Sources: Spancrete Group, Waukesha, Wis.; CP staff
Spancrete Industries will begin shifting a transportation production line in early 2012 from a Green Bay, Wis., satellite plant to its main precast/prestressed operation.
Read MoreMonth: December 2011
Axim business expands Sika’s North American footprint
Sources: Sika Corp., Lyndhurst, N.J.; CP staff
Swiss construction chemicals giant Sika AG has added the Axim brand of concrete admixtures and cement grinding aids, closing a December 19 deal with Italcementi Group.
Read MoreAxim business expands Sika’s North American footprint
Sources: Sika Corp., Lyndhurst, N.J.; CP staff
Swiss construction chemicals giant Sika AG has added the Axim brand of concrete admixtures and cement grinding aids, closing a December 19 deal with Italcementi Group.
Read MoreVulcan maps eight divisions into four regions, sees $30M in savings
Sources: Vulcan Materials Co., Birmingham, Ala.; CP staff
The Vulcan board has approved a new structure for its aggregate, concrete, cement and asphalt operations, eliminating approximately 200 administrative positions and leaving plant staff largely unaffected. Management streamlining was in the works prior to the stock-for-stock merger Martin Marietta Materials proposed December 12 to Vulcan Materials shareholders, an action their directors continue to review.
Read MoreQC director faces home detention, $131K fine for false claims on FHWA jobs
Sources: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Maryland, Baltimore; CP staff
By Don Marsh
A former director of Quality Control and Quality Assurance at Frederick Precast Concrete Inc. was sentenced to one year of home detention and ordered to pay $131,410 in restitution, settling pre-trial motions with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland. An Associated Press report detailed terms of the December 19 court action.
Read MoreASTM raises bar to generous threshold for C595’s ground limestone content
Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association; CP staff
In a move that will provide the opportunity for the cement and concrete industries to reduce products’ carbon footprint, a proposal was approved to permit up to 15 percent ground limestone in blended cements under ASTM C595 (Blended Hydraulic Cements), with the resulting product characterized as limestone blended cements. Similar revisions are being made to the equivalent AASHTO standard by the AASHTO Subcommittee on Materials. Under C595, there was previously no specifically stated limit on ground limestone content.
Read MoreCommand Alkon ships 5,000th CMDbatch system
Sources: Command Alkon Inc., Birmingham, Ala.; CP staff
Mid-December saw a major milestone for the COMMANDbatch technology, a successor to three plant automation platforms brought under a single umbrella through the 1998 and 2000 mergers of Auto•Control and Alkon Corp., and Command Data Inc. and Alkon.
Read MoreIn-cab antennae tracks drivers’ cell phone activity
Sources: inthinc Technology Solutions Inc., Salt Lake City; CP staff
A new antennae detects cell phone wave frequencies emitted from a truck driver’s seat, verbally warns the user to terminate the call or text, and sends real-time alerts to a web portal or directly to a fleet manager.
Read More2012 ARTBA transportation construction market outlook mixed, uncertain
Source: American Road & Transportation Builders Association, Washington, D.C.
No matter how you look at it, the outlook for 2012 transportation construction market depends on the transportation mode one is analyzing, ARTBA Senior Economist Alison Premo Black said recently in releasing her annual economic forecast during a 90-minute webinar for Wall Street analysts and construction industry executives.
Read MoreNCMA prevails in block-optimizing, performance-based options for ASTM C90
Sources: National Concrete Masonry Association, Herdon, Va.; CP staff
A new provision allowing a single web of ¾-in. minimum thickness invites an array of alternatives to the three-web configuration of 8x8x16 block meeting requirements of ASTM C90 Standard Specification for Loadbearing Concrete Masonry Units.
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