Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; CP staff
On the heels of research detailed in its “Value-Added Use of Milled Mixed-Color Waste Glass as a Supplementary Cementitious Material in Environmentally Friendly and Energy-Efficient Concrete Building Construction” report, Lansing, Mich.-based Technova Corp. is among 10 recipients sharing $2.25 million in grants under the EPA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
Read MoreSource: Alpena (Mich.) Community College (ACC)
At the urging of industry and community partners, ACC is reopening the two-year Concrete Technology program, recruiting freshman candidates to fill 35 slots and announcing first-come, first-served availability of 20 $500 ACC Foundation scholarships for first-year students. The program offers an associate’s degree with general curriculum plus courses involving hands-on instruction related to materials technology, mix production and concrete product machinery.
Read MoreSource: U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration
A recently launched survey of private sector employees under OSHA’s jurisdiction will continue through July, with data collection anticipated in August. The Baseline Survey of Safety and Health Practices will be used to better design future rules, compliance assistance and outreach efforts. As many as 19,000 private sector employers nationwide will receive the survey; participation is voluntary.
Read MoreSource: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.
NRMCA is accepting through August 1 entries from producer member companies demonstrating the most innovative training initiatives of 2010–2011. The Innovation in Training Award winner will be recognized at NRMCA’s 2011 ConcreteWorks on September 26 in San Diego. Furthermore, the winning producer’s program will be featured in a best-practices article in NRMCA’s quarterly magazine, Concrete InFocus. Middle Tennessee State University’s Concrete Institute Management faculty will serve as judges.
Read MoreSources: Drake Cement, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Cementos Lima, S.A., Peru; CP staff
By Don Marsh
Officials of the Southwest’s newest integrated player have scheduled a June 17 grand opening for a $300 million, 600,000-plus tons/year capacity cement plant in northern Arizona. More than 10 years in the making, Drake Cement is located in Yavapai County, near the historic rail town of Paulden and 35 miles north of Prescott.
Read MoreSource: Hancock Concrete Products, LLC, Hancock, Minn.; CP staff
A Sioux Falls, S.D., plant has netted Hancock Concrete an eighth site and allowed Hanson Pipe & Precast to exit a market isolated from the core of its two main regions. With a strong local economy, the Sioux Falls area provides an attractive business setting for Hancock Concrete, notes company president Rob Schmigdall, adding, “This purchase aligns well with our growth strategy and long range vision … and will also help us restore some production capacity lost after a fire at our Lake View, Iowa plant.”
Read MoreSource: Lafarge North America, Reston, Va.
“Transportation and mobile equipment safety” is the theme of Lafarge NA’s 2011 Health & Safety Month, with events across concrete, aggregate and cement businesses focused on vehicular safety. Throughout June, Lafarge Group plants around the world will acknowledge their health and safety achievements and build program awareness through demonstrations, access to on-site health and wellness professionals, and community events that promote health and safety beyond the workplace.
Read MoreSources: Oldcastle Precast Inc., Atlanta; CP staff
By Don Marsh
Oldcastle Precast is the main suitor in an eight-month bankruptcy proceeding for Duratek Precast Technologies, with headquarters office and wall panel production operation in Brooksville and Bartow, Fla. Acquired for an undisclosed sum, the select Duratek assets add a business specializing in the design, production, and installation of site and DOT walls, sound barriers, hurricane hangars, safe harbor marinas, and building systems for residential, commercial and industrial markets.
Read MoreSource: National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association, Alexandria, Va.; National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.
Six-hundred-plus, hard-hat-wearing construction workers from across America, representing all parts of the road-building industry and related materials suppliers, rallied on Washington, D.C.’s National Mall just before the Memorial Day holiday weekend in support of a multi-year surface transportation bill. Congressional and industry speakers, including NRMCA Chairman Karl Watson Jr. of Cemex USA, told the cheering crowd the bill is needed to create tens of thousands of new road construction jobs.
Read MoreSources: National Labor Relations Board; CP staff
By Don Marsh
NLRB Administrative Law Judge Arthur Amchan has found that representatives of United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 2012, Seaford, Del., did not violate the National Labor Relations Act by entering a Rydal Park, Pa., job site, and video recording interrogations of a nonunion concrete contractor’s Hispanic employees.
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