C&D News

CONEXPO ANNOUNCES SEMINARS

The seminar program for ConExpo-Con/Agg 2005 has been published and distributed, along with a new registration brochure for the massive construction and aggregates industry event.

ConExpo, held every three years in Las Vegas, is March 15-19, 2005, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The annual meetings of several associations are being held in coordination with ConExpo, including the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA) Annual Meeting at Treasure Island Tuesday, March 16.

Select seminars will offer simultaneous translation in four languages (Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish ) to make it easier for international attendees to more fully participate in the exposition and to reap the benefits of onsite education, according to the show’s organizers.

More than 100,000 industry professionals from around the world are expected to visit the show. Approximately 14 percent of the audience for the 2002 ConExpo (the most recent) consisted of international participants.

The following 90-minute seminar sessions are part of the planned programming:

• "Avoiding Eight Common Mistakes in Hot Mix Asphalt Production," 9:30 a.m., Thursday, March 17;

• "Aggregates: From Mother Nature to the Road – What to Expect Along the Way," 1 p.m., Thurday, March 17;

• "The Latest on Concrete and Asphalt Recycling," 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, and Friday, March 18;

• "What’s Happening in Asphalt Shingle Recycling," 3 p.m., Wednesday, March 16;

• "Recycling in the Highway Environment," 9:30 a.m., Thursday, March 17;

• "Challenges and Opportunities in Green Construction and LEED," 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 15.

More than 100,000 attendees and 2,300 exhibitors are expected for ConExpo-Con/Agg 2005.

Those seeking more information or who wish to register can visit www. conexpoconagg.com or contact the show offices at (800) 867-6060.

GRAPE STAKES OF WRATH

Thousands of tons of chromated-copper-arsenate-treated (CCA) wood stakes that were used for years on acres of California agricultural grape land now sit in heaps, waiting for disposal.

According to the Fresno Bee, several mounds of the stakes are spread throughout the San Joaquin Valley in central California, a legacy to the economic downturn the vineyard industry suffered three years ago, when many farmers tore out the stakes to plant more profitable crops.

Some say the cost of removal could be staggering. The Fresno Bee reports an estimated cost of $63,000 to get rid of the stakes from just one 20-acre parcel of the more than 100,000 acres of land the stakes occupy.

For years farmers burned old debris in fields, but attempting to burn the CCA stakes would release toxic chemicals into the air and leave potentially toxic ash. Chipping them can also cause air quality problems, and the chemicals can leach into soil and contaminate water if the stakes are landfilled.

Farmers are allowed to dump the stakes at hazardous waste landfills or at lower-level disposal sites with composite linings for $35 to $65 per ton.

However, that option ends January 2007, when new regulations take effect.

Read Next

People

November 2004
Explore the November 2004 Issue

Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.