MHCA has created a new Online Forum (blog.mdhighways.org)—an electronic message board dedicated to the highway construction industry in Maryland. This will give you  the ability to communicate instantly with your colleagues and peers in the industry on important issues of the day as well as features like daily news items, dedicated subject threads for such on-going issues as Environment, DBE/MBE, and Specifications. If all you want to do is read, you don’t have to do anything.  If you want to post comments or start discussion threads, then you will have to register as a user.  To do that, go to REGISTER at the bottom of the screen on the right hand side.   There, you will enter your information, and  a password will be emailed to you that you will then  use to get aboard the forum.  Once there, you can change your password by clicking on your member profile. If you need more assistance, please contact Kelly at MHCA. 

The world’s no. 3 (and no. 1 in the U.S. ) cement manufacturer, CEMEX has made an offer to acquire Rinker Materials, an Australian manufacturer of crushed rock, asphalt, cement, concrete, and concrete pipe, with over 80% of its revenues derived from the U.S. market.  The offering price is $12.8 billion, which amounts to $13 a share, a 27% premium over the trading price for Rinker shares.  Rinker was not expecting the offer and is taking a look at it.  CEMEX says it hopes the acquisition will be friendly.

Aon is selling its Construction Program Group, Virginia Surety Company, and Aon Warranty Group to Old Republic Insurance.  The sale price is $85 million in cash, and the sale will include the transfer of $300 million in unearned premium and claims reserves that are on the books of Virginia Surety.  Aon says it wants to get back into its primary business of brokering insurance instead of selling it.  Old Republic Insurance is a Chicago-based insurer that is active in the construction industry insurance market through is subsidiary Bituminous Insurance.  The business being acquired will be a joint venture between Old Republic and principals of Aon’s Construction Program Group—and will be known as Old Republic Construction Program Group Inc.

Please contact MHCA to obtain your copy of the SHA Office of Construction customer survey.  MHCA members are significant customers of OOC, and, so far, MHCA has sent out only two surveys and has received back only one.  Please help out by offering OOC constructive feedback about how to provide more efficient and timely service.  Contact MHCA to obtain your copy of the survey.

Last week’s Districts 3-4-5 and MDTA day-long annual forecast meeting was a huge success in terms of the new format and time of day.  A vote taken at the meeting was unanimous that the format and daytime meeting schedule should be retained.  As a first time effort, more time was allotted in some areas than was actually required, but next year the schedule will be adjusted to make this use of your time even more beneficial. 

The Federal Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit has issued a ruling that backfired on the people who brought the case—the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club among others.  The suit challenged three rules issued under the Clean Air Act.  For one, the court ruled that the challenge was brought (years) too late.  In another, the court ruled that the plaintiffs had misinterpreted the Clear Air Act to require transportation conformity determinations to produce net reductions in pollution.  In fact, it does not.  What is required is to not make things worse.  In the final rule being challenged, the Court said that new, tougher tests to determine conformity could not be used in relation to the new eight-hour ozone standard, because they were not part of an approved State Implementation Plan (SIP).  The plaintiffs probably wanted to halt all conformity determinations, but the court simply said to use the old tests from the old SIP, even though doing so was less environmentally beneficial, because that’s what the Clean Air Act requires.

For Sale: PRESTRESSED CONCRETE COMPOSITE SPREAD BOX BEAMS—10- 48/39”x 68.87’x 34.44 tons each; accessories: Neoprene bearing pads, Closed Cell Neoprene Sponge for under the beams, Stay-in-place form anchor clips at 12” c/c, 45° hangers for overhang formwork @ 32” c/c, inserts for diaphragms; manufactured in conformance with PADOT DM-4; stored in Cressona, PA; contact: Steve Jackson,  Balfour Beatty Construction by email at sjackson@BBCIPA.com, by phone at 484-665-0118, or by fax at 484-665-0116.

Safety Corner:  Toward a more effective safety management system: At the Marshall Space Flight Center Werner Von Braun used weekly reporting system that required workers two levels below him to supply a page of notes summarizing the week’s issues and events. Because the notes came from two levels below him, his immediate subordinate managers couldn’t edit the information he got.  Also, making the notes a weekly duty, people had to devise their own data gathering methods.  Von Braun would add his comments in the margins, xerox all of the notes, and hand them out for everyone to look at.  This transparency moved information up and down the chain of command and as horizontally from department to department. If someone discovered a problem, he or she had either to solve it, find someone else who could solve it, or bring it to management’s attention in the weekly notes, whether or not the problem was in his or her area of responsibility. This intentional disregard for traditional organizational lines creates a culture in the organization that values problem solving above turf wars.

