January 2016 – Concrete Products

ORGANIZATIONS – JANUARY 2016

January 29, 2016 Concrete News

The Ready Mixed Concrete Association of Ontario has officially re-branded as Concrete Ontario. Members acknowledged the group’s growth and evolution over 56 years and felt it was time for a change, noting how the new identity satisfies all of the expectations the original mark stands for while simultaneously moving the organization forward. Providing easy recall and recognition of the association, the new brand maintains a visual connection to how it was seen before.

PRODUCERS – JANUARY 2016

January 29, 2016 Concrete News

The board of Colombia’s Cementos Argos has unanimously appointed Juan Esteban Calle as chief executive officer, effective April. His interpersonal skills and professional record of accomplishments, directors note, will help position Argos to continue its growth and expansion strategy, while strengthening organizational culture plus good environmental and social management practices.

Survey finds company vision, work-life balance draw millennials to construction

January 29, 2016 Concrete News

An FMI Corp. report based on a national survey of nearly 400 individuals in the construction industry—half born between 1980 and 2000—contends that millennials are dedicated and loyal to their employers and, in terms of career aspirations, attitudes and goals, share similar values with Baby Boomers and Generation Xers.

Webinar delineates RM producer, contractor responsibilities in pumping operations

January 29, 2016 Concrete News

In conjunction with insurance provider NBIS Inc., the American Concrete Pumping Association has produced a 55-minute webinar, posted at www.concretepumpers.com, to help ready mixed producers, concrete pumpers and contractors navigate the American Society of Mechanical Engineers “Material Placement Systems” safety standard.

Post-EPA rule fly ash consumption eclipses pre-recession level

January 29, 2016 Concrete News

The volume of coal fly ash used in concrete production increased to 13.1 million tons in 2014, exceeding the 12.6 million ton utilization mark set in 2008, according to the American Coal Ash Association’s (ACAA) “Production and Use Survey,” released in late 2015. Increases in the use of synthetic gypsum from power plant emissions control equipment also helped to push the recycling rate for all types of coal combustion products (CCP) to a record 48 percent.

Major Boeing grant reinforces heavy-duty permeable pavement research

January 28, 2016 Concrete News

Aerospace giant Boeing Co. is teaming with Washington State University (WSU), and the Washington Stormwater Center to develop stronger permeable concrete or asphalt pavement through the use of carbon fiber composite material recycled from a Seattle aircraft assembly line. A $212,000 grant and material donation is funding investigations at the WSU Research and Extension Center, Puyallup, and WSU Pullman campus.

Jointless, cut-free PrimeComposite slab makes 182,000-sq.-ft. debut

January 28, 2016 Concrete News

Schaumburg, Ill.-based Rabine Group, a specialist in high performance slabs on grade and specialty concrete pavement, reports the first North American installation of the PrimeComposite Concrete Flooring System, combining proprietary finishing methods plus mixes rich in admixtures and steel fibers. As the foundation of a Lakeville, Minn., metalworking facility, the 6-in. thick, 182,000-sq.-ft. slab was finished in late-summer 2015, free of control joints and saw cuts. Following a 14-day cure, owner BTD Manufacturing Inc.—a component fabricator for Caterpillar, Cummins, Daimler, Deere, Terex and other heavy equipment manufacturers—placed the facility in service.

Research raises questions on minimum CM specs, supports paste-to-void ratio rationale

January 28, 2016 Don Marsh

A recent report on results of concrete mixtures testing at National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s College Park, Md., research laboratory underscores optimized cement paste volume and paste-to-void ratio as key factors behind fresh and hardened specimens’ improved performance characteristics.

Capitol Aggregates logs first NRMCA-certified EPD for portland cement

January 28, 2016 Concrete News

The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association has certified its inaugural Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for cement in North America, covering ASTM C150 Types I and III, C595 Types IP and IL, and C91 Types N and S 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. That watermark is by far the most of any building material or product category represented in EPDs targeted to new green building rating system requirements.

Sika AG contests Saint-Gobain overture, maps North American market growth

January 28, 2016 Concrete News

More than a year after an initial overture and subsequent Swiss agency and European Commission legal proceedings, management of Baar, Switzerland-based Sika AG management remains adamantly opposed to a stock transfer to global glass and building materials giant Saint-Gobain. Sika Chairman Dr. Paul Hälg calls the transaction “unparalleled in the world” and reiterates board concerns rooted in the bid’s structure: Saint-Gobain seeks the stake of the largest shareholder “the Burkhart family” amounting to 16.1 percent of shares, but vested with 52.4 percent of voting rights. In a late-2015 letter to shareholders, he noted: