After several years of successful project completion in the Southeast, Smart Structures has begun expanding the use of its SmartPile System nationally and internationally.
Read MoreMonth: October 2011
OSHA proposes $120K in penalties for Georgia’s Candler Concrete
Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
An OSHA inspection of Candler Concrete Products Inc. spurred citation for 19 safety and health violations at the ready mixed producer’s Gainesville, Ga., plant. One willful safety violation for fall hazard exposure, with a proposed $48,400 penalty, was cited for requiring employees performing vehicle and equipment maintenance to work within 3 feet of an open and unguarded pit.
Read MoreVulcan names McKinsey, Goldman Sachs veteran to head Strategy & Business Development
Source: Vulcan Materials Co., Birmingham, Ala.
John McPherson will join Vulcan Materials as senior vice president, Strategy and Business Development, by mid-October, also serving on the producer’s executive committee. As a director of global management consultant McKinsey & Co., he has worked with executive teams across several industries on matters of strategy, operations and organization effectiveness, leading the firm’s Human Capital Practice up to the Vulcan appointment.
Read MoreW. Virginia’s Central Supply becomes latest Oldcastle Materials RM platform
Sources: CP staff; Oldcastle Materials Inc., Atlanta; The Orr Group, Winston-Salem, N.C.
By Don Marsh
The acquisition of Central Supply Inc. and Central Trucking brings Oldcastle Materials concrete capacity in West Virginia, another state of low- to moderate population density or growth where the company eyes a ready mixed production platform.
Read MoreEnergy services operator, Ameron close $777 million merger
Sources: National Oilwell Varco, Houston; Ameron International Corp., Pasadena, Calif.; CP staff
Nearly 100 percent of votes cast at an October 5 Ameron stockholders meeting favored a merger with National Oilwell Varco (NOV), closing a transaction the companies’ boards had proposed exactly three months prior. The vote nets Ameron stockholders $85/share and ends the company’s New York Stock Exchange trading.
Read MoreFree webinar covers NCMA-proposed ASTM C 90 changes for gray block
Sources: National Concrete Masonry Association, Herndon, Va.; CP staff
NCMA staff will field questions and solicit input during an open webinar, October 14 at 1 p.m. (EDT), on a series of revisions it proposes for minimum web requirements in ASTM C 90–11 Standard Specification for Loadbearing Concrete Masonry Units.
Read MoreModular building segments see strong gains
Source: The Freedonia Group, Cleveland
U.S. nonresidential prefabricated building system demand is expected to exceed $15 billion in 2015, an increase of 7.8 percent annually, according to the new study, Nonresidential Prefabricated Building, from The Freedonia Group.
Read MoreCement Regulatory Relief legislation clears the House after NRMCA leadership visit
Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.; Portland Cement Association, Skokie, Ill.; CP staff
Last week’s bipartisan passage of “Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011” (H.R. 2681) by the U.S. House of Representatives was overwhelmingly called a triumph by construction industry leaders. A year-long effort to reform what they believed would be job-killing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations on the U.S. cement industry came to a head with legislation that seeks to replace harsh new federal rules with commonsense environmental safeguards.
Read MoreASW, RettCo pen PC strand production partnership
Sources: American Spring Wire Corp. (ASW), Bedford Heights, OH; CP staf
A strategic partnership and multi-year contract production agreement with Newnan, Ga.-based RettCo Steel LLC enables ASW to continue supplying prestressing strand to its concrete producer customers in Eastern and Midwestern markets, while idling equipment at its Cleveland headquarters plant.
Read MoreBrazil division extends Command Alkon’s South American footprint
Sources: Command Alkon Inc., Birmingham, Ala.; CP staff
Command Alkon has continued international business development with the acquisition of KP Consulting, a São Paulo-based provider of dispatch and quality control solutions. With more than 10 years’ market presence and staff of 25, it will maintain the KP Consulting brand, support existing product lines, and operate as new Command Alkon division.
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