RockBlog
Stone, the Original Green Building Material
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
From Building Greenhttp://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm/2013/3/29/Stone-The-Original-Green-Building-Material/Stone was one of our first building materials. It has been used to construct everything from humble dwellings to our most iconic structures. As a building material, stone requires virtually no manufacturing and is so durable that stone structures built thousands of years ago are still used today—characteristics few contemporary “green” products can equal. Yet stone has been largely overlooked by the green building movement, while ephemeral products made of recycled plastic often carry ... Read More
Salinas Update: Building, Farming Lead Positive Job Trends
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
This fromD.L. Taylor of the Salinas Californian, , March 29, 2013Jobless numbers for both Salinas and Monterey County continued to decline during February, according to data released Friday by the state Employment Development Department. It marks the second straight month the local economy has seen jumps in the number of employed residents.The unemployment rate for Monterey County stood at 13.5 percent in February, down nearly a full percentage point from February 2012’s mark of 14.4 percent, ... Read More
Construction Coming Back to Life
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
On the front page of Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle, writer Carolyn Said heralds a rebound in San Francsico's construction job market.The housing downturn and recession clobbered the construction industry, wiping out 2.2 million jobs nationwide and about 380,000 in California. But now, those jobs are coming back — and the Bay Area with its current building boom, is the epicenter of a recovery in solid, blue-collar employment for skilled tradespeople, as we investigate here.Construction provided the ... Read More
Salinas Unveils New Economic Development Plan
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
From the March 29 issue of the Monterey County Business Council '"Friday Facts":The city of Salinas (BCM) this week unveiled a new strategy to entice new companies, expand existing companies and grow local startups with the hope of bringing badly needed jobs to the Salinas Valley.Components of the economic development strategy include a new logo, a new website, marketing materials and a lot of shoe leather invested in educating the world about Salinas.The strategy will focus ... Read More
Workers Saving Too Little to Retire
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
This from the Tuesday, March 19 issue of the Wall Street Journal:Workers and employers in the U.S. are bracing for a retirement crisis, even as the stock market sits near highs and the economy shows signs of improvement. New data show that powerful financial and demographic forces are combining to squeeze individuals and companies that are trying to save for the future and make their money last.Fifty-seven percent of U.S. workers surveyed reported less than $25,000 ... Read More
Rail Transportation - Protecting Our Environment Now and for the Future
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
Trains are one of the nation's most environmentally friendly modes of moving freight, generating a carbon footprint that is 75 percent less than trucks. In recent decades, the railroad industry has developed new “green” technologies and environmentally responsible operating practices which have led to improved fuel efficiency. Since 1980, railroad fuel efficiency has increased 99 percent. In fact, today’s railcars can move a ton of freight 469 miles on a single gallon of fuel. At Graniterock, ... Read More
Carbon Tax Would Wallop Our Economy
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
Posted this week by Manufacturers.net:WASHINGTON -- Today, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) released a study conducted by NERA Economic Consulting that shows a carbon tax would have a devastating impact on manufacturing and jobs. The report, titled Economic Outcomes of a U.S. Carbon Tax, found that levying such a tax would impact millions of jobs and result in higher prices for natural gas, electricity, gasoline and other energy commodities. Manufacturing output in energy-intensive sectors could ... Read More
Hearing Highlights Federal Role in Infrastructure and Economic Importance of Transportation System
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
On Febraury 13, 2013, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure began hearings. For more please go to http://transportation.house.gov/press-release/hearing-highlights-federal-role-infrastructure-and-economic-importance-transportationWashington, DC – The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held its first hearing of the 113th Congress today focusing on the importance of infrastructure to the U.S. economy and examining the role played by the Federal Government in ensuring safe, efficient, and reliable infrastructure.Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) highlighted how the quality of the Nation’s infrastructure affects the lives ... Read More
Calculating the True Cost of a Workplace Accident
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
This article from Grainger.com highlights the importance of protection in the workplace.At the bustling Lisi aerospace - Hi Shear Corp. plant in Torrance, California, among the 680 employees is a group of highly experienced machinists, some with more than 30 years on the job. The challenge is that when one of these workers gets injured, the costs can be high. It can take up to three weeks to train a replacement, there's equipment down-time, interrupted schedules ... Read More
Performance Grade Systems for Asphalt Binders
Posted by Graniterock on Wed, March 18th, 2015, 8:16 am
BackgroundAsphalt binders are most commonly graded by their physical properties. An asphalt binder’s physical properties directly describe how it will perform as a constituent in asphalt concrete (AC) pavement. Although asphalt binder penetration and viscosity grading are still commonly used worldwide, new binder tests and specifications have been developed to more accurately characterize asphalt binders for use in AC pavements. The most advanced asphalt binder grading system is Performance Graded (PG) System, which resulted from the ... Read More
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