Workers expect to come home safely from their jobs. What happens when they don’t? How does society move forward from workplace fatalities? Are fines enough? Are any lessons learned when a company is convicted, pays a fine and carries on with its work in silence?

At LafargeHolcim, sustainability is a serious issue. The global building materials manufacturing giant created the LafargeHolcim 2030 Sustainability Plan in support of UN “Sustainable Development Goals” for the planet. The company aims to use more than 60 million tonnes/year of waste-derived fuels by 2020.

Walker Industries has a long tradition of giving back to the communities in which we live and work. We have recently committed $75,000 over the next five years to two important community projects in Niagara.

Washington State University researchers have created a sustainable alternative to traditional concrete using coal fly ash, a waste product of coal-based electricity generation.

Cornerstone Standards Council auditors have conducted an audit of the open non-conformances at Miller Paving Ltd.'s Carden Quarry and is pleased to announce that the site has demonstrated conformance with all minor non-conformances identified in the July 3, 2017 assessment report. 

LafargeHolcim has acquired Tarrant Concrete, a leading provider of ready-mix concrete in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texas. This transaction will strengthen LafargeHolcim’s existing operations in one of the most attractive and biggest ready-mix concrete and aggregates markets in the U.S.

In labs across the world, cellulose nanocrystals are being tested as an additive to all types of things – inks, bioplastics and construction products, to name a few. 

June 15, 2018 - Matt McDonald has been appointed as the new OSSGA representative on the Mining Legislative Review Committee (MLRC). He succeeds Jim Clark who was the industry member for many years. 

June 15, 2018 - The Manitoba government has released the Co-chairs’ Report on the Manitoba–First Nations Mineral Development Protocol, which includes key findings and recommendations on ways to create certainty in order to advance mineral development projects in a timely way, Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen and Indigenous and Northern Relations Minister Eileen Clarke announced, along with co-chairs Ron Evans, former chief of Norway House Cree Nation, and Jim Downey, former Manitoba deputy premier and cabinet minister.

June 14, 2018 - CDE and Resolve Aggregates are delighted to be hosting a demonstration event at Resolve Aggregates' site in Ravenna, Texas, on Wednesday, June 27. The Open Day will provide visitors with a unique opportunity to see the latest wet processing technologies implemented by CDE.

June 5, 2018 - The MHCA’s Winnipeg and the Aggregate Producers Committees are preparing suggestions to assist the City of Winnipeg in its quality assurance process for aggregate bases in road construction, which may include a complete change in the testing process and/or more frequent base testing.

The Manitoba government is investing $2.25 million in funding for municipal roads, Municipal Relations Minister Jeff Wharton announced today along with Chris Goertzen, president, Association of Manitoba Municipalities.

Carillion Canada has sold its highway maintenance operations in Alberta and Ontario to Emcon Services Inc., a highway and bridge maintenance company currently operating in British Columbia and Ontario.

The Community Benefit Agreement for the Pattullo Bridge replacement project focuses on opening work opportunities for people where they live and will provide training for the future workforce of the province.

The City of Montreal will spend nearly $6.4 billion on capital works projects over the next three years, with most of the funds going towards repairing and improving the spaghetti-like network of roads and bridges, and renovating aging water pipes and sewers.

Thanks to a new round of provincial funding, the City of Timmins will move ahead with the next phase of its highway reconstruction plan, however financial concerns continue to plague the long-term project.

A new, landmark agreement for key public-sector infrastructure projects in B.C. will deliver good-paying jobs, better training and apprenticeships, and more trades opportunities for Indigenous peoples, women and youth around the province.

Good infrastructure is that which delivers the best life-cycle value to those who depend on it and those who have to pay for it. Good infrastructure can only be accomplished by sound planning and consistent investment, both in the context of new construction and in support of maintenance and refurbishment. This is true regardless of whether we are talking about clean water supply, wastewater treatment, transit, or, of greater interest to readers of this publication, roads and bridges.

During CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2017, John Deere announced it was entering a strategic alliance with Kespry designed to simplify drone integration on construction jobsites.

People travelling near Chilliwack and Hope, B.C. along Highway 1, soon will enjoy an easier drive with 42 kilometres of resurfacing work starting next week.

The final section of the ring road includes more than nine kilometres along the west side of the city between Highway 8 and the Trans-Canada Highway. Once complete, the Calgary Ring Road will provide 101 kilometres of free-flow travel around the city.

Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, on behalf of the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, recently announced a major investment of $102.5 million for a project that will reduce the cost of essential goods and help local businesses compete by moving goods to market.

BOMAG Americas, Inc. announces that Matt White has joined the BOMAG team as manager, milling & reclamation. In this newly developed role, White will work with North American territory managers, distributors and end-users to develop programs designed to achieve growth objectives and improve customer support for BOMAG cold milling machines, recyclers and stabilizers.    

Geneq Inc. is pleased to introduce the Net20 Pro, a robust and easy to use system designed for CORS networks. Its efficiency and flexibility will provide you with many years of high quality data for your projects. This product will be useful to any user interested in the proximity and reliability of a reference station while eliminating RTK corrections service charges.

