Diesel situation to get dire

Producers all over the country are struggling with high diesel prices. Well, prepare for prices to go higher. According to a recent report, crude-oil prices have begun another rise following increased demand after the recent earthquake in China. Analysts at Goldman Sachs boosted their oil price predictions for the second half of the year from $107 to a whopping $141 a barrel.

U.S. crude for June delivery was up $2.96 a barrel to $127.08 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, crude hit $127.82, topping the previous intraday record of $126.98 set last Tuesday. A week ago, oil closed at a record $125.96 a barrel. "Everything the market looks at is bullish," Peter Beutel, an oil analyst at Cameron Hanover, wrote in a research note.

Diesel fuel has been in tight supply for the last several months following a cold winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and as the popularity of diesel cars grows in Europe and the developing world. With diesel prices outpacing gasoline, refiners in the United States have been ramping up production of diesel and sending it abroad. That has displaced some domestic gasoline production, helping push gas prices higher.

The downline impact of that kind of price escalation could wreak havoc on the general economy, not to mention the P&L sheet of the average producer. Your comment?

Fatality #7

According to
MSHA, on April 24, 2008, a 48-year-old laborer with 32-weeks experience was fatally injured at an underground industrial-sand mine. The victim was checking the roof and ribs for scaling when she was struck by a front-end loader as it backed up. This is the 7th fatality reported in calendar year 2008 in the metal and nonmetal mining industries. As of this date in 2007, there were 10 fatalities reported in these industries. This is the 2nd Powered Haulage fatality in 2008. There was one Powered Haulage fatality in the same period in 2007. Your comment?

Expect the worst

The U.S. economy is suffering from a severe economic weakness and its impact on cement consumption and the construction industry will not be mild, according to the latest Portland Cement Association (PCA) forecast of cement, concrete and construction.

In 2008, portland cement consumption is expected to drop 11 percent, followed by an additional 5.5 percent in 2009. PCA predicts total cement consumption in this year to be 101.7 million metric tons. A record consumption of 128 million metric tons was reached in 2005. Peak-to-trough declines in consumption will total nearly 30 million metric tons, marking one of the worst industry downturns since the Great Depression.

"We are currently in the third year of a four-year industry contraction that began in 2006," Edward Sullivan, PCA chief economist said. "High fuel prices, slow job creation, and tight lending standards will all adversely impact the entire spectrum of construction activity."

Sullivan anticipates that while harsh residential conditions continue to act as a significant drag on cement consumption, the nonresidential sector will also see large declines for the next two years.

"Although it grew nearly 11 percent in 2007, nonresidential construction spending is expected to fall almost eight percent in 2008 and another 12 percent in 2009," Sullivan said. "Nonresidential construction is closely tied to economic activity. As the economy softens, the expected return on commercial investments decline, reducing the incentive to build and expand."

An additional slowdown in public construction, which accounts for nearly half of total cement consumption in the United States, is predicted for 2009 and will continue through 2010.

PCA targets the second half of 2010 with the trend of strong growth in cement consumption. By this time, according to the PCA report, all regions of the United States should be experiencing a recovery in housing and nonresidential construction will be on the upswing. Your comment?

Two against one

According to a report on CNN, repealing the 18-cents-per-gallon gas tax for the summer has become a political football, with presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain favoring the repeal and Barack Obama lining up against it. "I think [Americans] should have some immediate relief," Clinton said. But the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that suspending the federal gas tax for a period of approximately three months would only save American families on average about $10. per month.

Obama calls the Clinton plan, and a similar proposal by McCain, a sham and pure pandering for votes. "Though most economists agree with him, arguing against a gas tax holiday is tricky politically," said Candy Crowley, CNN senior political analyst.

Industry associations, from AEM, NSSGA and NRMCA on down, are on record as saying a repeal of the gas tax is a bad idea. “Ten dollars a month won’t provide true economic relief to American families and would do virtually nothing to stimulate the economy,” said National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) President Robert Garbini. “The only thing a gas tax holiday would do is put an already near bankrupt Highway Trust Fund (HTF) in further jeopardy, set a bad precedent and potentially cause troubles for transportation infrastructure in the future.” Your comment?

