Forterra prevails in court challenge to HeidelbergCement affiliate claims

Sources: Forterra Inc., Irving, Texas; CP staff

Delaware Court of Chancery has granted Forterra attorneys’ motion to dismiss a lawsuit that HeidelbergCement AG affiliates had filed over earn-out contingency fees tied to the $1.2 billion sale of the former Hanson Building Materials. Terms called for buyer Lone Star Fund IX (U.S.), L.P. to pay an additional sum for the 67-plant business, up to $100 million, depending on fiscal 2015 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) thresholds.

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Laser tunnel’s HPC mixes stingy on aluminum, magnesium and silica

CC121217 Tunnel

Sources: LafargeHolcim Ltd., Zurich; CP staff

LafargeHolcim and Holcim Deutschland have formulated a series of high-performance concrete mixes for a 3.4-kilometer tunnel housing the world’s most powerful X-ray laser. Located near Hamburg, Germany, the European XFEL generates extremely intense X-ray flashes allowing researchers around the world to map atomic details of viruses, record chemical reactions, and study planets’ interior processes.

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Prefabricated elements top commercial contractors’ productivity catalysts

Sources: USG Corp., Chicago; U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C.

Ninety percent of contractors surveyed for the USG + U.S. Chamber Q4 2017 Commercial Construction Index do not consider jobsites to be very efficient. Respondents identify labor productivity as the means to achieving jobsite efficiency, a metric they acknowledge can be improved by using more prefabricated building elements.

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Clark Pacific commits $200K to Sacramento State Concrete Lab

Source: Clark Pacific, West Sacramento, Calif.

Clark Pacific has donated $200,000 to help develop the Sacramento State Civil Engineering Department concrete laboratory, which will offer generations of students hands-on experience and support primary research targeting new technologies and continuous concrete construction improvement.

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Volvo CE chief Weissburg to shift to Mack Trucks as Slagle successor

Source: Mack Trucks, Greensboro, N.C.

Volvo Construction Equipment President Martin Weissburg will transition in the same capacity to Mack Trucks in June 2018 and remain a Volvo Group Executive Board member. He served as president of Volvo Financial Services Americas from 2005 to 2010, when he was named to lead the global unit, and appointed to his present post in 2014. Based at the Mack Trucks headquarters in North Carolina, Weissburg succeeds Dennis Slagle, who will remain with the Volvo Group as a special projects leader reporting to CEO Martin Lundstedt.

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ICF specs net mid-rise apartment developer HUD-reduced mortgage terms

Sources: Walker & Dunlop Inc., Bethesda, Md.; TF Forming Systems, Green Bay, Wis.; CP staff

Bedford Development has started the six-story Manseau Flats apartment project in Ashwaubenon, Wis., on the strength of insulating concrete walls and a mortgage package economized by a U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development program rewarding energy efficient multi-family dwelling design.

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ACI broadens standards reach, concrete knowledge from the ICC to Gulf of Tonkin

Sources: American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, Mich.; CP staff

An expanded ACI scope reflecting a proactive approach to global standards advocacy is embodied in a revised mission statement: “ACI develops, disseminates, and advances the adoption of consensus-based knowledge on concrete and its uses.”

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Kenworth Truck, Con-Tech Mfg. add to CIM Auction fleet

Sources: CIM National Steering Committee, Murfreesboro, Tenn.; CP staff

Kenworth Truck and Con-Tech Manufacturing will deliver the second of two anchor items up for bid in the 2018 Concrete Industry Management Auction, January 24 in Las Vegas: An 11-yd. BridgeKing mounted on a T880S model. Kenworth Truck Assistant General Manager for Sales and Marketing Kevin Baney calls the donation from his company, plus Kenworth of Central Florida, Con-Tech and other valued supplier partners, “an excellent way to support CIM’s very important program designed to develop the concrete industry’s leaders of the future.”

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Home exterior cost survey finds brick besting veneer stone, fiber cement

Sources: Brick Industry Association (BIA), Reston, Va.; CP staff

An updated BIA study involving seven common home exterior products shows that fired-clay brick costs about half as much as manufactured stone, and just a third more than fiber cement before considering lifetime maintenance costs. Developed by RSMeans, it compares the installed cost of total house construction for brick veneer over wood framing with the cost of adhered manufactured stone, stucco, wood shingle, plus vinyl, fiber cement or horizontal wood siding alternatives.

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