Rail supplier news from Koppers, Stella-Jones, Harsco, A. Stucki and Gannett Fleming (Nov. 11)

Leroy Ball has been promoted to president and chief executive officer of Koppers Holding Inc., effective Jan. 1, 2015. He will succeed Walter Turner, the company's president and CEO since 1998. Ball has served as chief operating officer of Koppers since May 2014, and has been responsible for the company's global business operations and financial reporting. He also has served as the company's vice president and chief financial officer. Previously, Ball was senior VP and CFO of Calgon Corp.

Stella-Jones Inc. reported third-quarter sales of $357 million, up 25 percent from $285 million in third-quarter 2013 sales. Operating assets acquired from The Pacific Wood Preserving Cos. in November 2013 and Boatright Railroad Products Inc. in May 2014 contributed sales of $11.2 million and $12 million, respectively. Railroad tie sales rose 49.7 percent to $148.8 million. Excluding sales from acquired assets and the fluctuations in the value of the Canadian versus U.S. dollar, tie sales increased 14 percent.

Harsco Corp. reported that, excluding special items, third-quarter adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations totaled 32 cents compared with 20 cents in third-quarter 2013, which included results from the company's infrastructure segment that was divested in fourth-quarter 2013. Adjusted operating income, excluding special items, totaled $49 million, above the company's prior guidance range of $43 million to $48 million. Adjusted earnings per share — excluding special items of 32 cents — exceeded the guidance range of 26 cents to 31 cents per share.

A. Stucki Co. has formed several subsidiaries into an industrial division. They include: Alco Spring Industries Inc., a manufacturer of hot wound coiled springs in Chicago Heights, Ill.; Hallman Foundry, a foundry that produces iron castings in Sanford, N.C., for the rail and industrial markets; and Seco Machine, which provides contract manufacturing and urethane pour services in North Canton, Ohio.

Charles Lynch and Jeffery Hurley have joined Gannett Fleming’s team in San Bruno, Calif. With more than 35 years of experience, Lynch previously worked in the Jacksonville, Fla., office. As a vice president of the firm's Transit and Rail Systems Division, he will serve as project manager for the firm’s work to support Caltrain’s modernization program, including the Peninsula Corridor electrification project. Hurley will serve as deputy project manager on the Caltrain project. With more than 20 years of transit engineering and construction project management experience, he will lead day-to-day operations for the project and serve as a liaison between project stakeholders.