NSSGA Hosts Congressional Staff Trip To CONEXPO-CON/AGG

At CONEXPO-CON/AGG, NSSGA teamed up with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) to host a congressional staff trip. The congressional staffers arrived in Las Vegas on March 18, for a welcoming reception and dinner. NSSGA chairman Rick Feltes, Feltes Sand and Gravel, NSSGA President & CEO Joy Wilson and Government Affairs Committee Chairman, Mike Agee, Rogers Group, Inc., greeted participants and explained the association and the important role of aggregates in everyday life. The reception enabled NSSGA leaders and congressional staff to interact and gave NSSGA the opportunity to respond to questions about the aggregates industry.

On March 19, the group met to tour the CONEXPO-CON/AGG show. The staffers visited with constituent companies to learn about local employment and the economic impacts of aggregates. During the tour, the staff visited with representatives of John Deere, Volvo, Caterpillar, Terex, JLG and Case, among others.

Trip participants toured the Hoover Dam on Saturday afternoon, learning how construction of the dam started in 1931 and was completed in 1935, under-budget and ahead of schedule. Hoover Dam was the first man-made structure to exceed the masonry mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt and contains enough concrete to pave a strip 16 feet wide and eight inches thick from San Francisco to New York City. More than five million barrels of Portland cement and 4.5 million cubic yards of aggregate went into the dam. Hoover Dam is a National Historic Landmark and has been rated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of America's Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders.

The congressional staff trip was a successful partnering with AEM, allowing participants an opportunity to learn about the important role of aggregates in our built environment and to see firsthand the equipment that moves them.

1. The congressional staff tour's first stop was at the NSSGA main booth where a group photo was taken in front of the sand sculpture. 2. Elizabeth Carter, Office of Representative Shuster, tried out some of the equipment. 3. Staffers took a moment to watch the "Dancin' Diggers" from JCB Construction perfom.

4. Ari Strauss, Office of Representative Holden, gets a bird's-eye view of the trade show from the cab of a loader. 5. In addition to realizing the size of the machinery, Chris Huckleberry, Office of Representative Capuano, learned about its different applications. 6. Tour participants put on their hard hats to prepare to enter the Hoover Dam.

7. Bill, our Hoover Dam guide, explained that all of the fixtures within the dam are the orginals dating back to the early 1930s. 8. The tour's next stop is to the generator room, where all participiants recieved ear plugs prior to entering the room .There are 17 main turbines in Hoover Powerplant that generate more than 4 billion kilowatt-hours a year - enough to serve 1.3 million people. 9. The generators on the Neveda side of the dam; each generator assists in the producation of hydroelectricity which is a clean, renewable source of energy that does not result in air pollution, chemical runoff, or toxic waste disposal.

10. Outside staffers learn that the Hoover Dam is 726.4 feet from foundation rock to the roadway on the crest of the dam and weights more than 6,600,000 tons equaling 4,360,000 cubic yards of concrete in the dam, powerplant and appurtenant works. 11. This photo was taken from one of the four air vents located in the dam that are the main source of fresh air within the dam. 12. Jim Tymon, House Committee of Transportation and Infrastructure, smiled for a photo with 45,000 pounds of water pressure per square foot only a few feet away.


1. The congressional staff tour's first stop was at the NSSGA main booth where a group photo was taken in front of the sand sculpture.	2. Elizabeth Carter, Office of Representative Shuster, tried out some of the equipment.	3. Staffers took a moment to watch the "Dancin' Diggers" from JCB Construction perfom.

4. Ari Strauss, Office of Representative Holden, gets a bird's-eye view of the trade show from the cab of a loader.	5. In addition to realizing the size of the machinery, Chris Huckleberry, Office of Representative Capuano, learned about its different applications.	6. Tour participants put on their hard hats to prepare to enter the Hoover Dam.

7. Bill, our Hoover Dam guide, explained that all of the fixtures within the dam are the orginals dating back to the early 1930s.	8. The tour's next stop is to the generator room, where all participiants recieved ear plugs prior to entering the room .There are 17 main turbines in Hoover Powerplant that generate more than 4 billion kilowatt-hours a year - enough to serve 1.3 million people.	9. The generators on the Neveda side of the dam; each generator assists in the producation of hydroelectricity which is a clean, renewable source of energy that does not result in air pollution, chemical runoff, or toxic waste disposal.

10. Outside staffers learn that the Hoover Dam is 726.4 feet from foundation rock to the roadway on the crest of the dam and weights more than 6,600,000 tons equaling 4,360,000 cubic yards of concrete in the dam, powerplant and appurtenant works.	11. This photo was taken from one of the four air vents located in the dam that are the main source of fresh air within the dam.	12. Jim Tymon, House Committee of Transportation and Infrastructure, smiled for a photo with 45,000 pounds of water pressure per square foot only a few feet away.