November 2, 2018 – Concrete Products

‘Tower of Voices’ provides everlasting memorial to Flight 93 victims

November 2, 2018 Concrete News

PennStress, a division of the MacInnis Group, LLC, provided more than 50 precast concrete segments for a 93-ft. tower located on the grounds of the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pa. Commemorated just days ahead of the 17th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Tower of Voices is a musical instrument with 40 uniquely pitched chimes to represent the voices of each passenger and crew member who died aboard the hijacked United Airlines flight.

3-D printing commands ACI Committee status

November 2, 2018 Concrete News

The newly formed ACI Committee 564, 3-D Printing with Cementitious Materials will report on three-dimensional printing and additive manufacturing with inorganic cementitious materials, and develop publications on the technology’s applications, challenges and impacts.

NPCA presentation covers ASTM C1821 practice

November 2, 2018 Concrete News

The National Precast Concrete Association Manhole Product Committee has developed a PowerPoint presentation to educate specifiers about ASTM C1821 Standard Practice for Installation of Underground Circular Precast Concrete Manhole Structures, published last year.

Investor acquires controlling Fabcon stake from Los Angeles peer

November 2, 2018 Concrete News

Solace Capital Partners has purchased a majority interest in Fabcon Holding Corp. from fellow Los Angeles investor Platinum Equity, which acquired the Minnesota-based precast/prestressed concrete wall panel producer in 2016 and maintains a minority stake.

Dryvit tests insulated brick, EIFS, ICF synergies in Nudura deal

November 2, 2018 Concrete News

Expanding its scope of energy-efficient building solutions for commercial and residential markets, leading Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) manufacturer Dryvit Systems Inc., West Warwick, R.I., has acquired Nudura Corp., a key insulating concrete form manufacturer and distributor. Ontario-based Nudura will be a stand-alone unit of Dryvit, which along with EIFS has developed NewBrick, an insulated clay brick-styled veneer product. Both businesses are part of RPM Specialty Products, one of three groups under Medina, Ohio-based RPM International—parent of admixture producer Euclid Chemical (Industrial Products).

Boral transforms sub-grade ash to performance, lightweight aggregate

November 2, 2018 Concrete News

Atlanta-based Boral Resources, the leader in concrete-grade fly ash marketing, has secured U.S. commercialization rights for processing ceramic lightweight aggregate from high carbon residuals generated at coal-fired power stations or impounded at their sites or designated landfills.

Contractors challenged to pace bids with labor, material cost increases

November 2, 2018 Concrete News

Prices for goods and services used in construction climbed 6.2 percent over the past year and are intensifying a cost squeeze on contractors coping with widespread labor shortages, according to an Associated General Contractors of America analysis of new Labor Department data, including Producer Price Index (PPI) figures tracking an August 2017–2018 trajectory.

Labor Board reexamines contractor, union bargaining relationships

November 2, 2018 Concrete News

Weighing construction industry bargaining relationship provisions per National Labor Relations Act Sections 8(f) and 9(a), the National Labor Relation Board invites stakeholder briefs through the end of this month on whether the agency should revisit policy dating to the Casale Industries (1993) and Staunton Fuel & Materials (2001) cases.

Road Builders implore DOT to sunset proprietary-product rule

November 2, 2018 Concrete News

A 1916 rule enacted by President Woodrow Wilson’s administration is curbing 21st century transportation innovations that could improve safety and quality on the nation’s major roadways, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) notes in recent testimony submitted to the U.S. House Highways & Transit Subcommittee.

FHWA measures ultra-high performance concrete traction

November 2, 2018 Concrete News

From “Building Bridges Better – Ultra-high performance concrete creates strong, long-lasting connections,” Federal Highway Administration Center for Accelerating Innovations’ Innovator, Issue 67 … The use of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) to make better field-cast connections between prefabricated bridge elements (PBEs) is advancing across the United States. Transportation agencies have used the steel fiber-reinforced, portland cement-based composite material on 100-plus projects since the nation’s first bridge incorporating UHPC was completed in Iowa in 2006. Half of those structures were built after the Federal Highway Administration began encouraging deployment of UHPC connections for PBEs through Every Day Counts (EDC) in 2015.