Haver & Boecker, a leading equipment manufacturer and solutions provider in aggregates and mining applications, hired Sydney Page as a technical applications specialist. Page helps processing customers increase efficiencies, productivity and ROI by working closely with Haver & Boecker engineers to create custom solutions.

Strongco Corporation has appointed Oliver Nachevski, formerly vice-president, Construction Equipment, to the position of vice-president and chief operating officer (COO).

They are used extensively to move material (crushed stone, rocks, etc.) to and from crushers.  Conveyors can be stationary, such as in feeding a main crusher or stacker, or they can be on portable equipment, such as screens.

Where in the world are the most popular excavators? Thanks to Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) and the work of Off-Highway Research we can see that one size certainly does not fit all around the globe. 

TRP has announced its new line of TRP No-Ream King Pin Kits, which offer customers the quality and reliability they can count on. Manufactured using high quality steel, state-of-the-art heat treatment and machine tool technology, the new kits are available in multiple diameter lengths and fit many makes of trucks and buses. These kits include best-in-class spiral bushings with deeper grease grooves to allow 25 percent more grease in high wear areas. 

Over the last several months, the Trump Administration has placed harmful tariffs on imports that are making a considerable impact on the equipment manufacturing industry.

Today, competitive construction companies are looking for ways to save costs and reduce the amount of time searching for lost assets—including tools, equipment, and materials. To help, companies are incorporating global positioning systems (GPS) and advanced asset-tracking solutions to gather data on construction projects.

The new Cat S2000/S3000 Series mobile shears, designed for hydraulic excavators working in scrap and demolition applications, feature optimum force-to-weight ratios that yield faster cycle times and more cuts per hour, compared with predecessor models. Manufactured from alloy steel that has both superior yield- and tensile-strength properties, as well as substantially greater hardness ratings than T1-type steel, the new S2000/S3000 Series shears are engineered for long, productive service.

Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) has announced a $12-million investment that will expand production to include popular off-the-road (OTR) tire sizes at its Bloomington, Ill., plant. The plant will produce multiple sizes and patterns in 29, 33 and 35-inch OTR tires, which until now have only been produced by Bridgestone in Japan.

Registration is now open for Volvo’s 2018-19 Road Institute, the paving industry’s premier training program. Offering a mix of classroom and hands-on training on a variety of operations and maintenance topics, sessions start in late October 2018 and continue through May 2019.

The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute announces the results of their biennial CRSI HONORS Design and Construction Awards program. Of the entries received, 19 projects were selected to receive recognition.

Astec, Inc., an Astec Industries company, recently announced the dates for the 2019 Customer Schools. Six weeks of schools are available. Attendees can choose to attend one of these sessions: January 7 to 10, January 14 to 17, January 21 to 24, January 28 to 31, February 4 to 7, or February 11 to 14, 2019.

In a recent Ontario case, a concrete subcontractor hired to form and pour a concrete slab drove stakes into to the aggregate base, below. The stakes punctured a storm water drainage pipe, which later backed up through the penetrations into the finished building.

The Crane Rental Association of Canada (CRAC) presented the inaugural CRAC Safety Awards during the 20th anniversary CRAC Conference and AGM last month in Winnipeg.

June 14, 2018 - Are you a talented, young professional in your company who wants to grow with SC&RA? Or do you know of a promising young industry professional? Applications are now being accepted for The Leadership Forum at the 2018 Crane & Rigging Workshop in Louisville, Ky. on Sept. 26.

June 13, 2018 - Workers using personal fall protection systems sometimes instinctively grasp their systems’ rope grabs during falls. Some commercially available rope grabs are manufactured with “anti-panic” features that enable the rope grabs to work properly by locking onto the lifeline even when they are grasped. Some workers use Prusik slings as rope grabs. A Prusik sling, however, does not have an anti-panic feature. Therefore, grasping a sling’s Prusik knot can prevent the knot from tightening around the lifeline, allowing the worker to fall.

June 13, 2018 - The Alberta Sand & Gravel Association recently announced upcoming networking events for its members across the province.

June 12, 2018 - Registration is now open for the 2018 Crane & Rigging Workshop, Sept. 26-28, in Louisville, Ky. 

May 15, 2018 – Western Canada’s biggest event in trucking and transportation welcomed drivers, families and top industry executives May 11 and 12 in Abbotsford, B.C. TRUXPO 2018 brought a wide selection of trucks for all trades, in addition to plenty of features and activities, from a half-day conference to family day and educational seminar sessions.

May 11, 2018 - Contractors have always faced unique challenges connecting the field, the office and the maintenance operations to effectively manage heavy construction projects. A new study from Dodge Data & Analytics, in partnership with B2W Software, shows that software solutions—and especially mobile capabilities—can generate improvements in the ability of contractors to gather accurate and timely data from the field, control costs more reliably, and manage and maintain their equipment fleets more efficiently.