Transportation chief streamlines vehicle inspection paperwork

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx cites a potential $1.7 billion savings for trucking interests from the proposed elimination of a daily paperwork burden tied to Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIR).

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NRMCA schedules OSHA Hazard Communication Standard webinar

Source: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s recently implemented Hazard Communication Standard requires concrete producers to transition existing Material Safety Data Sheets to a new 16-part Safety Data Sheet (SDS), change product labels and update staff training.

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Task group expedites NCMA plant certification program launch

Sources: National Concrete Masonry Association, Herndon, Va.; CP staff NCMA’s Production Technology and Operations Committee has formed a Plant Certification Program Task Group to oversee guidelines and implementation of a voluntary program for block and paver producers, scheduled for January 2015 rollout. Staff liaison for the program and task group is NCMA Production Specialist Mike Maroney, 571/224-0937, [email protected].

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ACI Foundation Selects New Director

Source: ACI Foundation, Farmington Hills, Mich.

Ann Daugherty, previously manager of the Petrography Group at CTLGroup, is the new director of the ACI Foundation, and will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Foundation and its programs. She will also serve as the manager of programs for the Foundation’s Strategic Development Council (SDC), and as the liaison for a number of SDC Accelerated Technology Implementation teams, the Technology Management Committee and the Technology Transfer Advisory Group. Additionally, as liaison to the Concrete Research Council, she will work with the Foundation and research partners to launch the all-new Concrete Research Network, an online portal that will connect researchers, funders and users of concrete research needs.

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Self-consolidating concrete specifications spread

The fifth North American Conference on the Design and Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete, or SCC 2013, offered strong market and technical perspectives on one of the industry’s best value propositions to the architectural/engineering/construction community of the past two decades. Presenters at the mid-May event in Chicago demonstrated how stakeholders have compelled American Concrete Institute and ASTM International committees to develop guidelines and standards indicating self-consolidating mixes’ quality in plastic and hardened states.

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Life-cycle data specialist takes helm at CSHub

Jeremy

An engineer who studies materials’ economic and environmental implications, recycling and end-of-life recovery, Jeremy Gregory has been named executive director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-hosted Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub), succeeding Hamlin Jennings.

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Supplementary binders help global cement industry cut CO2 emissions 17 percent

WBCSD

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Cement Sustainability Initiative’s Getting the Numbers Right (GNR) database indicates producers reduced specific net carbon dioxide emissions per ton of cementitious product to 1,261 lb. (629 kg/tonne) in 2011 from 1,515 lb. (756 kg/tonne) in 1990. CSI membership includes all multinational companies with integrated North American operations.

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DriveCam event recorders, coaching protocol steer TXI fleet costs south

DriveCam-V

A 2011-13 portfolio shift solidifying integrated cement and concrete positions has seen TXI expand its mixer fleet and ready mix production capacity nearly 50 percent—growing an existing market footprint more than any producer this decade. The shift has involved asset exchanges with home state peers Trinity Industries and Cemex USA, netting Dallas-based TXI an additional 250-plus mixers and tanker or dump tractors, all serving 40-plus plants across central and east Texas.

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MMC deploys TruStar infrastructure for inaugural CNG-powered mixers

MMC-I

Madison, Miss.-based MMC Materials Inc. has rolled out the Southeast’s first compressed natural gas-powered concrete mixer fleet, ramping up for delivery of 12 McNeilus Ngen (Next Generation Initiatives) models with the installation of a TruStar Energy Portable Fuel Station (PFS). The natural gas compressor and related infrastructure are suitably scaled to the company’s Jackson plant, where drivers conclude their work day hooking up trucks for overnight refueling.

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