Forklift safety case tests OSHA’s authority to order enterprise-wide abatement measures

Sources: Occupational Safety & Health Administration; CP staff

An administrative law judge has determined the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission may have authority under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) to order abatement measures beyond specific violations for which Warren, Mich.-based supply chain solutions and trucking services provider Central Transport, LLC has been cited.

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Producer, contractor coalition books favorable depreciation, expensing levels in federal tax package

Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.; CP staff

A tax extenders package accompanying the $1.15 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 Congress passed ahead of the holiday break has two major provisions benefitting concrete producers and their contractor customers: an extension of the 50 percent bonus depreciation for capital equipment purchased in 2015–2017, phasing to 40 percent and 30 percent in 2018 and 2019; and, permanent extension of Section 179 expensing limits and phase-out amounts, $500,000 and $2 million, respectively, that were in place from 2010 through 2014 but lapsed to $25,000 and $200,000 this year.

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Sika adds mortar line, boosts admixture capacity at Pennsylvania plant

Sources: Sika AG, Baar, Switzerland; CP staff

Sika Corp. has opened a new mortar products line alongside an expanded admixture facility near Philadelphia. The former is the second such investment in the past two years, and dovetails the company’s March 2015 acquisition of mortar processor and marketer BMI Products of Northern California Inc.

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Capitol Aggregates logs first NRMCA-certified EPD for cement

Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.; CP staff

NRMCA has certified the inaugural Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for cement in North America, covering five grades from Capitol Aggregates‘ flagship mill in San Antonio, Texas. The EPD for Capitol Aggregates, a long-time NRMCA member serving the Texas market for nearly 60 years, follows a September 2015 milestone when the association certified its 2,000th concrete declaration—by far the most of any building product category.

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W.R. Grace sets stage for Construction Products spin off, rebranding

Sources: W.R. Grace & Co., Columbia, Md.; CP staff

W. R. Grace has named Adam Grose president of the Specialty Construction Chemicals business anchoring GCP Applied Technologies Inc.—the Cambridge, Mass.-based public company to be formed through an early-2016 spin-off of the Construction Products segment and Darex Packaging Technologies.

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ACI honors French museum, other global projects for concrete innovation

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A museum with an ornate, lightweight concrete screening system on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea took top honors in the American Concrete Institute’s inaugural Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards competition. Submitted by the ACI Paris Chapter, the MuCEM: Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations in Marseille, France, is a classic monolithic design built around a perfect square.

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Command Alkon embraces Software as a Service model, alongside licensing

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Command Alkon took the opportunity at its 2015 Customer Training and Technology Conference to affirm commitment to legacy construction materials production, enterprise and dispatching platforms, as well as announce a resource shift to next generation information technology products—many offered under the pay-as-you-go, Software as a Service (SaaS) subscription model.

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