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Oct. 4, 2000

Level One, MSA merge

Rice Lake-based civil engineer Level OneInc. has merged with the 200-person consulting engineer MSA ProfessionalServices Inc., the firms have announced. Level One, which has seven employees, willbecome MSA’s eighth branch office and will be managed by StanleyBuchanan, Level One’s former president. Founded in 1987, Level One provides infrastructuredesign and construction administration for municipalities, sanitarydistricts, the state Department of Transportation and privateclients. MSA Professional Services has offices inBaraboo, Beaver Dam, Friendship, Madison and Rhinelander, as wellas Dubuque, Iowa; Duluth, Minn.; and Galena, Ill. The firm wasincorporated in 1962 as Mid-State Associates Inc. and renamedin 1997.

Cemex acquires Southdown for $2.6 billion

Mexico’s Cemex, one of the world’s largestcement companies, is acquiring cement manufacturer Southdown for$2.6 billion. Boards of both companies approved the deal.
The sale means Cemex will assume $185 million of debt and thatCemex’s expected annual combined sales will be in excess of $6.3billion. Cemex produces, distributes and marketscement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates and clinker through itssubsidiaries on four continents. Southdown has a network of 12cement-manufacturing plants and 45 cement distribution terminalsserving 27 states through the United States.

HNTB buys LDR International

HNTB Corp. announced Wednesday that it hasbought LDR International Inc., an urban design and planning firmbased in Columbia, Md. LDR International’s projects include Baltimore’sInner Harbor, The Woodlands in Houston, Everglades National Parkin Florida, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge between Maryland and Virginiaand projects in Manchester, England, and Belfast, Northern Ireland. In Wisconsin, LDR International has workedon Kenosha’s HarborPark, a multiuse development on a 42-acre siteformerly occupied by a Chrysler Corp. plant. As a result of the purchase, HNTB now employs160 landscape architects, urban designers and planners in 16 ofits 60 U.S. offices. Brian Pieplow, vice president and directorof urban design and planning at HNTB in Kansas City, Mo., willlead the Columbia office. All of LDR International’s principalsand planners, including founders John Hall, Don Hilderbrandt,Frederick Jarvis and Cy Paumier, will also continue to work inMaryland.

Riley Construction donates sculpture toKenosha

Riley Construction Co. Inc. donated an ironsculpture to Kenosha in celebration of the company’s 35th anniversary. The 700-pound sculpture is 3 feet by 8 feetand made of stainless steel and iron. It was designed by Dan Blueof Dan Blue Studio in Chicago. The sculpture is a representation of a 1880’svintage cargo sailing schooner similar to those seen in Kenosha’sharbor carrying steel and lumber.

Culvert operation to be sold

Pitt-Des Moines Inc. has signed a letterof intent to sell its culvert operations to Contech ConstructionProducts Inc., the company announced Tuesday. The operation, part of the steel distributionarea of the company, had revenues last year of $21 million. Terms of the sale were not disclosed andthe completion of the sale is based on a final agreement. Pitt-Des Moines designs and builds tanks,bridges, water storage systems and steel structures. The companyalso distributes steel through eight service centers.