MHCA needs help in the following areas—

(1)  Starting October 16, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) will conduct a telephone survey of highway contractors with operations in the Washington Metropolitan region.  The purpose of the study is to inventory non-road vehicles and engines used primarily in transportation construction projects.  This will help COG get an accurate picture of how non-road diesel emissions may or may not affect the region’s air quality. COG will use this information to estimate whether the region’s fleet of non-road equipment used on transportation construction projects is eligible for federal funding for diesel engine retrofitting purposes. MHCA is cooperating with this study, and we urge you to participate if you are contacted.  If you have questions about the study, contact the survey director, Mia Zmud at 1-800-447-8287x2224.

MHCA Calendar
Nov 2 SHA District 1 & 2 Dinner Meeting – Suicide Bridge Restaurant, Hurlock MD

Nov 3 Leadership Council Meeting 1:30 PM MHCA Office

Nov 30 SHA District 6 & 7 Dinner Meeting – Hagerstown Sheraton

Dec 7 Executive Committee Meeting – 3:00 PM – MHCA Office

Dec 14 Board of Directors Meeting – TBD – MHCA Office

In case you missed it—

MDTA is amending five specifications for use in the §100 protects.  They are: (1) SP/GP-5.06 Cooperation Between Contractors, (2) SP/TC-2.06 Partnering, (3) SP/TC 4.01 Shop Drawings and Working Drawings, (4) SP/TC 7.05(a)(3) Variable Retainage, and (5) 100-Series: Section 109—Critical Path Method Project Schedule. MHCA met with MDTA and agreed on a set of proposed changes for the CPM specification, but MHCA has not yet seen the actual language of the specification as so revised.  In item (3), above, shop drawings will be submitted electronically.  Please call MHCA for a copy of any or all of these proposed specifications

MDOT has issued a “Request for Expressions of Interest” from private sector participants interested in a public-private-partnership project to add toll lanes and transit service to the I-270 corridor and to I-495 between I-270 and Virginia in the westbound direction.  A pre-submission conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Tuesday, November 21, at MDOT headquarters ( 7201 Corporate Drive ) in Hanover .  Registration for the conference is required.  You can register via email to the Procurement Officer at I270P3@sha.state.md.us.  Please register no later than 48 hours prior to the conference. For more information, go to www.i-270corridorp3.com/. 

MOSH is scheduling a new round of free construction safety training. Classes run from 8:30 a.m. unless otherwise noted. To register or to get specific location information, please call Teresa Jones at 301 934 7546. November classes are as follows— Mobile cranes (part 2)—MOSH in Laurel, 11/09: Noise exposure—Cecil Community College in Elkton (ends at 12:30 p.m.), 11/10: Personal protective equipment—Harford Community College in Bel Air (ends at 12:30 p.m.), 11/13: Recordkeeping—Wor-Wic Community College in Salisbury (ends at 12:30 p.m.), 11/14: Construction site safety in Spanish (Seguridad en la construccion)—MD Fire & Rescue Inst. in Centerville, 11/17:  Company health & safety programs—MOSH in Laurel, also on 11/17: Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs)—Cecil Community College in Elkton (ends at 12:30 p.m.), 11/20: Construction site safety (part 1)—MOSH in Laurel, 11/30: Electrical hazards—College of Southern Maryland in La Plata,

MDOT’s annual tour schedule (in chronological order) is as follows: 11/2 at 7 p.m., Montgomery County in the Council Office Building in Rockville; 11/8 at 7 p.m., Frederick County in Winchester Hall in Frederick; 11/13 at 10:30 a.m., Baltimore County in the Old Courthouse in Towson; 11/13 at 3 p.m., Baltimore City in the War Memorial Building at 101 North Gay Street in Baltimore; 11/14 at 10:30 a.m., Caroline County in the Courthouse in Denton; 11/14 at 3:30 p.m., Talbot County in the Library at Dover and West Streets in Easton;  11/14 at 7 p.m., Dorchester County in the County Office Building in Cambridge; and 11/15 at 1:30 p.m., Carroll County in the County Office Building in Westminster.

You are invited to participate in an Alliance for Business matchmaking and trade show designed to bring together prime contractors and potential subcontractor and supplier partners from the small, minority, and disadvantaged business communities.  MHCA is planning to have a booth, which MHCA members may use, or you can contact for more information and on-line registration.  The event is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, November 9, at the Hilton Baltimore at BWI Airport .

SHA is offering free “Materials Clearance Workshops” this fall.  Starting in October, the SHA Office of Materials and Technology will hold one-day worships on the materials clearance process, covering source submittals, documentation, responsibilities of the contractors and project personnel, and final materials clearance.  The intended audience for the workshops is contractors, producers, consultants, and project personnel.  If you would like to attend a workshop, please call Abdul Mahmud at 410 321 3165, Linda Gale at 410 321 4120, or Woody Hood at 410 321 4100—and you will receive notification of the workshop schedule.