EZ Street Canada develops asphalt mix for use in extreme cold PETER KENTER correspondent Hot mix is often the asphalt of choice for paving projects, but EZ Street Canada is aiming to take a bite out of the market with a cold asphalt paving mix that can be applied without heating at temperatures ranging from minus 18C to 38C. The product, developed in Florida by the EZ Street parent company, employs advanced polymers that allow the material to be stored indefinitely and applied without additional preparation under a wide range of weather conditions. Chris Hunt, one of the founding partners of EZ Street Canada, says he first heard about the product after he spent 10 Euros to register the web name EZ.ST in the island nation of Sao Tomé on a whim. “It was a great web address, but I didn’t really need it, so I decided to contact anyone with a similar business name who might want to take it over,” he says. “Lars Seagren, who founded EZ Street, was the only one to respond, and he told me he’d just been getting...

How big is the 2011 oil price shock? By Gavyn DaviesFebruary 24, 2011 6:55 am

Each of the last five major downturns in global economic activity has been immediately preceded by a major spike in oil prices. Sometimes (e.g. in the 1970s and in 1990), the surge in oil prices has been due to supply restrictions, triggered by Opec or by war in the Middle East. Other times (e.g. in 2008), it has been due to rapid growth in the demand for oil.

But in both cases the contractionary effects of higher energy prices have eventually proven too much for the world economy to shrug off. With the global average price of oil having moved above $100 per barrel in recent days – about 33 per cent higher than the price last summer – it is natural to fear that this latest oil shock may be enough to kill the global economic recovery. But oil prices would have to rise much further, and persist for much longer, for these fears to be justified.

With global oil supply already impacted by Libyan shut-downs, the threat...

Oil prices surge 6% on Libya unrest By Aaron Smith, staff writer February 22, 2011: 3:15 PM ET CNN Money

 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Oil prices jumped 6% Tuesday, spiking as high as $98 a barrel earlier in the session, as the crisis in Libya sparked concern that the turmoil roiling the Middle East could spread to other producing countries -- including Saudi Arabia.



U.S. crude for April delivery rose $5.71, or 6.4%, to settle at $95.42 a barrel in midday activity. The U.S. market was closed Monday for a holiday, although there was a 6% gain in international trading.

Unrest in Libya has entered its eighth day, fueled by protestors against high unemployment and dictator Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year reign. At least 233 people have been killed since protests began, according to Human Rights Watch.

Gadhafi appeared on state-run television in front of his Tripoli home, the damage still evident from a U.S. bombing in the 1980s, in response to Western news reports that he had fled the...

Waterloo debates whether asphalt, concrete is best street optionBy TIM JAMISON, tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com wcfcourier.com | Posted: Sunday, February 20, 2011 9:00 pm

 

WATERLOO, Iowa --- City leaders are trying to determine whether asphalt or concrete provides the most bang for their street paving bucks.

Mayor Buck Clark has organized a series of City Council work sessions this month to gather information on both options and determine which material should be used for the roughly $4 million in street reconstruction projects the city awards annually with local option sales tax revenue.

"I was trying to get this done when I was (a councilman) because I never quite understood why we never get bids from concrete contractors," Clark said. "I want to confirm that what we are doing in Waterloo in reconstructing our streets was the right thing."

Representatives of the Iowa Concrete Paving Association made their pitch Monday, while their counterparts from the Asphalt Paving Association...

By Dolan Media Newswires MILWAUKEE - The town of Maplehurst in Taylor County just awarded a 1-mile road paving contract for $107,165. Five years ago, that same project on Putnam Drive would have cost the town about $34,000, said Town Clerk Donald Schindler. The town didn't have the money for the job five years ago, he said. When the money ...

The gasoline at the pump might be fine for your new car but harmful to your boat engine.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently decided to allow gasoline to have 15 percent ethanol, up from 10 percent.

The new blend is approved for 2001 and newer model cars and trucks - but not boats, buses, delivery trucks and other large vehicles.

China, Asia’s biggest oil consumer, increased retail gasoline and diesel prices for the first time this year after crude in London rose above $100 a barrel. Prices of both gasoline and diesel will rise by 350 yuan ($53) a ton starting today, or as much as 4.6 percent, the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner, said on its website yesterday. Gasoline in Xinjiang, the lowest among all Chinese cities, cost 8,265 yuan a metric ton and diesel was at 7,630 yuan a ton before the increase.