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Aggregates and Infrastructure
Aggregates: Low-Tech Products That Make the World Better
t’s hard to dispute the fact that many high-tech products make the world a better place. It’s easy to forget, however, that decidedly low-tech products can also make their mark in today’s world. Take, for example, aggregates, which certainly lack the luster of most high-tech creations. Aggregates are just stones, after all. But they provide the foundation for the roads and bridges on which we drive and the homes and offices in which we live and work, among other things. Aggregates are an important commodity for G&W as well. Among the roads leading the way in hauling aggregates are the Dallas, Garland & Northeastern (DGNO) and Providence and Worcester (PW) railroads. NATURALLY OCCURRING RAW MATERIALS Aggregates are naturally occurring raw materials, including gravel and crushed stone, that are extracted from pits and quarries in each U.S. state and nearly 75% of the nation’s counties. When used with a binding medium, such as water or cement, they form compound materials, including asphalt, concrete and Portland cement. DGNO’s work for Lattimore Materials, a concrete and aggregate producer located in northern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma – now known as Holcim-Sor – dates to 1999. The local economy was booming at the time – with increasing
Idemand for aggregates to build highways, homes, shopping malls, schools and the like. Lattimore, in need of a more effective mode of transportation than trucking to meet the growing demand for its products, turned to DGNO to deliver railcars of crushed limestone to its ready-mix plant in Plano, Texas, which, at the time, was solely a truck-served facility. From that starting point, the relationship between Lattimore and DGNO grew quickly. Between 2000 and 2005, Lattimore built two new rail-served aggregate transload/ready-mix terminals, both of which are serviced by DGNO. REMARKABLE RAILCAR GROWTH “Those terminals have produced remarkable railcar growth for DGNO to this day,” says Maureen Byrne, director of sales and marketing for DGNO and other G&W Southern Region railroads. “Currently, Holcim’s aggregate shipments with DGNO total between 15,000 and 20,000 carloads annually, representing a significant portion of the road’s business.” Byrne sees every indication that DGNO’s partnership with Holcim will continue to grow in the coming years. “For one thing,” she says, “crushed stone production was at its highest level in 14 years in 2021 and has continued to grow in 2022, which is a very positive sign. More importantly, the oncein-a-generation $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill, which includes $110 billion in new spending on roads and bridges, should generate growth in this sector for years to come.” SERVICE AND SAFETY ARE KEY There are two keys to DGNO building its business with Holcim, according to Joe Newsom, the railroad’s assistant general manager. The first is to continue providing outstanding service. “The DGNO team understands the importance of consistently providing a high level of service to Holcim,” says Newsom. “We have established a service design that is reliable and meets Holcim’s needs while remaining flexible for projected future growth.” The second is to continue ensuring outstanding safety performance. “DGNO employees work in Holcim’s facility, so our safety ethic affects their employees, too,” says Byrne. “It gives Holcim confidence in DGNO – not only from a safety perspective but in all areas of our business relationship.”
Dallas, Garland & Northeastern Railroad (DGNO) in Dallas, Texas.
— Maureen Byrne, director of sales and marketing for DGNO and other G&W Southern Region railroads.
Providence and Worcester Railroad (PW) in Wallingford, Connecticut. NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY That focus on excellence in customer relations is paying dividends for PW. “We are in the process of setting up a third-party transload on the site of a mothballed quarry operation in Danielson, Connecticut, that Tilson owns,” says Foley. “A containerized waste-to-rail project with Arrowhead Environmental Partners is underway there and is scheduled to be operational in the second quarter of 2023. When complete, it will deliver 400 carloads of new business annually to PW.” The linchpin of the 32-year relationship between Tilcon and PW has been and continues to be a laser focus on safety. “Tilcon is very much vested in the health and wellbeing of its employees, as is PW,” says Foley. “Our goal every day is to ensure that we are operating safely at all Tilcon quarries and receiving yards.” n
MAINSTAY BUSINESS FOR PW Since 1990, Providence and Worcester Railroad (PW) has been doing business with Tilcon Connecticut, a century-old construction and aggregates company. In 2021, PW hauled approximately 8,500 carloads of aggregates from Tilcon’s quarries in Wallingford and Branford, Connecticut, to customers. “Tilcon is PW’s single largest shipper, and their business is extremely important to us,” says Ed Foley, assistant vice president of sales and marketing for G&W’s Northern Region railroads. “At PW, we understand that our solid relationship with Tilcon is based on working safely, focusing on doing our jobs well, exceeding customer expectations and delivering effective communication. It truly is a relationship that is based on mutual respect and trust, and we take that very seriously.”
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When Aggregates Become More Than Stones
Aggregates shape the world in which we live. Here are some construction industry statistics that tell the story of the importance of aggregates to society today:
n On average, 38,000 tons of aggregates are
necessary to construct one mile of interstate highway.
n Construction of the average home requires
400 tons of aggregates.
n Construction of the average school or hospital
