Cemex USA Executive Vice President, Commercial and Public Affairs Frank Craddock has received the William B. Hicklin Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida Concrete & Products Association.
“Frank’s dedication and vision for our industry is greatly valued and on behalf of FC&PA, and industry leaders, it is my honor to select him as recipient of this prestigious award,” says FC&PA Chairman Kim Duke. “[His] positive influence and leadership within our industry throughout many posts, including past chairman, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, has greatly promoted our industry to new heights.”
“Frank has been influential throughout many aspects of the industry, and his vision while chairman of the NRMCA, founding chairman of the Concrete Sustainability Hub at MIT, and most recently as chairman of the National Steering Committee of the Concrete Industry Management program has been invaluable for the industry and Cemex,” adds Cemex USA President Karl Watson, Jr. “We are blessed to have him as a member of our team for what he contributes both internally and externally.”
Tests by engineers at Purdue University and Solidia Technologies show concrete cured with carbon dioxide paces traditional portland cement-based specimens for resistance to cold weather and exposure to extreme conditions. “On multiple indicators, our findings underscore comparable or favorable performance of the calcium silicate-based carbonated concrete under severe conditions,” affirms Professor of Civil Engineering Jan Olek, Ph.D., P.E., who co-directs the ongoing research with Professor Jason Weiss, Ph.D.
A new white paper detailing results of tests measuring specimen exposure to damaging conditions, “Performance of Calcium Silicate-based Carbonated Concretes vs. Hydrated Concretes under Freeze-thaw Environments,” shows two types of CO2-cured concrete exhibiting good scaling resistance. Starting with a sustainable cement, the CO2-curing technology reduces water consumption in the production of concrete up to 80 percent, carbon emissions up to 70 percent, and the curing time to one day. New Jersey-based Solidia Technologies has developed a calcium silicate-based cement, which emits less CO2 during production compared to ordinary portland cement milling.
Authoring the paper, which can be downloaded at www.solidiatech.com, are Purdue graduate student HyunGu Jeong and Solidia Technologies Senior Research Scientist Jitendra Jain, Ph.D., Director of Research and Development Vahit Atakan, Ph.D, and Chief Technology Officer Nicholas DeCristofaro, Ph.D. The Purdue-Solidia team is conducting long-term investigations exploring “Failure Mechanisms in Concrete: A Comparative Study of the Ordinary Portland Cement and Solidia Cement Concretes.”
A fixture in the Las Vegas and southern California concrete masonry markets for nearly 70 years, Cind-R-Lite is adopting carbon dioxide-based curing processes of CarbonCure Technologies, applying them to precision, split face, ground face and shot blast block offerings. Availability of CO2-sequestering concrete masonry dovetails a green building material-friendly procurement environment, underpinned by the Clark County School District’s plan to develop 12 schools over the next five years—seven on track for opening by 2017.
ShapeCrete, a do-it-yourself market-geared mix that Sakrete unveiled at World of Concrete 2015, took the Best Design Material award at the 10th Annual Dwell on Design exhibition in Los Angeles. The versatile, high-performance packaged mix is the product of a collaboration between master designer and concrete innovator Fu-Tung Cheng and Sakrete.
“ShapeCrete embodies the creative freedom of experienced and novice crafters and professionals alike interested in playing with the endless possibilities of concrete,” says Eric Peterson, senior vice president of Concrete Bagged Materials for Oldcastle Architectural.
A panel of jurors representing the design community visited more than 450 booths during the three-day event that drew nearly 33,000 delegates, making it Dwell’s biggest show yet. Designers, editors, bloggers and professors were tasked to select winners in Kitchen, Lighting, Bath, Outdoor, Modern Family, Furniture, Sustainability, Design Material, Best Booth and Best in Show categories. The Dwell on Design Awards honor the exhibitors whose commitment and vision bring the event to life. ShapeCrete was selected the winner of the Best Design Material for its innovation, versatility and ease of use.
Scheduled for mid-summer availability at Home Depot stores, or through concreteexchange.com, ShapeCrete can be poured, rolled, pushed, molded, textured or polished into an infinite array of custom concrete designs. As a durable, professional-grade concrete product, it allows crafters and contractors to stretch the limits of their creative potential through concrete designs that require no oven-baking or kiln firing. ShapeCrete is designed for simple workability in both thick and thin applications; users can simply add water, mix and sculpt the clay-like substance into limitless shapes or forms such as custom planters, vases, bowls, wine racks, address tiles, garden sculptures, furniture and more.
Oldcastle Precast’s Folsom Pipe Plant has been presented New Jersey’s Citation of Merit Award for a second consecutive year (2012–2013) of occupational injury prevention. Recognizing companies without any work-related lost time from injury or illness over one year to four consecutive years, respectively, the award was presented at the New Jersey Governor’s Occupational Safety and Health Awards Program.
An award ceremony in Almonesson, N.J., saw Oldcastle Precast personnel share the company of longstanding state and federal lawmakers and agency representatives, in addition to other organizations that have achieved millions of hours of no lost work time or injuries in their facilities. The Governor’s Occupational Safety and Health Awards Program is based on the calendar year with Recognition and Group Awards presented to those with a yearly lost time incident rate of 3.0 or less. Citation of Merit, Division of Public Safety & Occupational Safety and Health, Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development and Governor’s Awards are given to those without any work-related lost time from injury or illness over one year to four consecutive years, respectively. A Governor’s Continued Excellence Award is awarded for five or more consecutive years.
The Governor’s Occupational Safety & Health Awards Program is open to private and public employers regardless of size. Since its inception in 1927, thousands of awards have been earned and the program has played an important role in promoting safer and healthier Garden State workplaces.