In advance of an online driver training series to be formally released this month at the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s ConcreteWorks Conference & Expo, the RMC Research and Education Foundation has posted on YouTube a preview of a two-lesson module addressing truck backing safety. The series will offer participants e-learning lessons 24/7, with backing accident prevention to be followed by lessons on equipment lock out/tag out procedures, plus slip, trip and fall prevention—topics that lead Occupational Safety and Health Administration citation activity among ready mixed producers. The lessons were shot at NRMCA producer members’ plants and at onsite pours so viewers relate to how a concept applies directly to their circumstances.
Read MoreMonth: September 2014
NRMCA debuts Improving Concrete Quality course
Geared to concrete producers, material suppliers, engineers, testing labs and contractors, a new one-day course explores ways to quantify tangible and intangible benefits attributable to improving quality. Modeled on National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s new publication Improving Concrete Quality, it premiers Wednesday, October 15 in Silver Spring, Md.
Read MoreSPECIAL OLYMPICS TEAM FINISHES FIRST IN 52-TON TRUCK PULL
Continuing a 12-year sponsorship, San Jose-based Central Concrete Supply Co. dispatched one of six 15-member teams to the Special Olympics Northern California Annual Power Pull at Great America, Santa Clara. Accompanied by a Special Olympian, each team competed for time on 20-ft. pulls of a 38,000-lb. Central Concrete mixer and 66,000-lb. Sunnyvale (Calif.) Department of Public Safety fire engine. The teams raised $23,000 for the Special Olympics.
Read MoreVersatility key ingredient of General Shale’s kitchen series
Johnson City, Tenn.–based General Shale has expanded its outdoor living line with the Alfresco Kitchen Series, whose six components enable a customizable layout suited to most any space. One of the series’ marketable features is the ability to create a versatile cabinet system, built with a combination of Napoleon Gourmet Grills, stainless steel cabinets and drawers, straight line and corner pieces, Normandy building stone, and custom stain-ready concrete countertops.
Read MoreModular RR crossing system arrives at Hanson
Hanson Pipe & Precast is producing Premier Railroad Crossing, a precast, reinforced concrete system that allows for smooth roadway crossings over railroad tracks, its installation and life cycle faster and longer than alternative styles.
Read MoreParking facility group embraces green practices
The seven winners of the International Parking Institute’s 2014 Awards of Excellence competition demonstrate that today’s parking structures and surface lots can be architecturally innovative. Honorees in the 32nd annual competition range from the cast-in-place, post-tensioned Park Place in Missoula, Mont., to the green 201 Claremont Street surface lot in Toronto.
Read MoreEconomists bullish on commercial and industrial work
“A combination of low interest rates; wealth effects stemming from a booming stock market and rising home prices; surging energy production; and expanding industrial output has helped position the U.S. economy for more rapid growth during the next several quarters,” says Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “This will lead to more robust recovery in the U.S. nonresidential construction industry, which has also been aided by stable materials prices and improving commercial real estate fundamentals.”
Read MoreReport confirms strength in commercial building activity
The commercial real estate development industry grew at the strongest pace since the economic recovery began in 2011, according to “The Economic Impacts of Commercial Real Estate,” an annual state of the industry report from the NAOIP Research Foundation, Washington, D.C. Author Dr. Stephen S. Fuller, director of George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis, finds the economic impact attributable to nonresidential development, which rose 24 percent over the previous year—the largest gain since the sector began to recover in 2011.
Read MoreASTM eyes standard for sustainable manufacturing
A proposed standard under ASTM International’s Committee E60 on Sustainability, WK35702, Guide for Evaluation of Environmental Aspects of Sustainability of Manufacturing Processes, will assist users in adopting resource efficiency and environmentally friendly practices into daily operations.
Read MoreISO adds water usage, stewardship standard to Environmental management
The International Organization for Standardization’s new 14046, “Environmental management—Water footprint—Principles, requirements and guidelines” standard will allow a wide range of private and pubic entities the means to measure the environmental impact of their water use and pollution potential. It joins the ISO 14000 Environmental management series, whose “Type III Environmental Product Declarations” standard governs documents concrete interests are issuing as green building rating systems evolve.
Read More