Command Alkon capped its 2014 Customer Training and Technology Conference general session recognizing Jim Wagner, who is retiring from his longtime post as vice president, and shifting to consulting assignments that will keep him engaged with COMMANDseries users.
Like many producers across the industry, U.S. Concrete Inc. has enjoyed 2014 market conditions supporting a fleet upgrade. A 2015 Mack GU713-mounted 11-yd. Housby mixer assigned to the Elmwood Park, N.J.-based Eastern Concrete Materials division stands out above the deliveries as it honors the alma mater of U.S. Concrete CEO William J. (Bill) Sandbrook—the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
Addressing the American Concrete Institute Fall Convention in Washington, D.C., Purdue University engineers report that carbon dioxide-cured concrete performs comparably or better than traditional portland cement product for resistance to cold weather and exposure to extreme conditions.
Officials are overwhelmingly optimistic about the health and direction of local fiscal conditions for the first time since the recession, according to the National League of Cities’ 29th annual City Fiscal Conditions. The report confirms the first positive growth in five years, coupled with resumption of hiring among League members.
Read MoreVoters across the nation expressed support for increased investment in surface transportation, approving 60 out of 90 related initiatives on November ballots. The approved measures will provide nearly $21 billion in additional funds for transportation projects, reports the American Road and Transportation Builders Association Transportation Investment Advocacy Center.
Read MoreNational Ready Mixed Concrete Association Government Affairs staff is tracking the Environmental Protection Agency’s expansion of the jurisdiction of waters covered under the Clean Water Act, noting how a proposed rule “holds unnecessary and overreaching regulatory implications that would adversely affect ready mixed concrete operations, such as washout pits, sedimentation ponds, settling basins.”
Read MoreThe industry entered 2014 with limited tailwind. Last year’s cement shipments and concrete output fell a few points from 2012, and prolonged, catastrophic winter weather hampered construction through the end of March. Before the snow melted, a) good market indicators supporting overdue plant and fleet investment were evident; b) one global and two domestic transactions surfaced, altering the top U.S. and Canadian concrete, cement and aggregate producer ranks; c) ready mixed and manufactured-concrete producers embraced new protocols for the LEED v4 era of green building; and, d) mobile device-suited information technology offerings surfaced, inviting the use of big data analytics to lower concrete production and delivery costs.
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