Market Infiltration
Day: July 1, 2015
Pallet Proliferation
Expansion leaves Triple H Concrete Products nearly too busy for 40th anniversary fanfare
By Don Marsh
MANUFACTURERS – JUNE 2015
A marketing agreement will see the Besser Co. sales organization promote the Rosetta Hardscapes product line to domestic and international prospects, augmenting the latter company’s sales efforts. The variety of Rosetta units and plant equipment offerings, Besser officials note, will appeal to producers throughout manufactured and ready mixed concrete.
Read MoreORGANIZATIONS – JUNE 2015
The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association has teamed with Petrocon Corp. of Frederick, Md., on a benefits program through which members, especially smaller and medium-sized producers, can enjoy national account-level pricing on lubricants, antifreeze, tires, chemicals, fuel cards, cellular services and other fleet-related items.
PRODUCERS – JUNE 2015
Contech Engineered Solutions in West Chester, Ohio, has named Mike Rafi president, chief executive officer and director. He has served as acting president and CEO since October 2014, transitioning from the top post at Pipe Solutions, the company’s largest business.
Freightliner takes Hoover Dam at face value in autonomous vehicle premier
With exposed surface area equal to nearly 10 football fields, one of the world’s top concrete icons supported Daimler Trucks North America’s early-May premier for the first autonomous Class 8 truck licensed to use public roads. Hoover Dam, linking Arizona and Nevada at the Black Canyon and embodying 3 million yd. of cast-in-place concrete, served as the backdrop for a prime time video presentation on the Freightliner Inspiration Truck. The 30-minute production was capped by the vehicle’s arrival at the center of the structure, whose top bears U.S. 93 traffic.
Agencies bear down on tornados
Responding to increased interest in tornado safe rooms driven by National Weather Service-tracked patterns, plus recent, deadly events, the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) has released new videos highlighting five of the most common building solutions.
Virginia, Florida, S.C. top building code and resiliency survey of coastal states
Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) President and CEO Julie Rochman announced the second edition of the “Rating the States” report at the 2015 National Hurricane Conference. It assesses progress 18 hurricane-prone states along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast have made to strengthen their residential building code systems since IBHS’ original 2012 report.
Nanotech-enabled concrete coating quells heat transfer 20+ percent
A leading independent in one of the more specialized areas of manufactured concrete, Rialto, Calif.-based Eagle Roofing Products continues regional rollout of Platinum Tile, whose patented, penetrating coating acts as a thermal insulator to reduce heat transfer into and out of a structure. Applied to freshly extruded concrete tile, the coating is a product of nanotechnology, where measurements tend to billionths of a meter.
Read MoreNano-scale research confirms cellulose products’ cement hydration capacity
Nanocrystals extracted from cellulose microfibrils—structures that give plants and trees strength and resilience—can increase concrete tensile strength up to 30 percent by creating tiny water inlets in a matrix and promoting more efficient cement hydration.