Quarries going green

Quarries all over the country are starting to embrace sustainable-development principles, environmental management and energy efficiency to a much greater degree than ever before. To a certain extent, this mindset is being driven by some of the major corporations serving the industry. Caterpillar was first on the bandwagon, but many other companies have followed suit. Komatsu just published its guidelines for biodiesel use, Volvo's hybrid loader was a big hit at ConExpo-Con/Agg, and the president of Baldor Electric Motors just announced the company's intention to reduce its environmental footprint. At its corporate press event at ConExpo-Con/Agg, a Caterpiller executive even proclaimed global warming "the key issue of our time." NSSGA has also developed guidelines for sustainability for its members. For quarries, going green is good business. There are important community relations and permitting implications to a green-quarry strategy. But I should also add that many quarries have quietly done much over the years in the name of protecting the environment, from providing a refuge for wildlife on their property to executing great reclamation plans. They just never talked about it much. Well, it's time to get talking. Pit & Quarry has started a monthly "Green" page in the magazine, and we will be featuring news about quarries operating in an environmentally proactive manner. You can send your items to me at mkuhar@questex.com. Your comment?

That sinking feeling

A huge sinkhole (left, photo from Baltimore Sun) in the highway has developed near Frederick, Md. The media is reporting that the hole on westbound Interstate 70 is 14 ft. wide and 20 ft. deep near the East South Street exit. Get ready for more and more stories like this one, as our highways continue to deteriorate from overuse, weather conditions and other acts of nature. All the more reason to begin work now on an adequately funded highway bill.Your comment?

McCain gas tax idea shortsighted

The following editorial was published today in The Arizona Daily Star, in John McCain's home state of Arizona, regarding his plan to suspend the federal gas tax for the summer.

Sen. John McCain has famously remarked that economics is not his strong suit, and certainly he proved it last week with his proposal to suspend the 18.4 cent-per-gallon federal gas tax and 24.4 cent-per-gallon federal tax on diesel fuel from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Americans and the truckers who deliver goods and services to them do in fact need relief from rising gas prices, but McCain's proposal is not the answer. In fact, it fails to address the problems:
● Supply issues that are driving up the cost of fossil fuels.
● The need for Americans to become less dependent on fossil fuels.
A tax holiday would encourage more fuel use, exacerbating supply issues, and it would do nothing to encourage us to reduce our fuel dependency.
The tax holiday is part of McCain's new economic plan to provide relief to American families, which is itself a 180-degree turn from the senator's position of a few weeks ago. At that point he was insisting that no relief package was needed and that the markets should be left to sort themselves out.
Now his idea is to save summer drivers a few dollars per tank of gas. The tax suspension would also reduce costs for truckers, and thus could have a trickle-down effect of reducing food costs (or slowing their rise). McCain and Sen. Jon Kyl, who is co-sponsoring the bill, argue that the money consumers save on gas will provide an "immediate" economic stimulus.
But the gas and diesel tax dollars are dedicated directly to the federal Highway Trust Fund, which maintains and builds roads and highways; the loss of revenue would result in fewer road repairs and construction projects, and fewer jobs for those who do the work. This is a stimulus?
We called McCain's office seeking comment on Friday because we wanted to ask about the groundswell of opposition that the proposal has triggered. Our call was not returned.
● AAA of Arizona noted in an e-mail that "suspending federal fuel taxes for three months would result in an estimated $10 billion in lost revenue to the Highway Trust Fund at a time when we need more, not less, investment in our country's transportation network."
● The American Road & Transportation Builders Associations issued a release listing 10 reasons that "using the tax as a political expediency would be bad public policy." Among them: In Arizona alone $141.5 million in federal highway funds would be lost, putting at risk nearly 5,000 road- and highway-related jobs. Nationwide the number of jobs the tax holiday would put at risk is more than 310,000, the builders group said.
● McCain's fellow Republican senator, Kit Bond of Missouri, immediately dismissed the suspension plan, saying, "I don't see how cutting funds to fix bad roads and fight congestion helps families." Bond told the Kansas City Star that the answer to high gas prices is "tapping oil reserves just waiting ... on our own lands and off our own shores."
● Gov. Janet Napolitano dubbed McCain's gas tax suspension plan a "pander" and said it will only drive the federal government deeper into debt.
"I think the Straight Talk Express has had a total U-turn," she said Wednesday at her weekly press briefing. "I think that's a pander."
Given the titanic flaws in his tax holiday "economic stimulus" plan, it certainly does look like McCain is pandering to voters who'd like to take out the RV this summer or make a long road trip in the SUV — and like he is doing so instead of deliberating about our actual problems: rising fuel costs and a struggling economy.
The gas taxes have an elegant kind of logic: Those who drive on our roads a lot pay more in taxes that then are used to maintain the roads. The taxes aren't the problem, America's dependence on motor fuel is, and so is its rising price.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee should be working to identify long-term, strategic solutions to the nation's economic and energy problems — not dreaming up drive-to-the-lake-cheap cards for voters. Your comment?

