Sources: CP staff; Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Milwaukee
After a second consecutive year where concrete, cement and aggregate interests saw modest shipment gains–while overall construction industry increases in 2013 reached the 7-8 percent range–producers are positioned to act on plant and fleet equipment investment carrying them through the growth phase projected for the remainder the decade.
Read MoreSource: EP Henry, Woodbury, N.J.
True to a “Keep Moving Forward” theme, this year’s Mid-Atlantic Hardscaping Trade Show (MAHTS) at the Atlantic City (N.J.) Convention Center saw sharply improved metrics against prior year figures: attendance and number of exhibitors up 50 percent and 35 percent, respectively, and many participants noting they are booked well into the season—a first for such an indicator since 2007.
Read MoreSource: U.S. Department of Labor
During A National Symposium: Veterans’ Employment in Construction, a February 9 gathering in Washington, D.C., First Lady Michelle Obama and Labor Secretary Thomas Perez celebrated a broad coalition of construction employers and associations that have collectively pledged to hire 100,000 veterans over the next five years.
Read MoreIn response to requests by architects and engineers to resolve consistency issues associated with quality levels achieved by polished concrete surfaces, the Concrete Sawing and Drilling Association has released two technical documents—an industry Standard and a Best Practice.
Read MoreSources: Cement Association of Canada (CAC), Ottawa; CP staff
Members of CAC and peers from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (WBCSD) Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) are convening October 1-3 in British Columbia to exchange ideas on best production, environmental management and market development practices. CAC is a partner with CSI in the Vancouver gathering, themed “Sustainable Construction: Building Tomorrow’s World” and hosted by the operators of the province’s two cement mills, Heidelberg Cement and Lafarge Canada.
Read MoreSources: World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Geneva; CP staff
The WBCSD Cement Sustainability Initiative’s Getting the Numbers Right (GNR) database indicates producers reduced specific net carbon dioxide emissions per ton of cementitious product to 1,261 lb. (629 kg/tonne) in 2011 from 1,515 lb. (756 kg/tonne) in 1990.
Read MoreSources: Portland Cement Association, Skokie, Ill.; National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.
PCA and NRMCA were among concrete and masonry interests providing testimony at the International Green Construction Code final action hearings, November 2–6 in Phoenix. One of the most significant concepts debated was the use of life-cycle assessment (LCA) for building designs. A PCA proposal for the inclusion of whole building LCA as an alternative compliance path to prescriptive criteria for materials for building design was disapproved, although placing whole building LCA into the code as a project elective option for building designs was approved.
Read MoreSources: White House press staff; National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.; Hilltop Basic Resources, Cincinnati; CP staff
With a rickety, steel trestle bridge as a backdrop, President Obama told a September 22 gathering at Hilltop Concrete’s downtown Cincinnati plant, “We used to have the best infrastructure in the world. We’re the country that built the Intercontinental Railroad, Interstate Highway System, Hoover Dam [and] Grand Central Station.”
Read MoreAn April 18 directive issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) might interest producers who have elected to participate in OSHA’s
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