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ROCK products • DECEMBER 2014 13 www.rockproducts.com compared with $470.6 million last year. The decrease is attributable to lower volume in a number of Western mar‐ kets, outstanding claims and unsigned change orders, and timing of new work in the company's power business. Gross profit margin for the quarter in‐ creased slightly to 10.9 percent, driven by solid performance in its power and underground businesses, and offset by continued competitive markets in the West. Construction Materials revenue in‐ creased 12.1 percent to $93.2 million, compared with $83.2 million last year. The revenue increase was attributable to improved volumes related to private sector activity and mixed trends in public markets. Gross profit margin for the quarter was 13.1 percent, compared with 8.8 percent in 2013. Gross profit perform‐ ance was driven by improved volumes and pricing, along with operational efficiencies. "A new long‐term highway bill is essen‐ tial to ensure longer term funding can meet the increasing demand for critical infrastructure projects across the coun‐ try," Roberts said. "We recently experi‐ enced delays in project awards and lettings. The delays were an unantici‐ pated headwind in 2014, and will result in a benefit to our business in 2015, highlighting how swiftly current federal funding uncertainty impacts the timing of public sector work." Granite continues to expect improved gross profit in 2014 and consolidated EBITDA margin of 5 percent to 7 per‐ cent. Consolidated revenues for 2014 are expected to finish at the bottom of the previously announced $2.4 to $2.8 billion range. "Across the country, our business units are extremely busy executing on our record backlog," Roberts said. "We are focused on leveraging this momentum as we look to finish strongly in 2014. This late‐year activity, coupled with op‐ portunities for resolution of outstand‐ ing issues, provides us with an opportunity for strong performance in the fourth quarter and in early 2015." Bridgestone Americas opened its first giant off‐road radial tire plant. Based in Aiken County, S.C., the 1.5‐million‐sq.‐ ft. manufacturing facility produces var‐ ious off‐road radial tire products used to equip heavy haul trucks in mining and aggregates applications. The new plant strengthens Bridgestone's ability to meet the needs of its global customer base in this key segment, according to the company. Kazuhisa Nishigai, COO, Bridgestone Corp., and Gary Garfield, president and CEO of Bridgestone Americas, gathered with regional dignitaries and several hundred others to commemorate the grand opening ceremony. "Bridgestone has made significant in‐ vestments in technology and training to ensure we are producing the world's leading off‐road radial tires in North America," said Nishigai. "We remain highly committed to our mining cus‐ tomers around the globe and will continue to make the right investments for this important segment of our business." In 2011, Bridgestone announced a planned $970 million investment to build the company's first U.S.‐based off‐ road radial tire plant, as well as expand production capacity at Bridgestone's steel cord manufacturing facilities in Clarksville, Tenn., and Saga, Japan. The opening of the Aiken County Off‐road Radial Tire Plant completes the largest portion of this planned investment. "Engineering large and ultra‐large min‐ ing tires is a highly technical process, and Bridgestone has a long tradition of being a leader in bringing these tires to market. The opening of a new off‐road radial tire plant in South Carolina is a strategic busi‐ Bridgestone Opens New Off-Road Tire Plant FAST FACT The new plant strengthens Bridge- stone's ability to meet the needs of its global customer base.