Were pyramids cast-in-place concrete?

According to a report, researchers are exploring a new controversial theory, which suggests that the great pyramids of Giza may have been cast in place of concrete, rather than quarried and moved into position. The theory is being tested by researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.

Although the idea that the Egyptians may have used a kind of concrete in building the pyramids was first suggested in the 1930s, with a specific material that could have been used proposed in 1988, so far there has been no proof and the idea has remained mired in controversy. Now, in order to help identify blocks that were cast rather than quarried, MIT students are assembling a small pyramid using a combination of both kinds of material.

They will then use techniques such as microscopic imagery and chemical analysis to look for signs that might provide ways of telling the difference on samples from the Great Pyramid itself. According to Linn Hobbs, co teacher of the pyramid-building class at MIT, "The materials and know-how needed to cast the pyramids' giant 2-1/2 ton blocks in place, rather than quarrying and moving blocks of solid limestone, was definitely available to the Egyptians."

At least 90% of the material would have consisted of powdered limestone, and Egyptian limestone is especially fragile and can easily be reduced to finely divided sludge simply by soaking it in water. The rest — the binder or cement — could have been made from materials they were known to have had and used for other purposes.

The binder, known as a geopolymer, could have been made from lime, kaolinite (a kind of clay), a fine silica and natron (sodium carbonate), according to the research. The research also said that in building pyramids, especially the higher layers as the structure grew, casting blocks in place would have been a far easier task than carving them to precise sizes and shapes and then moving them up long earthen ramps into their final positions. Your comment?

Cat raises prices

The price of just about everything is rising, due largely to world oil prices, and by extension, gas and diesel fuel. So it's no surprise that it is going to cost you more to own a Cat. Caterpillar Inc., the largest maker of construction and mining equipment in the world, announced in a regulatory filing, that it is adjusting product and merchandising prices up to 5 percent. The action "is a result of current general economic conditions and industry factors," and is driven by continuing their long-standing commitment of providing optimal value to customers and stockholders. Caterpillar said details by product will be released to dealers in the coming weeks, and will vary across geographic regions and products. Your comment?

Our national face lift

The following op-ed was written by Glen E. Tellock, president and CEO, Manitowoc Co., and board chair of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.

"Crumbling bridges, overcrowded roadways, aging water and wastewater systems diminish our quality of life. The national focus has been on the need to invest public funds into these projects - both as a solution to our infrastructure woes and also as a stimulus to boost the sagging economy.

But the hidden problem of this infrastructure crisis is the lack of skilled workers we will need to solve all these problems. The current construction workforce is getting older and looking forward to retirement. At the same time, demand is growing for skilled labor, creative engineers and trusted safety inspectors. The construction industry expects to create 1 million new jobs over the next five years, and young people, their teachers and their families need to know more about this opportunity.

A new generation of workers is needed to help lead the building and repair of our nation's roads, bridges, schools and more. The machines that make us productive need qualified, educated people to design, manufacture, operate and repair them.

In January, the construction industry launched a student competition - the Construction Challenge. This event is not just about blue ribbons but focuses on introducing young people to challenging careers and connecting them with potential employers. The Construction Challenge aims to share that information, reward students and educate the public about the growing demand for skilled workers in the construction industry.

