Pit & Quarry, June 2017

UPtoSPEED INFRASTRUCTURE Report Trump may explore a gas tax increase P PRODUCERS LAFARGEHOLCIM CEO TO LEAVE COMPANY AMID CONTROVERSY LafargeHolcim CEO Eric Olsen will resign later this year following an independent internal investigation into allegations concerning the Lafarge plant in Syria According to Londons Financial Times Olsens departure makes him the highest profile casualty of a controversy surrounding a Lafarge cement plant that kept running as Syria descended into civil war Human rights groups have alleged the company helped finance terrorism The Financial Times adds As part of the internal investigation and given Olsens current role as CEO at LafargeHolcim the role and potential implication of Olsen has been a point of attention Following an The U S gas tax hasnt changed in 24 years in depth review the board of directors concluded that Olsen was not responsible for nor thought to be aware of any wrongdoings that have been identified as part of its review Olsen will leave the company July 15 two years after taking up the CEO role and assuming responsibility for implementing the merger of Lafarge and Holcim While I was absolutely not involved in nor even aware of any wrongdoing I believe my departure will contribute to bringing back serenity to a company that has been exposed for months on this case he says MANUFACTURERS VAN DER GRAAF HOSTS EDUCATIONAL EVENTS Van der Graaf hosted a series of aggregate industry networking events last month in Texas The companys kickoff event took place in Fort Worth Texas Van der Graafs Texas Aggregate Networking Event series continued in New Braunfels Texas resident Donald Trump indicated that he is open to increasing the federal gas tax to support U S infrastructure development although he stopped short of endorsing such a course of action The federal gas tax has been fixed at 184 cents per gallon since 1993 Its something that I would certainly consider Trump said during an interview with Bloomberg News Sean Spicer White House press secretary added some clarity to the presidents remark during a daily press briefing pointing out that Trump did not express support for the gas tax and that hes simply interested in exploring the possibility What the president said during that interview was that folks from the industry come to him and expressed to him how deteriorating roads were affecting their ability to deliver goods and services throughout this country Spicer says And that they had expressed a willingness to see something like a gas tax increase as a way to help pay for roads and bridges He said out of respect he definitely would listen to them He did not express support for it Spicer adds He expressed that a group that had met with him expressed support with it and he out of respect would consider their request Thats it There was no endorsement of it or support for it He was just relaying what another industry group had shared with him about how to pay for roads and bridges that need to be repaired and the impact that deteriorating roads and bridges are having on their ability to operate and deliver goods and services PHOTO BY ISTOCK COM KARIMALA TOP KEVIN YANIK BOTTOM RIGHT Olsen Van der Graafs Matt Lepp With Texas being the largest single producing state for stone sand and gravel in the U S were going around promoting our Extreme Duty series which is going up to 350 hp and 36 in diameter drives says Matt Lepp heavy industry drive specialist at Van der Graaf These are specifically designed for heavy industry applications Lepp led a seminar at the Fort Worth event on the companys Extreme Duty drum motors Lepp and Van der Graaf President Alexander Kanaris discussed the benefits of the series including enhanced safety and better energy efficiency pitandquarry com June 2017 PIT QUARRY 7