Our annual look at heavy-duty model introductions, updates and component advances is well timed with solid fleet investment activity across ready mixed and manufactured concrete. In ready mixed delivery, Navistar International (page 38) and Freightliner (page 45) have moved to offer heavy-duty models with weight and wheel base characteristics friendly to city streets and urban jobsites.
Read More
The Lanxess Corp. Inorganic Pigments (IPG) business unit hosted its Bayferrox Color Workshop in Pittsburgh for the 27th consecutive year. Nearly two dozen professionals representing North American concrete producers participated in the 2.5-day educational and laboratory training program.
Read More
Fly ash processor and marketer Charah LLC, Louisville, Ky., has secured an exclusive agreement covering coal combustion products from the Consumers Energy J.H. Campbell complex in West Olive, Mich. It will sell the facility’s Class C fly ash to Great Lakes concrete and cement customers, and also move material through its MultiSource terminal network serving Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, South, Mountain and West regions. Charah will also market the generating station’s bottom ash for such applications as Class 1A backfill, cement kiln raw feed, and lightweight aggregate or flowable fill mixtures.
Read More
Chicago-based James McHugh Construction Co., one of the top concrete building contractors, has appointed Dave Alexander as president. He joined the firm as an intern and has served as a project manager, chief estimator, and, most recently, senior vice president. McHugh Construction officials cite his industry-leading engineering, technical, and management skills, as evidenced in some of the most expensive, complex and high profile projects in Chicago. Topping that list is the 1,143-ft. Trump International Hotel and Tower, which was North America’s tallest reinforced concrete building from 2007-2014.
Read More
Thomas Concrete recently acquired 21 Georgia ready mixed concrete production sites—eight active, the remaining idle or in standby mode—from Vulcan Materials Co. They strengthen the producer’s metro Atlanta presence and bring the U.S. footprint of Swedish parent company, Thomas Concrete Group AB, to 70 plants across Georgia and the Carolinas.
Read More
In partnership with the non-profit New Story, Austin-based construction technologies company ICON is set to transform global homelessness with 3D-printed homes. The companies recently built the first permitted, 3D-printed concrete home using a prototype of a mobile printer. The production version of the printer, called the Vulcan, will have the ability to print a single-story home (600–800 square feet) in under 24 hours for less than $4,000.
Read More
Demand for engineered stone countertops grew 28 percent per annum during the 2012–2017 period due to significant sales advances in the residential market, according to a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry research firm. During this time, demand for engineered stone surpassed that of granite, which was formerly regarded as the primary material in the luxury residential market. The study notes that engineered stone is forecast to be the fastest growing countertop surface material, reaching 152 million square feet in 2022 on yearly advances of 4.5 percent.
Read More
Driver Marco Andretti’s No. 98 Honda bears the U.S. Concrete Inc. logo and colors as part of a 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series race sponsorship. Starting last month with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (Calif.) and Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Birmingham), the sponsorship continues through Indianapolis (Grand Prix and Indy 500), Texas, Pocono (Pa.) and Sonoma (Calif.) events.
Read More
Lehigh Cement Company LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lehigh Hanson, Inc., was presented the Governor’s Century Business Award, which honors Indiana businesses that have remained in operation for at least 100 years and demonstrated a commitment to community service. Governor Eric Holcomb recognized the Lehigh Mitchell plant and company officials during an early-April award ceremony at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis.
Read More
Upon conclusion of its annual general meeting this month, LafargeHolcim Ltd. will begin a new era as the terms of Betrand Collomb and Thomas Schmidheiny—charter directors whose combined Lafarge Group, Holcim Ltd. and post-merger tenure is just short of 90 years—sunset.
Read More