Source: Roanoke Cement Co., Virginia
By Don Marsh
Through 3,000-plus hours of technical assistance and energy management training last year, Roanoke Cement’s Plant A Star program saw staff position a group of ready mixed concrete customers to reduce plants’ electricity consumption by an estimated 15 percent.
Read MoreSource: PVC Pipe Association, Dallas
Emulating a national debt clock, a new website tracks a reported 800-plus water main breaks daily across North America. Watermainbreak.com sponsor, the PVC Pipe Association, contends that corrosion of old-technology pipe materials remains the leading cause of water delivery and sewage treatment systems leaks and breaks, with an annual tab exceeding $3 billion. Accompanying cost data on the site are charts showing “break rates” and repair costs per 100 miles of installed water mains: 1.17 and $11,700 for PVC versus 15.87 and $158,700 for ductile iron.
Read MoreSource: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.
The charter Middle Tennessee State University Concrete Industry Management program will become a department July 1, continuing growth from its 1996 launch as a concentration under Industrial Technology, to its designation as a stand-alone major in 2004. The four-degree CIM Program will function next to nine other departments within the College of Basic and Applied Sciences.
Read MoreSource: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
OSHA’s Small Entity Compliance Guide for Cranes and Derricks in Construction aims to help businesses comply with an August 2010 rule addressing the number of worker injuries and deaths linked to crane and derrick use in construction.
Read MoreSource: U.S. Green Building Council, Washington, D.C.
The District of Columbia and Nevada lead the USGBC’s 2010 list of the top 10 states for LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita, based on the U.S. 2010 Census information. The nation’s capital has 25 square feet of LEED-certified space per person, Nevada 10.92 square feet; New Mexico, New Hampshire and Oregon follow with 4 to 6 square feet. Rounding out the list, with LEED-certified space per capita in the 2.7 to 3.2 square feet range, are South Carolina, Washington, Illinois, Arkansas, Colorado and Minnesota.
Read MoreSources: Spancrete Group, Waukesha, Wis.; CP staff Dan Willems has transitioned from a senior project management, engineering, research and product development role at Waukesha, Wis.-based Spancrete Group to Spancrete Machinery Corp. vice president and general manager. Succeeding group veteran Joe Dugan, who retired in mid-2010, Willems is charged with machinery division operation improvements and corporate strategy, including sales growth, identifying…
Read MoreSource: Grace Construction Products, Cambridge, Mass.
Grace is operating its recently acquired mixer truck technology business RS Solutions LLC in West Chester, Ohio, under the Verifi LLC banner. Building on signature truck-mounted devices that gauge post-plant water additions to mixer drums, the Verifi development map calls for this year’s launch of platforms expanding ready mixed producers’ ability to measure and control a wide variety of concrete properties.
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