The Construction Challenge finale was held at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2008. More than 50 teams competed for scholarships and prizes and the chance to learn new skills and network with leaders from the industry.

Whether they are building schools and skyscrapers, repairing thousands of miles of roads, constructing bridges, or manufacturing the equipment that makes all of this work happen, those working in the construction industry form the basic structures that allow our country - and the world - to work and thrive every day.

The Construction Challenge introduced students to the variety of career paths in the construction industry from manufacturing to in-the-field opportunities. For example, there is a growing demand for trained workers in the trades, such as equipment operators and machinists. These jobs require highly skilled people, some of whom may have to earn at least a two-year technical school degree. Another path is for college graduates looking for such managerial and professional jobs as industrial engineers, safety inspectors, IT managers and even sales professionals. Whatever the path, they all lead to rewarding, good-paying job opportunities for the next generation.

Our national face lift will keep the country moving ahead, create a million new jobs and will require highly skilled individuals to choose careers in the construction industry." Your comment?

The Mineral Baby returns

Last year, every person in the United States needed more than 23 tons of minerals and energy fuels to maintain their standard of living, according to the Mineral Information Institute (MII). “With the life expectancy in the U.S. now averaging 77.9 years, this means that the average American will need to have 3.6 million pounds of resources to be mined to provide the products and materials they will depend upon in their lifetime,” said President Nelson Fugate. “The population of the U.S. is 302 million people, so this means that last year, nearly 7 billion tons of different rocks and minerals had to be mined somewhere to make the things we use in everyday living.” Decreases in construction projects in 2007 caused a reduction of nearly 1,500 lbs. per person in the consumption of mineral and energy resources, the majority of it aggregates and cement. During the last 15 years, the per person consumption of minerals has fluctuated from 45,500 lbs./person/yr. (2003) to 48,427 lbs./person/yr. (1999), but there are 32 million more people in the country and their life expectancy has increase from 76.7 years to 77.9 years. This required the mining of 400 million more tons of resources than the estimated 6.6 billion tons provided in 1999 and nearly three times the amount of mineral and energy resources required to maintain the U.S. standard of living in 1950, MII said. Your comment?

James confident on market

At the BB&T Manufacturing and Materials Conference in New York City this week, Vulcan Materials Co. Chairman and CEO Don James spoke of his company’s plan to move forward despite the downturn of the residential housing market. In the face of the decline in housing starts, financing and real estate prices, Vulcan Materials is confident that the stability of public-infrastructure spending and the flow of federal highway dollars will be sufficient to sustain them. James said that in 2007, 81 percent of their aggregates demand was for the non-housing market, with only 19 percent going into housing (down from 20 percent in previous years.) Your comment?

PCA: cement useage to plunge

U.S. construction activity and cement consumption will experience significant declines this year, according to a recent Portland Cement Association Economic Research report. Portland cement consumption is expected to drop 10 percent in 2008, followed by an additional 3.6 percent in 2009. Total 2008 cement consumption is predicted to be 102.7 million metric tons.

"High fuel prices, acceleration of home foreclosures, and the impact of the sub-prime crisis on credit standards are some of the current conditions that lead us to believe the economy is already in a recession," Edward Sullivan, PCA chief economist said. "Even when there is recovery later this year, it will not immediately affect the construction and cement industries."

Sullivan anticipates high home inventory levels to depress the residential sector until second half of 2009, causing a 26.5 percent decline in housing starts for 2008. The nonresidential sector, which is closely tied to economic activity, will fall seven percent. "Nonresidential construction typically takes 18 months for recovery. This implies further declines in 2009, coupled with a slowdown in public construction activity during the same period," Sullivan said.

According to the PCA report, in the second half of 2009 the economy will gain strength as residential inventories are burned off and credit terms ease. This will lead to a 5.2 percent growth in cement consumption in 2010 followed by an even stronger gain in 2011. Your comment?

2007 production takes a hard dive

The year 2007 will go down as a forgetable one for the nation's aggregates producers. According to final numbers released by the U.S. Geological Survey, the estimated annual output of aggregates produced for consumption last year was 2.56 billion metric tons, a decrease of 16 percent compared with 2006.

