Don Marsh – Concrete Products

Market forces best regulators for aligning cement and concrete with Paris Accord

October 24, 2020October 24, 2020 Don Marsh

Associated Builders & Contractors officials emphasize regulatory reform in their endorsement of President Trump for a second term. Nowhere is their praise more warranted—and substance of their observations better validated—than in his June 2017 withdrawal from the Paris Accord. Recall how that faux treaty, finalized in December 2015 under the United Nations Conference of Parties, held signatories to voluntary greenhouse…

Pipe, box culvert producers extend long tradition of value and integrity

October 19, 2020October 19, 2020 Don Marsh

Our 2020 association chairman’s report series concludes this month with Bill Waushabaugh Jr., who leads one of the best family owned and operated businesses in concrete production. He credits the success of Northern Concrete Pipe Inc., now in its seventh decade, to a loyal group of team members, both family and nearly so. Membership in the American Concrete Pipe Association,…

Court shows do’s, don’ts, dares of union-organizing resistance

September 28, 2019 Don Marsh

A legal petition involving the United Steel Workers (USW), National Labor Relations Board and an equipment manufacturer provides employers an instructive take on permissible language and tactics for confronting union representation campaigns. A U.S. Court of Appeals opinion honored an employer’s challenge of NLRB decisions surrounding a 2015 USW organizing campaign. Union-friendly decisions went hand in hand with National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) interpretations the Board made while answering to President Barack Obama.

When carbon accounting accuracy climbs, wood building claims sink

May 24, 2019 Don Marsh

The transparency push scouring building specifications for carbon dioxide emission sources is striking wood products. Parties that enjoyed the cover of live tree and sawmill output narratives on carbon sequestration now face market scrutiny of net emissions from logging operations and old growth or younger forest harvesting.

False Claims Act meets air entrainment

April 16, 2019 Don Marsh

A case involving alleged False Claims Act violations and Pennsylvania precaster Universal Concrete Products Corp. is drawing to a close in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria. It unfolded over three years from claims of an ex-quality control technician-turned-whistleblower who is now on track to share in “recoveries” from his former employer and colleagues.

Safety incentives: Legal and logical

November 27, 2018 Don Marsh

Up against this month’s deadline, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association logged a productive week in Washington, D.C., led by Chairman Rodney Grogan (MMC Materials), Vice Chairman Bill Sandbrook (U.S. Concrete) and Safety, Environmental and Operations Committee Chairman David Williams’ (Chaney Enterprises) participation in a Pledge to America’s Workers event at the White House.

Big Labor scripts prevailing wage template for mixer truck drivers

November 2, 2018 Don Marsh

Setting aside the vast differences in the value of product they deliver, do concrete mixer truck drivers dispatched to public works projects deserve state-mandated wage supports not accorded to counterparts hauling asphalt?

Pervious pavement, permeable pavers traffic Smart Surfaces Coalition goals

October 11, 2018 Don Marsh

If not from day one, the U.S. Green Building Council has come around on construction criteria where concrete excels: Life cycle assessment (LCA), starting with LEED v4 green building rating system provisions, and now as one of the principles guiding an advocacy effort friendly to pervious or permeable interlocking concrete pavements.

Tall timber not ready for prime time

August 16, 2018 Don Marsh

It has been a tough summer for advocates of combustible materials-rich construction methods that stretch the limits of relaxed building codes and are pitched as environmentally friendly alternatives to concrete or steel.

NCMA begins second century equal to challenges new and old

June 20, 2018 Don Marsh

Congratulations to members and staff are the order of the month as the National Concrete Masonry Association observes a 100-year anniversary. One of the oldest groups in building and construction, it shares a century mark with businesses and organizations no less than Ash Grove Cement, Besser Co. and Lehigh Portland Cement, as well as the American Concrete Institute, American Concrete Pipe Association and Portland Cement Association.