The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) announced its Top 10 Pr­­­­ojects list for the 2017 construction season April 12. This year’s top project will build five freeway-like interchanges on Bangerter Highway in the southwest Salt Lake Valley over the next two years. The $249 million project will be completed in late 2018. UDOT has 180 [...]

Safety Components, Greenville, S.C., has named Ana-Maria Petrea as merchandise planning manager. Petrea will manage planning for Safety Components’ rapidly growing product lines, such as WeatherMAX performance outdoor fabric, Armor AP, Glide Ice and PBI Max structural firefighting materials. She has extensive experience as a demand forecast analyst and is skilled in inventory level control, [...]

Ed Hunzinger, former owner of Evanston Awning Co., Evanston, Ill., passed away on April 11, 2017 after a long battle with cancer. Hunzinger passed on the family tradition in the industrial fabrics industry to his fifth-generation sons who have successfully taken the reins of Evanston Awning Co. In his “retirement” he began volunteering on the [...]

Serge Ferrari North America, Pompano Beach, Fla., welcomes Julie Bui to the sales team as regional sales manager for the South Central United States. She will handle sales and service of Serge Ferrari products in the states of Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois. Bui, who most recently worked as a [...]

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) made available $768.2 million for emergency repair work on roads and bridges damaged by storms or catastrophic events in 40 states. Funded through the Emergency Relief (ER) program, it is one of the largest single awards for such repair work made by the federal government. “Transportation is a lifeline for [...]

The American Rental Association (ARA), Moline, Ill., has released a new five-year forecast for equipment rental industry revenues that shows a moderate strengthening compared to the November forecast. ARA now projects U.S. equipment rental revenue will reach $48.9 billion in 2017. It estimates that the industry will grow at an average annual rate of 4.3 [...]

The worldwide production capacity for bio-based polymers grew by four percent to 6.6 million tons in 2016 according to a market study by the Cologne, Germany-based nova-Institute. This represents a two percent share of the global polymer market. The bio-based polymer turnover was about $13.8 billion worldwide in 2016 compared to $11.7 billion in 2014. [...]

Agru America’s newest manufacturing center in Charleston, S.C., aimed at meeting the international demand for next-generation large diameter HDPE pipes, started production in early April 2017. The facility, located on Charleston Harbor, is producing AGRULINE pipes with dimensions of up to OD 2500 mm (98.4 in.) designed for high-volume flow applications including gas, potable water, [...]

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has announced plans to spend $2.3 billion in bridge and road improvements in 2017. ODOT said it has scheduled 1,098 projects this construction season. Twenty-six projects have a value of more than $10 million, and 6,945 miles of roadway are planned to be paved. Ninety-one safety projects also are [...]

Don Wedge, former owner of the Marine Training Institute, Palmetto, Fla., passed away peacefully on April 3. Wedge helped launch the Marine Fabricators Association and the Master Fabric Craftsman (MFA) program. He was well known for his training school, instructional videos and developing patterning techniques. Wedge was the first inductee into the MFA Hall of [...]