Pit & Quarry, January 2018

UPtoSPEED ED UPt INFRASTRUCTURE ARTBA Transportation infrastructure to grow following a setback in 2017 he U S transportation infrastructure market is anticipated to rebound slightly this year following a 28 percent drop in 2017 reports the American Road Transportation Builders Association ARTBA According to ARTBA total domestic transportation construction and related market activity is forecast to reach 255 billion in 2018 a year over year increase of 32 percent after adjusting for project costs and inflation The 2017 market performance is expected to close at 2471 billion The 2017 market drop can be attributed to the overall national decline in state and local highway and bridge spending which is expected to be down 64 percent and 77 percent respectively ARTBA says In addition although there have been increases in state and local revenues for transportation purposes in a number of states over the past years some of that revenue is dedicated to debt reduction or has been delayed from reaching the transportation market due to state budget issues Although the overall U S transportation infrastructure market will see modest growth in 2018 the situation will likely vary significantly by state and region says Alison Premo Black chief economist at ARTBA The market is forecast to grow in 20 states and Washington D C decrease in 23 states and remain relatively flat in the remaining seven states Black adds The largest growth is expected in California Florida Hawaii New York Virginia and Washington and a slowdown is expected in Arizona Colorado Delaware Maryland Nevada and Oklahoma The market is expected to remain steady in Minnesota New Jersey Ohio Texas and Iowa Federal highway funding of state Department of Transportation DOT programs provided by the 2015 FAST Act will continue to show growth in 2018 ARTBA says ARTBAs report forecasts the value of public highway street and related work by state DOTs and local governments to increase a modest 24 percent in 2018 to 581 billion after falling 64 percent to 568 billion in 2017 It forecasts the public bridge and tunnel construction market to grow from 305 billion in 2017 to 313 billion in 2018 public transit and rail construction to grow from 203 billion to 213 billion and subway and light rail investment to grow from 77 billion to 8 billion in the new year ROGERS GROUP VETERAN TO SERVE AS MSHA ADVISOR Aggregate industry veteran Ed Elliott joined the Mine Safety Health Administration MSHA as a senior advisor according to the National Stone Sand Gravel Association NSSGA With a 30 year career in the aggregate industry recently working as director of safety and health for Rogers Group Elliott brings knowledge of safety at quarries and pits Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta wants us to reach out and engage with stakeholders to improve overall safety and health for miners Elliott says There are a lot of positive things being done in the metal and nonmetal industry that I think can benefit how we approach safety and health Elliott is a past recipient of the James M Christie Safety Professional of the Year Award and previously chaired NSSGAs Safety Committee 8 PIT QUARRY January 2018 pitandquarry com ISTOCK COM PAPABEAR Elliott T The most growth is expected in California Florida Hawaii New York Virginia and Washington MSHA