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, Veracio’s technologies and platform is set to…
Read MoreMonth: February 2023
Total Construction Starts Fall in January; Highways Up.
Total construction starts fell 27% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $865.6 billion, according to Dodge Construction Network. During the month, nonresidential building starts fell 38%, residential starts lost 20%, and nonbuilding starts declined by 16%. Highway and bridge starts rose 1%. Comparatively, total construction was 14% lower in January 2023 than in January 2022. Nonresidential building…
Read MoreAtlas Copco Group Celebrates 150th Anniversary
Atlas Copco Group is celebrating its 150th anniversary. Founded in Stockholm in 1873, Atlas Copco has spent the last century and a half driving development and delivering breakthrough innovations to international customers in many different industries. The company marked the milestone by ringing the opening bell at NASDAQ in New York City. Globally, Atlas Copco employs more than 49,000 people,…
Read MoreThe AVP Pulse Index for February
Feb.20, 2023 – The AVP Pulse Index from Rock Products and Allen-Villere Partners this month indicates a slight dip for the first time in this three-month measurement period, reflecting a very small, 0.7% pullback. This is such a small amount, it has little impact on the construction economy and may have been related to weather and seasonality in the period. Allen-Villere Partners…
Read MoreAEM Offers Portable Rock Crusher Safety Manual
Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) announced a pair of new safety manual titles, offering its members and the customers they serve more user-friendly and easily accessible content on safe practices to use when operating and maintaining machinery. The new Portable Rock Crusher and Slipform Paver manuals provide up-to-date and industry-consensus resources that encourage safe equipment operation. “AEM safety manuals couldn’t…
Read MoreGranite Construction Reports 2022 Net Income Increase
Granite Construction Inc. announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31, 2022. Fourth quarter 2022 net income totaled $22 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $13 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, in the same period of the prior year. Fourth quarter 2022 adjusted net income totaled $25 million, or $0.56 per diluted…
Read MoreMDU Resources Names Knife River Executive Team
MDU Resources Group Inc.’s board of directors has selected the management team who will lead Knife River Corp., the company’s construction materials subsidiary, effective upon completion of the anticipated separation of Knife River into an independent, publicly traded company. MDU Resources expects to complete the spinoff in the second quarter. Additionally, the board has named Knife River President Brian R. Gray…
Read MoreJanuary Housing Starts Decrease 4.5%
Although rising builder sentiment indicates a turning point for housing later this year, lackluster single-family production in January is a sign that the housing sector faces further challenges, as elevated mortgage rates and high construction costs continue to put a damper on the market. Overall housing starts decreased 4.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.31 million units, according…
Read MoreWhy Was Ancient Roman Concrete So Durable?
By Mark S. Kuhar According to a new article in Science Advances, in contrast to their modern counterparts, ancient Roman mortars and concretes have remained durable in a variety of climates, seismic zones and even in direct contact with seawater, as in the case for maritime concrete. Because of this proven longevity on the order of millennia, these ancient construction…
Read More2022 Was A Better Year
The Promise and Limitations of Data on Mine Safety and Health. By Brian Hendrix While I wouldn’t describe 2022 as a great year for the mining industry, it beat 2021 in a number of important ways. First, we put another year between us and the pandemic. Time heals all, I hope, so I’ll put that in the win column. Second,…
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