The potential for optimization in the ready mixed business touches many levels and areas. The most recognized are the areas of logistics/dispatch, materials and plant performance. They all have quick gains and add value, but there are other areas to optimize as well.
Read MoreDay: September 20, 2011
Lafarge Calgary deploys first Shuttlelift Single Beam gantry
The Shuttlelift SB 70ʼs North American concrete market debut has seen Lafarge Calgary Pipe abandon a tandem method for transferring heavier product—yard forklift coupled with rental crane—and typically complete such operations with one versus four crew members.
Read MoreHollowstone LLC molds new paradigm for concrete masonry
After a four-and-half-year struggle with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, inventor John August received US Patent #7905070 for an “Interlocking Mortarless Structural Concrete Block Building System.” Years went by as the assigned examiner kept denying his claims; each time the inventor had to rebut the examiner’s take on the proposed patent, but finally 18/22 claims were approved.
Read MoreMIT findings position concrete for energy performance accountability
Two studies from the Concrete Sustainability Hub at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology represent major advancements for construction-related, life-cycle assessments (LCA), as they quantify cradle-to-grave cost and environmental impacts for buildings and pavements.
Read MoreInternational Code Council checks September 11-rooted building improvements
The September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City identified a new, challenging frontier in public safety for the International Code Council, based in Washington, D.C., and the primary developer of building safety codes and standards used throughout the U.S.
Read MoreResearchers measure high-SCM grouts’ compliance
To boost market prospects for masonry walls exhibiting high recycled materials content, Concrete Masonry Association of California and Nevada (CMACN) is supporting an investigation through Brigham Young University to a) confirm that California Building Code-required strength is maintained with grouts where portland cement is substituted with fly ash at 45–65 percent and fly ash + GGBF slag at 65–85 percent; and, b) observe how prism units containing such grouts behave with Type M, S and N mortars.
Read MoreNRMCA certifies three Titan America Virginia facilities
The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association recently certified the first four concrete plants in its new Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification Program, with member company Titan America having three Virginia operations certified: Clear Brook Ready Mix Concrete Plant, Clear Brook, at the Silver level; Suffolk Ready Mix Concrete Plant, Suffolk, at the Bronze level; and, Bryan Park Ready Mix Concrete Plant, Richmond, at the Bronze level. The fourth plant is Unibeton’s Mussafah Ready Mixed Concrete Plant, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, at the Silver level.
Read MoreCSA, codes enable Lafarge Canada to up limestone content in cement
In response to ever-increasing market demand for sustainable building solutions, Lafarge North America has recently introduced a new portland-limestone cement (PLC) commercial offering in Canada. Widely used in Europe for over 25 years, PLC is a new category of cement that provides performance similar to conventional portland cement with up to 10 percent less CO2 emissions.
Read MorePennsy case judge: Business agent ‘clothed’ with negotiating authority
In a decision affirming a union official’s contract-negotiating authority as determined in past National Labor Relations Act cases, Administrative Law Judge John Clark has ordered Teamsters Local 771 to abide by terms of a collective-bargaining agreement and side letter finalized in April 2010 with Pennsy Supply Inc.
Read MoreEmployers face November deadline to display organizing rights poster
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a Final Rule that will require employers to notify employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act as of November 14—75 days after the agency published the rule in the Federal Register.
Read More