Capitol Hill staff tour Virginia quarry, See transportation construction up close
Dozens of Capitol Hill staff and transportation and construction advocates traded committee rooms for an aggregate facility on June 29, traveling to Luck Stone’s Bull Run Quarry for an up-close look at the experts, equipment, and operations that keep America building.
Hosted by the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) in partnership with the American Cement Association, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, and NAPA, the daylong tour combined interactive presentations, technical demonstrations, and a detailed tour of a first-class aggregates operation. The site, also home to one of Superior Paving’s 12 Virginia asphalt plants, gave attendees a firsthand look at how raw materials become the roads and highways millions of Americans rely on every day.
“Policy conversations in Washington are always stronger when they’re grounded in real-world experience,” said NAPA Director of Government Affairs Mitch Baldwin, who participated in the day’s presentations. “Seeing these operations firsthand gives congressional staff a much better understanding of what’s at stake for the workers, businesses, and communities that depend on a strong transportation network. We’re grateful to Luck Stone, Superior Paving, Vulcan Materials, and our partners at NSSGA for making that possible.”
NAPA’s Mitch Baldwin the importance of advancing the BUILD America 250 Act when he spoke to attendees.
The visit, the second similar event at this site in the last three years, opened with an overview of Luck Stone’s overall business and the Bull Run operation, showcasing the scale of the facility, investments in cutting-edge safety and automation technology, and the critical role aggregates play in virtually every infrastructure project. The discussion quickly turned into a conversation, with Capitol Hill staff asking thoughtful questions about the industry’s workforce, permitting challenges, supply chain, and the importance of stable federal transportation investment.
From there, attendees headed into the field, gathering beside one of the plant’s four autonomous haul trucks—machines that have transported more than one million tons of aggregates at the site—before touring the quarry itself. Conditions allowed participants to witness a live quarry blast, providing a look at the precision, planning, and rigorous safety measures behind an essential step in asphalt pavement production.
Over a working lunch, leaders from seven organizations connected what attendees had seen throughout the morning to the federal policies now being debated in Congress. The message was clear: a strong, multi-year surface transportation reauthorization is essential to sustaining infrastructure investment, supporting American jobs, and giving industry the certainty they need to continue investing in their people and operations. Specifically, speakers highlighted the importance of advancing the BUILD America 250 Act, the bipartisan reauthorization bill approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“By the end of the day, staff weren’t just hearing about our industry—they had experienced it,” Baldwin said. “As Congress continues its reauthorization work, we hope attendees will remember this experience, the scale of these operations, and why long-term infrastructure investment matters in communities across the country.”