Crushed stone production was 1.44 billion metric tons, a decrease of 16 percent, while construction sand and gravel production was 1.11 billion metric tons, also a decrease of 16 percent compared with 2006.

In 2007, spending on construction projects in the United States fell by a record 2.6 percent, the largest decrease since 2002. Private construction companies reduced their residential projects to levels not seen since 1993.

Portland cement consumption decreased by 9.5 percent in 2007 compared with 2006.

Aren't you glad its 2008? Your comment?

Quarterly forecast

FMI has released its latest quarterly economic forecast. Nonresidential construction will see declines in 2008 and 2009, except some publicly funded segments, according to the report. The nonresidential segments that are the most cyclical, or tied to the economy, will see declines in 2008 and 2009. These segments include office, commercial, religious and amusement and recreation. Lodging is the only exception as there is enough overhang from starts in 2007 that are still under construction in 2008.
 
Publicly funded nonresidential segments will fare much better, such as health care, educational, public safety and Homeland Security construction. Health care construction will remain positive partly due to facility upgrades across the country and seismic retrofits in California. Education construction will decline in some areas of the country due to less property taxes and therefore less state revenue. However, many MSAs and school systems in several states have passed education bonds, which will help to stop growth from turning negative.

Higher education will experience steady growth driven by an increase in endowments. Public safety construction will grow because of increasing inmate populations (which is rising faster than the general population growth) and an increase in fire and police stations. Homeland Security port and border work and port work to increase port size to be able to accept post-Panamax sized vessels will help to drive transportation construction. Increased airport delays will also increase construction. Your comment?

ConExpo-Con/Agg: Day Four

There is more evidence that has been a record-breaking show. During a conversation with AEM's Darrin Drollinger, I found out that ConExpo-Con/Agg 2008 and its affiliated shows have set records for attendance, exhibit space and number of exhibiting companies. When all is said and done, ConExpo-Con/Agg 2008 will go on record as the largest trade show in North America of any industry in 2008. More than 144,000 industry professionals from around the world will have attended the show. ConExpo-Con/Agg 2008 offered more than 2.28 million net sq. ft. of exhibits, taken by 2,182 exhibitors, which was 21 percent bigger than the last show, held in 2005. Your comment?

ConExpo-Con/Agg: Day Three

Another busy day at the show. The day started with a press tour of the Wirtgen booth, with its wide variety of construction equipment, including the Kleeman portable crusher. Press conferences from Bridgestone Firestone and Command Alkon offered a look at technology under development and product enhancements just hitting the marketplace. More emphasis on environmental issues were in evidence after some afternoon booth visits, including wheel-wash and dust-control technology being emphasized at the Nesco booth. There are rumors that attendence will cross the 140,000 threshold today. Your comment?

ConExpo-Con/Agg: Day Two

The second day of ConExpo-Con/Agg 2008 was just as busy as the first. Show officials announced that registrations were approaching 135,000, a new record. Of note today was the NSSGA Board of Directors meeting, where they announced a name change for their own trade show, set to debut in 2009 in Orlando. It will now be called AGG1. To continue the thread from yesterday, the association also announced its own sustainable development initiatives, and Jennifer Wilson gave her annual association update, which included her take on the current political climate.Your comment?

ConExpo-Con/Agg: Day One

The first day of ConExpo-Con/Agg 2008 featured corporate press conferences by Caterpillar and Komatsu. It is interesting to note that both companies made the issue of sustainable development part of their presentation. We are starting to see a distinct trend developing whereby corporations and organizations are making a decision that "green is good." At Pit & Quarry, we are going to be following this trend closely, with a special April issue on environmental topics and a new "green" page in subsequent issues. Your comment?

ConExpo-Con/Agg

I'll be blogging this week from the ConExpo-Con/Agg
show in Las Vegas. Check back during the week for reports on show activities, press conferences and other news and information. Your comment?

Materials costs go up again

Imported inflation for oil, steel and cement pushed contractors’ materials costs up 1.3 percent in January over December after nine months of small, offsetting, monthly price changes, according to Reed Construction Data. These inflation pressures were strong enough to overcome the continuing slide in materials demand in a weakening construction market.

