Thursday, June 30, 2005

Congestion Ahead

Planning on getting away for the 4th of July weekend? Good luck. According to a new study co-produced by TRIP, you'll be spending a little extra time in the car if you're going to one of the following places: 1. The Oregon Coast, 2. Tidewater region of Virginia, 3. Maryland/Delaware shore, 4. Branson, Mo., 5. Outer Banks of North Carolina, 6. Cape Cod, Mass., 7. New Jersey shore, 8. Napa Valley, Calif., 9. Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish Country, 10. Catskill Mountains region in New York. These are the 10 summer tourist destinations with the worst summer traffic delays, which also means, roads in need of lane capacity. Just more evidence of the need for an adequately funded transportation bill. Your comment?

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Stonehenge mystery solved

If you're like me, you're into rocks, and not just crushed limestone. Doesn't matter if it's the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona, the glacial outcrops along Ohio's highways, or the multicolor agates on Oregon beaches. Well, a fascinating story out this morning involves the enigmatic megaliths at Stonehenge, on the Salisbury Plain in Southern England. They finally figured out where they came from, and the answer is 240 miles away in Wales. Researchers were able to match the geological make-up of the bluestone slabs with a primitive quarry on Carn Menyn mountain. Now who cut the stones out of the mountain and transported them 4,500 years ago? That's the real mystery. Your comment?

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Double Standard

Methinks there is a double standard at work in Washington. The Senate just passed a sweeping energy bill, and admittedly it has be reconciled with the House version, but the bill calls for $16 billion in corporate tax breaks over 10 years, double the amount in the House version. President Bush had asked for an energy bill with less than $7 billion in tax breaks. Can someone tell me why there is not a presidential veto being threatened? After all, the transportation bill is being threatened with a veto over the difference of a mere $3 billion. Your comment?

Monday, June 27, 2005

Biting the hand that feeds you

A feature story on the Bloomberg Media web site entitled Bush Rebuffs Allies Seeking Spending Increase for U.S. Highways, is the first I've read that points out how solidly the transportation industry supported President Bush in the last election, and how Bush is not reciprocating that support. While defense contractors, oil and gas, companies and other industry sectors have seen White House support for their key initiatives, transportation is getting the cold shoulder on its key initiative, TEA-21 reauthorization. Your comment?

Friday, June 24, 2005

Has the White House caved?

Has the White House caved in on its demand that a transportation bill not exceed $283.9 billion over six years? That's the hot rumor. NSSGA reports that Key House and Senate negotiators on the surface transportation reauthorization bill (H.R. 3) are widely reported to have reached an agreement in principle that would fund highway, transit, and highway safety programs at $286.5 billion through fiscal year 2009. If reports of a $286.5 billion deal are accurate and if congressional leaders are sincere in saying they will not send the President a bill he would veto, then the deal might be done. No word right now on whether or not there is a re-opener in the bill's language, but don't look for the bill to be completed without an eighth extension. Your comment?

Nostradamus they're not

About five years ago, USGS published a very fine brochure entitled, " Natural Aggregates–Foundation of America's Future." In that brochure, it was predicted that aggregates production would reach 2.7 billion metric tons by 2020. Whoooops! About 16 years off there. Aggregates production crossed the 2.8 billion threshold last year. This just serves to underscore the expansive nature of the aggregates market, and the incredible run that producers have enjoyed over the past decade. Your comment?

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Oil's not well

Oil is hovering at around $60 per barrel these days. That's bad news for anyone who fills their tank, whether it's a family car or a gas-guzzling off-highway haul truck. But the high oil prices also affect the construction-materials supply chain. The price of asphalt is up about 13 percent this year, according to information gathered by Engineering New Record. A number of articles have been published on this topic recently. Do construction materials producers need to get more for their product? Yes, but but it's tough to add to your own bottom line when you need a steep price increase just to cover raw materials. Your comment?

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Line in the sand

The word on the street is, the White House is standing firm that any TEA-21 reauthorization bill exceeding $284 billion will be vetoed. Representatives of highway interests, including
NSSGA, were called to the White House last week to meet with Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card to discuss the bill. While the White House was looking for support for their position, many senators have already staked their claim to a $295 billion bill. Of course, senators could flip flop, like Senate majority Leader Bill Frist did just this week on the John Bolton up-or-down vote issue, but at this point, there is enough support in the Senate to override any veto. I stand by my position: any six-year bill that falls short of $300 billion is woefully insufficient. If the final bill is $295, it had better contain a re-opener. Your comment?

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Celebrity sighting

Every now and then, a celebrity gets involved in a dispute over an aggregates operation. A few years ago, it was singer James Taylor weighing in on a permit issue in New England. Earlier this year, former Dallas star Patrick Duffy jumped into a quarry expansion issue in the Northwest. Now you can add Erin Brockovich to the list. The famous activist, about whom a movie was made starring Julia Roberts, now works for the law firm of Masry and Vititoe, and she recently showed up in Midlothian, Texas, to address community compaints about a rash of illness that some say are the result of emissions from a TXI cement plant. Hang onto your hat as this one evolves. Your comment?

Monday, June 20, 2005

Talking it up

If you're in the aggregates industry, you like to talk. It just goes with the territory. There's no better place online to talk aggregates than Aggregates Research Industries' online forums. Topics include blasting, dredging, geology, lightweight, manufactured sand, plant, process optimization, production, research, testing, transportation, waste products and miscellaneous. You have to register first, but after that, you're free to throw out questions and comment on questions from others. Your comment?

