Oldcastle® Architectural Acquires Anchor Block Company and Anchor Wall Systems

Oldcastle® Architectural has acquired Anchor Block Company and Anchor Wall Systems, giving North America’s largest producer of concrete masonry and hardscape products an increased presence in the high-growth region of the upper Midwestern United States.

Anchor Block Company manufactures a broad range of concrete masonry and hardscape products and is the licensed manufacturer of Anchor Wall Systems products. The range of Anchor products includes retaining walls, pavers, edgers, architectural block, concrete masonry units and outdoor living products. The company’s primary manufacturing facility is located just outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“The additions of Anchor Block Company and Anchor Wall Systems to Oldcastle’s masonry and hardscapes business will serve as a platform for continued growth throughout the Midwest,” said Tim Ortman, president of Oldcastle Architectural. “Each company brings expertise and commitment to product innovation that will ultimately benefit Oldcastle’s collective business, customers and employees, well into the future.”

Learn more about Oldcastle® Architectural.

New leaders for League of Minnesota Cities

Steve Nasby, the Windom City Administrator, has been elected president of the League of Minnesota Cities, which provides more than 800 member cities with advocacy and training.

Nasby has worked in Windom since 2006; before that he worked in Iowa City.

The League also has hired David Unmacht as executive director, replacing Jim Miller, who retires this summer after 22 years as head of the organization.

Read more in MinnPost.

Oil train traffic down on BNSF lines in Minnesota, Wisconsin

New documents show BNSF Railroad is hauling fewer crude oil trains through Minnesota and Wisconsin than it was last winter.

BNSF now averages 25 unit trains per week along its line that follows the Mississippi River from the Twin Cities to Illinois, according to a report released Friday by the Wisconsin Department of Emergency Management. That’s down from an average of 36 reported in September, a drop of about 25 percent.

Read article in the LaCrosse Tribune.

It's as if we're on different planets: Poll shows big gap in what scientists, public think

The American public and U.S. scientists are light-years apart on science issues. And 98 percent of surveyed scientists say it's a problem that we don't know what they're talking about.

Scientists are far less worried about genetically modified food, pesticide use, and nuclear power than is the general public, according to matching polls of both the general public and the country's largest general science organization. Scientists were more certain that global warming is caused by man, evolution is real, overpopulation is a danger and mandatory vaccination against childhood diseases is needed.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

ND's top oil regulator says drilling won't be noticeable in 100 years

North Dakota's Department of Natural Resources director said Monday that he believes people walking in the state 100 years from now won't even notice signs of today's oil development.

Read more in the Fargo Forum.

What happens to all the salt we dump on the roads?

As much of the country endures the heavy snowfall and bitter cold that has marked the start of 2014, municipalities in 26 states will rely on a crucial tool in cleaning their roads: salt. . . But all that salt has to go somewhere. After it dissolves - and is split into sodium and chloride ions - it gets carried away via a runoff and deposited into both surface waters (streams, lakes and rivers) and the groundwater under our feet.

Geologist Ernie Lehmann dead at 84

Ernie Lehmann, a Minnesota exploration geologist died on December 13 in Minneapolis. He worked in the mining industry around the world and his accomplishments include discovery of significant metal deposits in North and South America. He also did pioneering exploration of the Duluth Complex in northern Minnesota. He contributed his time and talents to SME and was active in local and state politics. The funeral is set for Friday, January 10 at 2 p.m. at Plymouth Congregational Church, 1900 Nicollet Avenue South, Minneapolis.                   

Crushed stone, sand and gravel consumption increase

An estimated 367 million metric tons (Mt) of crushed stone was produced and shipped for consumption
in the United States in the third quarter of 2013, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. This is an eight percent increase compared with the same period of 2012.

Read more in Pit & Quarry.

An App That Will Never Forget a File

Some photos are on your smartphone. Others sit on your home computer. Your digital work documents, favorite web clippings and notes from meetings? Scattered like confetti after New Year's Eve. . . . Evernote provides a comprehensive single archive of your digital life, giving you one location to store and find practically everything saved on a computer or phone.

Read more in The New York Times.

