Bill passes the House

No, you're not dreaming. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the conference report on the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act - Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) by a vote of 412 to 8, according to NSSGA. Final Senate passage is set to occur this weekend. The $286.4 billion contained in this legislation guarantees a record amount for the nation's highway system -- although the amount falls far short of what is really needed -- totaling nearly $193.2 billion over five years. The annual levels of guaranteed obligations under the conference agreement, which covers five fiscal years (2005-2009), are as follows:

FY 2005 - $34.4 billion
FY 2006 - $36.0 billion
FY 2007 - $38.2 billion
FY 2008 - $39.6 billion
FY 2009 - $41.2 billion

On to the Senate! Your comment?

Keep your hands off that bill!

The new $286.4 billion highway bill has been delayed yet again, this time by a meddling senator from Montana who is trying to use an infrastructure project as leverage to avoid a military base closure issue. This is neither the time, nor the place, to fight that battle. After two years of delays, a war of rhetoric and an ongoing difference of opinion between Congress and the White House on funding levels, isn't it high time we just got this bill finished? I call upon the House and Senate to pass this bill -- even at the low funding level they have arrived at -- and do it today. Your comment?

Lafarge comes out hard and fast

The parade of second-quarter results has begun, and Lafarge North America is out of the gate hard and fast. The company reported second-quarter 2005 net income of $142.9 million. Operating income for the quarter was $208.2 million, up $40 million, or 24 percent, compared with the year-ago quarter. "Cement exceeded the record levels established last year," says Philippe Rollier, president and chief executive officer of Lafarge North America. "Prices during the quarter were also favorable, and our market outlook for the balance of the year is optimistic. Although we are facing cost pressures and stretching our production and distribution capabilities to meet higher demand, our results this quarter were excellent, and we will continue to do whatever is necessary to meet the needs of our customers." Look for the other main publically traded aggregates companies to report excellent results as well. Your comment?

TEA-LU on tap

We may not have to worry about another TEA-21 extension. Word on the street is, House and Senate negotiators have finally reached an agreement on TEA-LU, the new $286.4-billion highway and mass-transit bill. Aides from the two chambers are apparently still working out the last details, but they expected to file a report on the bill later today, with votes by the House and Senate coming later this week. The White House had boasted it would veto any bill over $283.9 billion, but with word that the bill is almost out of conference committee, it is apparent that the Bush Administration will back off its rhetoric and either sign the bill or let it pass into law without the president's signature. Your comment?

Price, with all the fixin's

When Irving Materials (IMI), Greenfield, IN, pleaded guilty last month to fixing prices in the ready-mixed concrete market, I thought that was the end of it. I was wrong. Eight construction companies or heads of companies are now seeking triple damages from IMI since it agreed to pay a $29 million fine on June 29. The companies, as reported in the Indianapolis Star, are Van Valkenburg Builders of Avon; Siniard Concrete Services of Bloomington; Dan Grote of Crawfordsville; Michael Reisert of Greenfield; R. Shane Tharp of Indianapolis; Kort Builders of Indianapolis; Boyle Construction Management of Indianapolis and Environ of Noblesville. Each suit seeks class-action status. That's what I call piling on. Your comment?

STCC returns fire

While there is a move afoot to suspend duties imposed on cement "illegally dumped" from Mexico as a means to deal with the U.S. cement shortage, the Southern Tier Cement Committee (STCC) is not on board. Joe Dorn, a Washington-based attorney representing STCC says, "It's very concerning that a few American businesses and industry groups have been recruited, under the guise of a cement supply crisis, to help Cemex remove the duty imposed on its illegally dumped cement. How can the AGC and other groups criticize the United States for imposing dumping duties on Mexican cement . . . when Mexico does not permit imports of fairly traded cement into its market?" The game is on. Your comment?

New homes, up!

Those new homes just continue to be built. The pace of new home construction remained strong in June, closing out the quarter at a seasonally adjusted annual rate above 2 million units for the second quarter in a row, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures. For the month, the pace of housing starts remained unchanged at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.004 million units. This was 9.7 percent above the pace of a year ago. Unless there is a quantum leap in interest rates, this pace should continue, especially anchored by hot markets such as Florida and Arizona. Your comment?