Materials costs increased 4.1 percent from December 2006 to December 2007. Prices are forecast to increase less in the current year, probably about 2.5-3.0 percent, as the depressing impact of a strengthening U.S. dollar, still declining real construction spending and slower economic growth outside the U.S. takes hold later in the year. Construction materials price inflation will pick up slightly to 3-4 percent in 2009.

January’s significant price changes included a 1.9 percent rise in structural steel prices, a 3.2 percent jump in diesel-fuel prices, a 1.2 percent increase in the cost of aggregates and 0.5-1.0% increases for concrete products. Your comment?

McCain voted against highway bill

Lest we forget, Sen. John McCain, the presumptive republican nominee for president, was one of only four senators who voted against SAFETEA-LU, the federal transportation-funding bill. At the time of its passage, he said on the floor of Congress: "This monstrosity of a conference report – which costs an astounding $286.4 billion – is both terrifying in its fiscal consequences and disappointing for the lack of fiscal discipline it represents." A major issue with him was more than $24 billion in special projects, which he labeled "pork." These special projects -- while some were out of line to be sure -- included many of the local pet projects that allow legislators to demonstrate to constituents that increased federal funding for infrastructure projects benefit them in their back yards. Read McCain's fiery denunciation of SAFETEA-LU here.Your comment?

Construction market weakens

The economic environment for construction worsened significantly over the last month and is almost certain to deteriorate further in the next few months, says an assessment by Reed Construction Data. Recession fears are the reason for the weaker business conditions. The economic environment has turned from positive to neutral in the largely public institutional and heavy construction markets.

Current trends are mixed in the heavy construction market. Starts and job-site spending have weakened slightly for transportation and communications facilities and power generation and distribution. However, these markets are still expanding rapidly as they always do just past the end of a long business expansion. Highway construction has unique problems stemming from the impending collapse of the Highway Trust Fund financing system. Receipts from a fixed-tax-per-gallon cannot keep up with rapidly rising project costs. It now appears that neither President Bush nor Congress will support supplemental funding for highways in an election year. Your comment?

NSSGA honors companies

NSSGA announced the winners of its National Stars of Excellence program for 2007. Member operations from Lafarge and Vulcan Materials Company received top honors. The seven winners, along with the Excellence in Community Relations Gold Award recipients, will be recognized on March 12 during an awards breakfast at NSSGA's annual convention in conjunction with CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas. Your comment?

Critical Highway Trust Fund meeting

According to NSSGA, the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) held a meeting Feb. 13 to discuss priorities for the year. It was agreed that the top priority must be to achieve passage of a fix to the projected shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund, which varies from between just over $1 billion to as much as $4 billion. The TCC will meet with congressional leaders and finance committee leaders to determine the course ahead. Also, the coalition will meet shortly to develop principles for reauthorization of the nation's surface transportation reauthorization. NSSGA will actively participate in the TCC meetings to ensure that aggregate-industry interests are included. Your comment?

USGS under the knife?

Not to be lost in President Bush's federal budget fiasco Is a proposal to cut the geology division of the USGS drastically. The Mineral Resource Program, which includes the Minerals Information Team that produces quarterly aggregates-production reports, is slated to be halved, seeing its funding reduced $25.4 million for a total request of $26.3 million. The budget proposal notes that the "USGS will continue selected minerals surveys and studies that are relevant to ongoing departmental land-management requirements." This blog goes on record as stating that any attempt to eliminate, or even downsize, the critical work performed on behalf of the industry by USGS, is shortsighted and wrong. Your comment?