Graduation rates soar at the University of Minnesota

In the 1990s, only 15 percent of the students at the University of Minnesota graduated in four years. Now, the 4-year graduation rate on the Twin Cities campus has soared to 59.1 percent - within "striking distance" of its goal of 60 percent . . . .

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

PCA economist says cement consumption growth is coming

An unusually wet spring and early summer dampened cement consumption for the first quarter of 2013, according to Portland Cement Association (PCA), but it chief economist is still optimistic for strong growth in the construction sector in 2014 and beyond.

Read more in Pit & Quarry.

Concrete plant catches on fire in NE Minneapolis

Minneapolis fire crews battled a fire at a concrete manufacturing plant in northeast Minneapolis Friday morning that sent up a large plume of smoke. . . . The fire at Marshall Concrete Products plant at 2610 Marshall St. NE was reported about about 7:25 a.m., and when crews arrived flames were coming out of the roof of a structure that is about 25 to 30 feet high.

Read more in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Lafarge North America appoints new president, CEO

The board of directors of Lafarge North American Inc. has appointed John Stull as Lafarge's senior leader for aggregate, cement and concrete operations in the United States. The company says this appointment, which brings these Lafarge business lines in the United State together under a single leaders, will further the company's customer focus as it delivers sustainable solutions to the construction industry.

Read more in Pit & Quarry.

Knife River Corp. concrete plant destroyed by fire

The loss of a cement plant in Wright County will be mitigated by a network of other facilities in the short-term, and a spokesman for Knife River Corp. says the Otsego operation will be rebuilt as soon as possible following a fire early Monday that destroyed it. . . . “That’s our flagship for Minnesota,” said Tony Spilde, spokesman for Knife River, which is headquartered in Bismarck, N.D.

Read more in the St. Cloud Times.

Knife River names president of North Central Region

Knife River Corp. promoted John Quade to president of its North Central Region, which encompasses Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska. . . . Prior to this role, Quade was president of Knife River's operations in central Minnesota.

Read more in Pit & Quarry.

Vandalism totals $30K at Mankato concrete company

Someone used a forklift, a dump truck and a pickup to vandalize a Mankato concrete contractor over the weekend. Mankato police say someone started a forklift outside the Hoffman Concrete plant and drove it into a dump truck. . . .

Read more at Minnesota Public Radio.

From deep inside a concrete pillar, a call for help

Despite falling 30 feet into the interior of a concrete pillar, Edward Rowe remained calm as he struggled to alert co-workers of the life-threatening danger he suddenly found himself in.

“1820 to Central,’’ Rowe radioed Wednesday morning to his supervisors the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s dispatcher. “I fell into a manhole.’’

Listen to the dispatcher call and read the complete article: Boston Globe.

MnDOT using prefabricated parts for Highway 61 bridge

According to the latest issue of Finance & Commerce, MnDOT crews will replace the Highway 61 bridge in Lake City by assembling prefabricated components, including the deck, beams and substructures. Crews will fit them together like a puzzle at the project site.

MnDOT is using the prefabricated technique with the hope of minimizing traffic disruptions and to speed up construction. A department spokesman says it's one of the first projects of its kind for MnDOT and if successful, the technique could become more widely used.

Ownership change could be for the better at Hancock Concrete

It will be business as usual at Hancock Concrete this year and possibly for many years to come. The changes that took place as of Jan. 1 will have little effect on regular business but could potentially help considerably improve the future of the company.

In mid-December, it was announced that Morris-based Superior Industries would acquire Hancock Concrete on Jan. 1. According to Hancock Concrete Presdient Rob Schmidgall, the acquistion has been completed which, Rob explained, is actually more like a merger of Hancock Concrete into a corporation including Superior Industries and Westmor Industries.

Read more in the Morris Sun Tribune.

Bemidji eyes repairing historic bridge

Bemidji wants to shore up the deteriorating Nymore Bridge that traverses the Mississippi River.

But a city official said Tuesday that Bemidji needs to span a funding gap before it can proceed with fixing the 168-foot-long structure, built in 1916. . . .

Gray said he may have to ask the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) Area Transportation Partnership for a one-year extension to retain the $160,000 in federal money for the bridge while Bemidji seeks to plug the $135,000 gap.

Source: Finance & Commerce.

Photo credit: Widseth Smith Nolting & Associates.