Explosive story

Word out of Maine is, a quarry operation discovered that someone tested two home-made bombs in the quarry. Authorities said the blasts would have killed anyone within 40 feet. Given recent events in London, ATF officials and local police are taking the case very seriously. This is also a good time to reinforce ther message that anyone dealing with explosives needs to redouble efforts to protect their materials. Your comment?

Pavement that eats pollution

What if the roads we drive on could eat pollution, sucking in dirty air like a sponge and releasing only nontoxic gas? Sound like science fiction? Well, roads like this are under development in Italy, thanks to a new cement called TX Millenium. A story on the road tests just appeared in the Italian on-line publication Ansa IT. Think what this would mean to Southern California, New York City or places like Mexico City. Your comment?

The end of the road?

According to NSSGA, conferees and staff appear to be nearing completion of work on reconciling the House and Senate TEA-21 reauthorization bills. The overall guaranteed funding level of the bill, for highway and transit, is reportedly slightly over $286 billion. There is general agreement among all parties that a surface transportation reauthorization bill will be finalized by July 29 and the start of the summer recess. My take? It's been a long hard road, and to end up at only $286 billion is very disappointing. Your comment?

Dump the duties?

Could the shortage of cement in the U.S. get a pick-me-up? The Associated General Contractors of America has asked the Southern Tier Cement Committee to withdraw its complaint that triggered the current anti-dumping duty on Mexican cement and allow cement supplies to arrive from Mexico free of prohibitively high duties. AGC and the Portland Cement Association have already received reports from 28 states and the District of Columbia, documenting shortages, allocations, and delivery delays. Maybe it's time for a new approach that addresses the current reality of high demand. And maybe it's time to finance and permit a few new U.S. plants as well. Your comment?

Tired of no tires?

At this year's ConExpo-Con/Agg show, one of the big issues that producers -- and even some manufacturers -- were talking about was the inability to obtain off-road tires. Well, Bridgestone Corporation, parent company of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. (BSAH), recently announced that it will expand production capacity for large and ultralarge radial tires for mining and construction equipment and other off-the-road equipment. This move is in response to growing global demand for those tires. It becomes part of a sweeping capital spending program that the Bridgestone Group is undertaking worldwide. Earlier, Michelin announced plans to build a new plant. In short, tires manufacturers got the message. Your comment?

All in a day's labor

Employees are the lifeblood of any aggregates operation. But labor shortages continue to be an issue among aggregates producers. To that end, NSSGA is launching The Aggregates Workforce Conference, to take place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC on September 7-8. The Aggregates Workforce Conference is the first gathering of aggregates industry professionals to solely focus on workforce issues. This is a very positive industry education development. Your comment?

Steel a break

The U.S. steel market may finally be settling down. Major U.S. structural steel producers significantly reduced mill prices effective June 8, according to the American Institute of Steel Construction. Through mid-2005, inventory of structural material is high and availability of structural steel is excellent from mills, warehouses and local fabricators. The inventory of structural steel last month exceeded 1 million tons and delivery to fabricators from warehouses can be accomplished in a matter of days. This is good news to aggregates industry manufacturers who rely on steel for the manufacture of their products, and have been hurt by high steel prices over the past year. Your comment?

A case of loaders

The army didn't order a case of loaders, it ordered 500 loaders from Case. The order, worth more than $50 million, is for specially modified type III backhoe loaders. That's a lot of equipment. Given the state of the infrastructure in Iraq, I suspect those loaders will be plenty busy. Your comment?

Safety first

According to reports, a 44-year-old man fell 40 feet onto concrete in an accident Tuesday morning at a Vulcan Materials Quarry outside Manassas, Va. By some miracle, the man was not killed. While it is not clear from the article whether the man was an employee, contractor or intruder, this small item underscores three important facts: producers must work overtime to work safely; contractors must work overtime to work safely on quarry property; and to the fullest extent possible, non-employees must be prevented from setting foot on quarry property. Your comment?

Asphalt Issues

The National Asphalt Pavement Association has released a very interesting study entitled "Hot Mix Asphalt: Visions 2005 and Beyond." Supply chain economics being what they are, the issues that affect the hot-mix industry will ultimately impact the aggregates industry. According to the study, those key issues are contractor responsibility for quality and innovation; higher energy prices; resource conservation; demand for more durable pavements; performance issues, environmentally friendly pavements; and of course safety. Your comment?

Have a great holiday weekend

The P&Q Editor's Blog is going on vacation until July 6th. have a great holiday weekend.