Friday, June 17, 2005

The value of cement

Cement is going to be more valuable than gold this year. According to the “Spring Forecast” from the Portland Cement Association, cement consumption should increase 3.0 percent in 2005 and to another record level of 123.4 million metric tons. That's good news, of course, if there is enough cement to meet the strong demand. According to PCA’s May 2005 survey of cement suppliers, 23 states report tight supplies of cement. Among these, 10 states report tight supplies in only portions of the state, typically the large metropolitan areas. PCA says that almost a third of the cement used in the U.S. this year will be imported. Your comment?

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Funding will be baaaack

California's Proposition 42 looks like it will be fully funded next year. Despite last month's bogus publicity stunt whereby a hole was created in a road so that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could be filmed filling it, the governator is to be commended for saying that the state's infrastructure fund will not be raided for other purposes in 2006. Schwarzenegger, who originally proposed suspending the measure's funds for a fourth year, said last month that revised revenue projections were good enough to restore full funding for fiscal 2006. Anything that helps California's congestion crisis works for me. Your comment?

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Taxing issue

Everyone is looking for a piece of the pie. In a court case that has far-reaching ramifications for aggregates producers, the Commonwealth Court in Pennsylvania ruled that limestone is taxable, paving the way for North Union Township producer Coolspring Stone Supply to pay taxes to Fayette County, the township and the Laurel Highlands School District. The case was reported in the Herald-Standard. Coolspring has operated the quarry for 17 years. While Coolspring maintains that its stone products are in the same non-taxable category as oil and gas, the court determined that those products are in the same taxable category as coal. The decision will be appealed to the State Supreme Court, but the precedent set in this case is particularly ominous. Your comment?

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

They pay, eh?

Acccording to a report from Western Mine Engineering Inc., Canadian mine workers make more money than their U.S. counterparts. Not only do Canadians take home higher salaries, but they are more likely than their U.S. counterparts to receive bonus checks, and those checks are typically larger as well. The weakening of the U.S. dollar is at least partly to blame for the salary gap, but the results of the survey also focuses attention on the importance that Canada places on its mining industry. Your comment?

Monday, June 13, 2005

Pay by the mile

Here is a scary approach to funding infrastructure construction. Government officials in the UK are considering a proposal to charge drivers by the mile. Yeah, big brother is watching alright. Cars would be tracked using microchips and GPS technology and assessed a monthly fee based on the number of miles driven. The idea -- which is undergoing a test in Seattle -- supposedly has the dual effect of raising funds AND discouraging people from driving. Totally redefines the phrase "user fee," doesn't it? Your comment?

Friday, June 10, 2005

First quarter numbers roll in

The stone just keeps piling up. USGS just released its first quarter 2005 production numbers, and the numbers are darn good. An estimated 299 million metric tons of crushed stone were produced and shipped for consumption in the United States in the first quarter, an increase of 5.5% compared with the same period of 2004. The estimated U.S. output of construction sand and gravel produced and shipped for consumption in the first quarter was 208 million metric tons, an increase of 0.9% compared with the same period of 2004. That makes an estimated 512 million metric tons of total aggregates that were produced and shipped for consumption in the United States in the first quarter, an increase of 4.1% compared with the same period of 2004. The summer is off to hot start. Your comment?

Meeting of the minds

Well, the endgame for TEA-21 reauthorization has begun. The first full meeting of the House-Senate Conference Committee was held yesterday. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), Chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, is chairing the 93-member conference comprised of 63 House members and 30 Senators, according to NSSGA. The initial meeting consisted of opening statements given by the conferees. Future meetings will be held among smaller groups as they iron out the differences between the House and Senate bills. It was disturbing to learn that Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), usually a reliable infrastructure supporter, has come down on the side of the house version of the bill, which is for a lower dollar amount than the Senate's version, and is consistent with the White House's vision for the bill. It is encouraging to hear Sen Kit Bond (R-Mo.) state that there are enough votes to override a presidential veto on the bill. Stay tuned. Your comment?

Thursday, June 09, 2005

California dreaming

No, Granite Construction was not California dreaming. A judge ruled in its favor in a Monterey County court case. In his ruling, Superior Court Judge Michael Fields handed defeat to two groups -- Preserve Our Valley and The Open Mine Project -- seeking to block the quarry and processing plants on the Handley Ranch east of Chualar, according to a report in The Monterey Herald. The groups had contended that an impact report erroneously evaluated mining waste, water, air quality, traffic and noise impacts of the quarry and adjacent concrete and asphalt plants. The judge obviously disagreed. Any ruling of this type is especially important in California, where reserves are dwindling and access to new reserves are never gained without a fight. Your comment?

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Welcome!

Welcome to Pit & Quarry's new P&Q Editor's Blog, written by me, Mark S. Kuhar, editor-in-chief. In the more than 10 years I have covered the aggregates industry, I have seen information technology explode, and there has been no change as profound as the internet. This blog will use the power of the internet to bring to your attention items of interest to the aggregates business. Most days during the week, I will post a comment here, direct you to an interesting news story, or an item of peripheral interest to the business of making small rocks out of big rocks. Check back each day, and enjoy the ride. Your comment?