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Month: November 2017

Quality control trumps tradition in Amerimix “Ditch the Sand Pile” campaign

Concrete News

An educational effort by Amerimix, the bagged product brand in Oldcastle Architectural’s Echelon Masonry portfolio, encourages block and brick building professionals to “Ditch the Sand Pile” and embrace pre-blended mortar, which can be mixed 50 percent faster and provide economic and time advantages on the jobsite compared to field mixing. The latter method requires cement and lime to be mixed with sand (usually in a pile), while eyeballing the right material combination, avoiding clumps or having the fine aggregate compromised by weather or environmental factors.

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Robust wall system defends against hurricanes, tornados

Concrete News
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Gulf Shores, Ala.-based Defender Technologies, LLC has introduced a patented building system that can withstand winds as high as 200 mph, minimizing damage from hurricanes and tornados. PermaStrong utilizes pre-fabricated fiber cement wall forms, rebar and a concrete fill assembly, providing superior structural strength, faster construction, and reduced labor costs.

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Processor allocates air-entraining Vinsol resin for admixture accounts

Concrete News
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A convergence of routine market and rare natural forces could compel concrete producers using Vinsol resin-based admixtures to convert their mix designs to ones bearing alternative products meeting ASTM C260, Standard Specification for Air-Entraining Admixtures for Concrete requirements. Through much of 2018, producers will likely confront tight supplies of Vinsol-type air-entraining admixtures as the resin’s sole supplier addresses capacity and inventory challenges.

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Eastern Concrete, Cemex, Maschmeyer delivery pros rise to challenge

Concrete News

Eastern Concrete Materials veteran Ed Rieper took the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s 2017 National Mixer Driver Championship, staged at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas, during the group’s ConcreteWorks Conference. The first place finish earned the Saddle Brook, N.J., driver a $2,500 check from the NRMCA Truck Mixer Manufacturers Bureau, and adds to his 2016 National Mixer Driver Championship fifth-place and 2015 NRMCA Driver of the Year honors.

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HeidelbergCement sustainability equation: Less carbon, zero accidents

Concrete News

Germany’s HeidelbergCement Group has added a decade to the horizon of its Sustainability Ambitions 2020 program. The six-point successor centers on reducing carbon dioxide emissions 30 percent from 1990 levels; steering 80 percent of the research & development budget to sustainable products; increasing natural resource substitution with by-products or recycled materials; and, eliminating lost-time accidents.

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Polaris deal, Philadelphia market entry top of mind at U.S. Concrete

Concrete News
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Pending Polaris Materials Corp. shareholder votes this month, U.S. Concrete Inc. stands to secure a premium aggregates source to integrate with its 12-plant Central Concrete Supply Co. ready mixed business in northern California. The producer has bested a Vulcan Materials offer for Vancouver, B.C.-based Polaris, which distributes sand & gravel from a major Vancouver Island deposit through five San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles market sites.

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Electronic Logging Device mandate draws near

Concrete News
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The two-year window given by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is coming to a close and it’s time for construction material companies and drivers to embrace compliance with the new Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandate. Even though the official date is set for December 18, 2017, there’s still a lot of confusion around what it means to be ELD compliant and who, exactly, falls under the mandate.

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Paris-leery EPA enlists cement, concrete interests in real pollution reduction

Don Marsh

This month’s United Nations (Conference of Parties) COP 23 meeting in Bonn, Germany, will differ much from COP 21, the gathering that spawned the “historic” Paris Climate Accord. Delegates are sure to perpetuate the fretting that accompanied President Donald Trump’s decision to exit an agreement to reduce U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.

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