September 5, 2017 – Concrete Products

OSHA makes crane operator certification extension official

September 5, 2017 Concrete News

Source: National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO), Fairfax, Va.

True to lifting equipment manufacturer and operator projections, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed a one-year extension of a November 2017 crane operator certification deadline. The additional time will allow agency staff to fix Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard language—added in 2011 and relating to certification by equipment type and capacity—while defining other requirements to ensure certified operators are qualified.

PB Materials adds ready mixed, aggregate assets in energy-rich Texas region

September 5, 2017 Concrete News

Source: WL Ross & Co. LLC, New York; CP staff

Odessa, Texas-based PB Materials Holdings Inc. (PMB) has closed on the assets of three Lone Star State peers in ready mixed concrete and sand & gravel. The combined plants, fleets and reserves of ARM Concrete and Kermit Concrete, both Lubbock, and WUUD Aggregate, Kermit, provide additional vertical integration throughout PBM’s west Texas and eastern New Mexico market footprint.

Homeland Security enlists four contractors to cast border wall prototypes

September 5, 2017 Concrete News

Sources: U.S. Customs and Border Protection; CP staff

Eyeing large scale installations along the Mexico border, the federal government has awarded contracts to Caddell Construction Co. of Montgomery, Ala., Fisher Industries of Tempe, Ariz., Texas Sterling Construction of Houston and W.G. Yates & Sons of Philadelphia, Miss. to cast prototypes of 18- to 30-ft. high reinforced concrete walls. The structures will be built in San Diego and allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officials to assess their potential to deter illegal crossings and complement wall and barrier designs used along the border in recent years.