The phrase: "If you build it, they will come," from the movie "Field of Dreams," has become another way of expressing unbridled optimism. Columbia, S.C., might want to consider paraphrasing that to: "We're building it ... and they keep on coming," as the Palmetto State's capital city enjoys a boom the likes of which it has never seen.

Custom screens boost production at one of the nation's largest granite quarries.

A Hercules heavy-duty trommel screen, one of four units sold to Damon Pursell Construction of Liberty, Mo., is busy processing rock for use in rebuilding the damaged levees of New Orleans.

A Pennsylvania quarry solves blinding on flat-deck polyurethane screen.

A portable wash plant operation uses a closed-circuit clarifier to work more pits profitably — even when water is scarce.

There are companies who, cliché as it might sound, see problems as challenges, address them, and make them work to their advantage. In the early 1990s, a combination of rising demand for sand to meet the needs of asphalt producers and precious few available sand pits in the area, prompted Luck Stone Corp. to consider adding manufactured sand to its product mix.

MACS (Mobile Aggregate Crushing System) is a portable crushing/screening system that is turning some heads in the aggregates industry. Designed and built by Terex Cedarapids, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the first MACS plant was presented to distributors and Pit & Quarry magazine in April. The first unit was well received and sold by June to H.E. Hunewill Construction Co. Inc. of Winnemucca, Nev.

Mid-Ohio Resources has mastered the art of aggregate cooking, so to speak. The new "recipe" plant has the right production team, processes and equipment to create a myriad of custom specification blends for the region's contractors and concrete producers.

While piloting his helicopter over east central Alabama about six years ago, Rodney Walker spotted a granite ridge gleaming in the sunlight. To him, this was literally buried treasure. After all, he understood the serious need for additional sources of high-quality aggregate. As a general contractor, he had to haul in material from 40 miles away.