TXI moves ahead with Midlothian TXI announced that the Fuller Co. has been selected to begin engineering for construction of a kiln at TXI's Midlothian, Texas plant. This follows an announcement earlier this month that the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission issued a permit to TXI for construction of a new kiln system at the plant. This new system will make TXI's Midlothian operation the largest cement plant in the country. Plans call for a state-of-the-art kiln that will increase TXI's production capacity from 1.3 million to 2.8 million tpy. According to TXI, the kiln will use the most advanced air pollution control system ever utilized by a cement plant in the United States, thereby reducing overall emission levels.

This extra tonnage should help combat the shortfalls that Texas is having in meeting the demand for cement. According to the Portland Cement Association, Texas cement production in 1998 was 9.3 million mt, while consumption was 12 million mt. These shortfalls are being met by imports. U.S. cement consumption in 1998 is expected to exceed domestic production capacity by 20 million mt.

St. Lawrence tackles "Year 2000" concerns St. Lawrence Cement is in the process of reviewing all of its internal computer-based systems and has established a global, corporate-wide program to ensure that all such systems are or will be Year 2000 compliant. Recent media reports indicate that moving into the 21st Century may cause a disruption to some computer and other microchip-controlled systems.

In a statement issued by St. Lawrence to its suppliers, the company asked for assurances that:

* the flow of goods and services from suppliers will not be interrupted by any issues related to Year 2000 compliance;

* the administrative systems used by suppliers in the normal course of business (such as order entry, delivery planning, invoicing, etc.) will perform accurately and not be affected functionally by dates prior to, during, and after Jan. 1, 2000;

* beyond the normal cost associated with goods and services, the acquisition of goods and services to be delivered before or after Jan. 1, 2000 will not cause any additional charges to [the St. Lawrence] group of companies due to Year 2000 non-compliance; and

* that products currently installed and future products to be installed in all [St. Lawrence] sites are Year 2000 compliant.

St. Lawrence also has amended its currently outstanding purchase orders and all future orders for products or services to be supplied in the future by adding to each purchase order an "Addendum for Year 2000 compliance" attachment.

Earlier in 1998, Cemex USA and its subsidiaries announced their intentions to have all its companies obtain Year 2000 Compliant certification by Dec. 31, 1998. Cemex has yet to announced whether they met that targeted deadline.

For more information on St. Lawrence's compliance strategies, contact the Y2K St. Lawrence Cement Help Desk at (+1) 877-798-2385.

Cement expert Kriner named ASTM committee chair Richard W. Kriner, president, CEMCON Consulting Inc., has been elected the new chairman of the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) Committee C-1 on Cement. This 316-member committee is concerned with developing specifications, test methods, practices, and terminology for hydraulic cement. Kriner's term runs until December 1999. A resident of South Haven, Mich., Kriner has devoted more than 40 years to the industry, working for Lehigh Portland Cement Co.

Correction In the Cementscope column of the November 1998 Rock Products Cement Edition (page 11), we featured a map that mistakenly identified St. Lawrence Cement's planned 500,000-mtpy Greenport, N.Y. cement plant as being locatedin Long Island. In fact, the Greenport facility will be located adjacent to the city of Hudson, N.Y. in Columbia County, across the Hudson River from St. Lawrence Cement's existing Catskill plant. We regret the error.

Portland and blended cement shipments in the United States and Puerto Rico totaled 9.9 million mt in September 1998, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. This was 3% more than revised shipment data in September 1997. Cumulative shipments through September 1998 totaled 75.24 million mt, a 6% increase compared with those of the same period in 1997. Clinker production totaled 6.6 million mt in September and 55.8 million mt for the year to date.