Bush shortchanges infrastructure

President Bush -- who ran for office on a platform that included smaller government -- secured a dubious place in history as the first president to submit to Congress a $3 trillion budget. Bush again proposed increasing funds for defense and homeland security, while the rest of the budget for FY '09 keeps all other departments to less than a one percent growth, with many receiving a budget reduction. The Department of Transportation took a multi-billion hit as the budget was reduced 3.1 percent, a $2.13 billion cut, to $68.2 billion. The budget provides the Federal Highway Administration $39.4 billion, almost $2 billion less than the funding level of $41.2 billion prescribed for 2009 by SAFETEA-LU. According to NSSGA, the reason given for the cut is that last year Congress overspent the amount agreed to in SAFETEA-LU when it allocated $1 billion for bridge repairs in the final spending bill of FY '08. The administration also proposes a $3.15 billion rescission of state highway contract authority and additional funds from earmarks in prior transportation authorization bills. Reasoning that if those projects have not secured at least 10 percent of the total needed for completion over the past 10 years, the money would be better spent elsewhere. Of that total, $175 million is reallocated to the administration's new congestion relief initiative. Another $8.593 billion rescission in contract authority is mandated on Sept. 30, 2009, by SAFETEA-LU (this was done to keep the total amount to the $256 billion agreed to by Congress) unless the highway bill is reauthorized first. Your comment?

Fatality #2

On January 25, 2008, a 36-year-old mechanic with 1½ years experience was fatally injured at a lime operation. According to MSHA, he victim was shoveling spillage at the bottom of a bucket elevator while coworkers performed maintenance at the top of the bucket elevator. A 38-in. pry bar fell from the platform around the top of the bucket elevator and struck him. Your comment?

Fatality #1

According to MSHA, On January 21, a 58-year-old contractor truck driver with 3½ years experience was fatally injured at a cement operation. He was found on the ground behind the rear tires of a bulk cement truck that was located at a truck access rack. Truck drivers used this facility to access the hatches on the top of the trucks. Although there were no eyewitnesses, the victim's injuries were consistent with a fall from an elevated location. Your comment?

Cement demand to grow

By 2030 the U.S. population is expected to reach 363.5 million persons. Supplying the needed housing, buildings and roads will lead to a 43 percent growth in U.S. cement consumption by that year. According to Edward J. Sullivan, chief economist for the Portland Cement Association, annual cement consumption will hit 183 million metric tons, reflecting a 55 million-metric-ton increase compared to the past cyclical peak level in 2005. "Sixty-three million more people will be living in the United States in 2030 and they will need homes, schools, hospitals, and roads. This construction will boost demand for cement to record levels." While 50 percent of the rise in cement consumption is due to population growth, the remaining half will be driven by per capita cement consumption. One sector that Sullivan predicts will incur large growth is highway construction. Today, this segment accounts for 30 percent of total annual cement consumption. To meet the demand of the expected additional 49 million drivers, at least 400,000 additional lane miles of highway must be added by 2030. Efforts to reduce congestion and "wasted" fuel and its associated emissions could further increase the number of miles. Additionally, energy and environmental concerns are predicted to boost cement intensities, the tons of cement per dollar of construction activity. For example, houses built with insulating concrete form walls (ICFs) can require up to 44 percent less energy to heat and 32 percent less energy to cool than comparable frame homes. As more homeowners and builders seek energy efficient houses, the insulated concrete wall market share is expected to increase to 30 percent all new homes, compared to its seven percent share today. Your comment?

Oldcastle tops sand and gravel list

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released its annual ranking of the nation's top producers of construction sand and gravel for 2006, and Oldcastle Materials again is the leader. In order, the following nine are Hanson; Rinker Materials Corp. (now Cemex Inc.); Vulcan Materials Co.; MDU Resources Group Inc.; Holcim/Aggregates Industries Inc.; Cemex Inc.; Martin Marietta Aggregates; Lafarge; and Granite Construction Inc. The list, published annually, runs two years behind the actual calendar. The No. 1 producing plant in the U.S. in 2006 was A. Teichert & Son Inc.'s Perkins Plant in Sacramento County, Calif. USGS reported that 3,974 companies with 6,294 active operations and 61 sales/distribution yards produced a total of 1.32 billion metric tons of construction sand and gravel valued at $8.5 billion in 2006. Most of the construction sand and gravel came from operations with outputs larger than 200,000 metric tons per year; 1,949 operations, representing 31 percent of all operations, produced 80 percent of the total tonnage. The 10 leading producing states were, in descending order of tonnage, California, Texas, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Washington, Colorado, Ohio, Nevada and Florida. Their combined production accounted for about 51 percent of the U.S. total. The 10 leading sand and gravel companies accounted for 24 percent of the total. Your comment?