Chryso, GCP admixtures propel UHPC Solutions’ Ductal record

Crews from New Jersey-based UHPC Solutions North America closed out 2023 placing Holcim Ductal ultra-high performance concrete on the third and final phase of a 14-month, 5,000-yd. deck rehabilitation for the two-mile Delaware Memorial Bridge. In partnership with UHPC Solutions and Ductal US officials, a technical team from Saint-Gobain Construction Chemicals’ Chryso and GCP brands helped identify high-range water reducers…

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Court rejects $125M false claims case against Tresca Brothers Concrete 

Sources: McCormack Suny LLC, Boston; Commonwealth of Massachusetts Suffolk Superior Court; CP staff Honoring a motion for summary judgment, Suffolk Superior Court has dismissed a five-year-old case where two whistleblowers asserted that Tresca Brothers Concrete, Sand & Gravel Inc. violated the Massachusetts False Claims Act by providing inaccurate age and water content information on ready mixed orders. Acting on behalf…

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ABC, AGC uniformly harsh in federal project labor agreement rule critiques

Sources: Associated Builders and Contractors, Associated General Contractors of America, Washington, D.C.  Merit shop and union contractors’ top national representatives will seek court action in response to a final Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council rule, Federal Acquisition Regulation: Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects. Effective December 2023, it implements an early-2022 White House executive order requiring federal construction…

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OSHA inspectors’ PPE evolution: Helmets on, hard hats shelved

Sources: Occupational Safety and Health Administration; CP staff The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is replacing traditional hard hats with safety helmets, citing greater protection prospects for inspectors while noting, “OSHA wants employers to make safety and health a core value in their workplaces and is committed to doing the same by leading by example and embracing the evolution of…

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Consumer Confidence Contrasts with Economic Growth

As I have written many times in the past, we pay close attention to both the Conference Board’s monthly measure of consumer confidence, as well as a similar measure from the University of Michigan which they characterize as consumer sentiment. Both descriptions are really interchangeable, as they measure how consumers feel about the times, both politically and economically. We publish…

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ABC challenges Labor Department’s Davis-Bacon rule updates

Sources: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff An Associated Builders and Contractors and the ABC Southeast Texas lawsuit states a case for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division to vacate the Department of Labor’s Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations (DBA) rule, implemented in October and applicable to federal or federally…

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AGC COO Shoaf to succeed CEO Sandherr in Q2 2024

Sources: Associated General Contractors of America, Washington, D.C.; CP staff AGC Chief Executive Officer Stephen Sandherr plans to retire from his post of 27 years, effective March 31, capping an overall 37-year tenure with the organization. “I am grateful to have retained the confidence of AGC’s officers and Board for these many years,” he says. “I am also fortunate to…

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Prometheus bio-concrete scales sound absorption performance

Prometheus Materials, Boulder, Colo. developer of bio-cement and bio-concrete technology debuting in molded, dry cast products, reports strong performance of 2-in. thick specimens subjected to ASTM C423-23, Standard Test Method for Sound Absorption and Sound Absorption Coefficients by the Reverberation Room Method. Testing at the Johns Manville Technical Center Acoustical Laboratory in Littleton, Colo. determined that the company’s bio-concrete—formulated with…

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Merit shop contractors report $1.5 billion in workforce development expenditures

Associated Builders and Contractors member contractors invested more than $1.5 billion to provide nearly 1.3 million course attendees with craft, leadership and safety education in 2022, according to the 2023 Workforce Development Survey, down from $1.6 billion in 2021. The annual assessment quantifies the scope of ABC members’ workforce development initiatives to advance their employees’ careers in commercial and industrial…

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ABC: Davis-Bacon updates add paperwork, skew prevailing wage math

Capping a 28-month rulemaking process in August, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule, Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations, which revises prevailing wage calculations and increases paperwork for contractors on federal and federally assisted construction projects. “This is yet another handout to organized labor on the backs of taxpayers, small businesses and the free market,”…

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