Pit & Quarry, May 2014

Transportation bill gains traction with agreement in principle A n agreement in principle has been reached on the reauthorization of MAP 21 Sen Barbara Boxer D Calif chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee Sen David Vitter R La ranking member of the committee Sen Tom Carper D Del chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee and Sen John Barrasso R Wyo ranking member of the subcommittee announced the agreement at a press conference Boxer said the principles include passing a long term bill maintaining the formulas for existing core programs promoting fiscal responsibility by keeping current levels of funding plus inflation focusing on policies that expand opportunities for rural areas continuing efforts to leverage local resources to accelerate the construction of transportation projects create jobs AGGREGATES FORECAST Growth in slumping states a welcome sight BY DAVID CHEREB U S economic growth and construction growth are now growing moderately showing that corporations and workers continue to adapt to a difficult environment States that got hit the hardest during the recession such as California and Florida are now leading the way in growth Even Michigan is growing despite the problems in Detroit Our numbers show that materials demand in housing has recovered strongly in the past 18 months as home prices have increased As usual this brings with it resistance to further gains as household income has not kept pace making qualifying for a higher mortgage and spur economic growth and requiring better information sharing regarding federal grants The reason the four of us are standing here is to send a strong signal to this country that we as leaders of this committee have worked across party lines to act before the Highway Trust Fund THE HIGHWAY TRUST FUND WILL RUN OUT LATER THIS SUMMER AND A LONGTERM SOLUTION IS NEEDED NOW cannot pay its bills Boxer said at the press conference For those of you who follow this issue you know that the Highway Trust Fund is expected to run out of money later this summer which would be devastating to thousands of businesses and millions of workers across the country U S Aggregates Demand billion metric tons Residential Nonresidential Nonbuilding 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 more difficult Thus our projection 25 20 15 10 05 0 that housing demand will flatten by the end of 2014 With job growth below par and the new CBO report that the Affordable Health Care Act will reduce the incentive to work the need for more nonresidential space will also flatten Improved state budgets are laying the BY KEVIN YANIK In related news U S Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx kicked off a weeklong bus tour April 14 that was scheduled to take him through eight Midwestern and Southern states NSSGA reports Foxx was expected to deliver a message along the way that Americas infrastructure is in desperate need of repair and that Congress must take immediate action According to NSSGA Foxx began his week in Columbus Ohio before swinging through Cincinnati Dayton and Louisville Ky Foxx highlighted a local project at each stop in which federal investment and local commitment led to the successful completion of a needed road or bridge Foxx is also asking voters to join him in encouraging Congress to pass a long term well funded surface transportation bill before the Highway Trust Fund runs out of money DCG inc Apr 2014 groundwork for infrastructure spending But flat to lower federal outlays mean materials demand for the nonbuilding segment will increase only moderately David Chereb has many years of forecasting construction materials He received his Ph D in economics from the University of Southern California He can be reached at dc@ davidcherebgroup com 6 PIT QUARRY May 2014 www pitandquarry com