Sept. 8, 2021 – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced a proposed rule requiring mine operators that employ six or more miners to develop a written safety program for mobile equipment and powered haulage equipment (except belt conveyors) used at surface mines and surface areas of underground mines. Under this proposal, mines would have flexibility…
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The Rise on the Horizon
Sept. 7, 2021 – The overwhelmingly positive second-quarter reports recently released by publicly traded aggregates companies were good news. Now, that news is complemented by just-released aggregates-production numbers from the U.S. Geological Survey. An estimated 694 million metric tons (Mt) of total construction aggregates was produced and shipped for consumption in the United States in the second quarter of 2021, an increase of…
Read MoreMaterials Prices Still Rising
Aug. 31, 2021 – According to Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors’ chief economist, materials prices continue to rise for a variety of inputs. Vulcan Materials Co. notified customers it “will implement 2022 price increases at or near 11% across our markets, with less flexibility than you may have been accustomed to in the past.” On Aug. 13, USG notified customers it would increase prices effective…
Read MoreMartin Marietta Buys SCC
Aug. 31, 2021 – According to media reports, Spanish conglomerate Ferrovial has agreed to sell its U.S. unit Southern Crushed Concrete (SSC), The Woodlands, Texas, to Martin Marietta Materials for about $140 million. Ferrovial, which also operates airports and toll roads, said last month it had agreed to sell certain non-strategic assets, including SCC, but did not give details. The deal…
Read MoreBring on the Marshmallows
Aug. 26, 2021 – Over the years, we have seen former quarry operations become many things. But an urban campground is a new one. For years, the Dumbarton Quarry in Fremont, Calif., was a giant hole in the ground, a 320-ft.-deep gravel pit that produced rock used for half a century to build up San Francisco and Oakland’s airports, freeways, bridges…
Read MoreAssociations Meet With Galanis
Aug. 25, 2021 – The Georgia Construction Aggregates Association (GCAA), along with its partners at the South Carolina Aggregate Association and the North Carolina Aggregates Association co-hosted a webinar with Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor/MSHA Jeannette Galanis. Approximately 45 aggregate producers and associates from Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina participated in this MSHA update. Safety continues to be…
Read MoreHeavy Iron Deals Shock Industry
Aug. 19, 2021 – It’s a big day for heavy iron news. Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH) officially acquired Doosan Infracore, which will become a subsidiary of the newly created Hyundai Genuine (HG) group alongside Hyundai Construction Equipment (HCE) as two independent construction equipment companies under HHIH.
Read MoreNSSGA Announces Return to In-Person AGG1
Aug. 19, 2021 – The AGG1 Aggregates Academy & Expo and World of Asphalt Show & Conference will return for an in-person combined show at the Nashville Music City Center in Nashville on March 29-31, 2022. “The AGG1 Aggregates Academy & Expo provides top learning opportunities for industry leaders, offering 60 sessions covering essentially every aspect of the aggregates business,”…
Read MoreMaterials Prices Keep Rising
August 16, 2021 – According to Ken Simonsen, chief economist at Associated General Contractors, construction materials costs continued to outstrip bid prices in the 12 months ending in July despite a recent drop in lumber and copper prices. The producer price index (PPI) for new nonresidential building construction – a measure of the price that contractors say they would charge to build a…
Read MoreThat’s A Lot of Money Per Year
Aug. 10, 2021 – When the FAST Act was signed into law in 2015 by President Obama, it averaged $45 billion per year in spending on roads and bridges. Contrast that to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act just passed by the Senate. The bill, which now goes to the House, averages just over $70 billion per year, according to National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association Vice…
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