Like many early Great Lakes region concrete suppliers, Carr Bros., Inc., has evolved. Originally a coal and building materials hauler, it shifted to ready mixed concrete as the needs of customers changed. The company is now under fifth generation management, and has been delivering concrete in the Cleveland market for more than half of its 125 years in business.
Read More
A versatile smartphone application BASF has released in the U.S. and Canada, Concrete Now!, affords instant access to information on concrete properties. Intended for contractors, engineers, architects and producers, the free app serves as a channel to basic knowledge on the fundamentals of concrete use. It includes concepts and design factors, plus interactive tools that provide answers related to concrete slump, air, finishability and set time.
Read MoreThe Lanxess Corp. Inorganic Pigments (IPG) business unit recently hosted its annual Bayferrox Color Workshop in Pittsburgh for North American concrete producers. Now in its 26th consecutive year, the course is an intensive educational and laboratory training program designed to help participants learn how to better use iron oxide pigments to produce colored concrete products more consistently and economically. Over the course of 2.5 days, participants receive comprehensive classroom education from Lanxess color experts, followed by hands-on laboratory exercises at the IPG North American Competence Center in Burgettstown, Pa.
Read More
Deerfield Beach, Fla.-based Mapei Americas has named Jesse Osborne as general manager of its GRT concrete admixtures and cement additives division, Eagan, Minn. Reporting to Mapei North America CEO Luigi Di Geso, he will interface with the Mapei Global Liquid Admixture Group, headed by Walter Nussbaumer, and the company’s Research & Development Center in Milan, Italy. His arrival coincides with planning for an admixtures R&D facility at Mapei’s new plant in Logan Township, N.J.
Read More
The American Concrete Institute introduced 2017-2018 officers and directors during The Concrete Convention and Exposition in Detroit, led by President Khaled Awad, chairman of Beirut-based material and geotechnical consultant ACTS; Vice President Randall Poston, senior principal with Pivot Engineers in Austin, Texas; and, Senior Vice President David Lange, University of Illinois professor of Civil Engineering.
Read More
Graycliff Partners, an independent New York investment firm focusing on middle market private equity transactions, has provided subordinated debt and equity financing to Delaware, Ohio-based Oberfields, a key regional player in concrete masonry and hardscape products, including standard gray and architectural block, segmental retaining walls, pavers, and precast components, plus related accessories. The investment supports the recapitalization of the company, led by President and CEO Bruce Loris, and buyout of another principal, Anderson Group LLC.
Read More
The Slag Cement Association has programmed a calculator with which concrete producers can quantify and interpret cradle-to-gate life cycle assessments (LCA) reflecting the environmental impact of mixtures with and without slag cement. Calculations are based on the industry-average Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for ready mixed concrete that incorporates industry-average EPDs for slag cement and portland cement in the United States. The calculator also allows users to evaluate how different concrete mixtures affect whole building impacts based on a typical case study project.
Read MoreThe Federal Trade Commission, one of two Washington, D.C., agencies overseeing company mergers, is moving aggressively to implement Presidential directives aimed at eliminating what Acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen calls “wasteful, legacy regulations and processes that have outlived their usefulness.”
Read More
Work is underway at the New York terminal of Montreal-based McInnis Cement, whose eastern Quebec mill is nearing production and positioned to supply markets from the Mid-Atlantic to the Great Lakes. The south Bronx site is part of McInnis’ network of terminals, strategically located throughout the eastern portion of North America and chosen for their access to efficient waterways, as well as their proximity to the market to minimize customers’ tanker truck miles.
Read MoreGerdau Ameristeel US Inc., Nucor Corp., Keystone Consolidated Industries Inc., and Charter Steel have filed petitions concurrently with the U.S. Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission charging that unfairly-traded carbon and alloy steel wire rod imports are causing material injury to the domestic industry.
Read More