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Day: April 29, 2019

Columbia adds production, service depth in Brazil partner deal

Concrete News
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Columbia Machine Inc. has closed on the assets of its manufacturing partner in Brazil, Vibramolde, and announced investment in a new manufacturing facility based in the country’s Campinas’ prime industrial zone. The operation equips subsidiary, Columbia Machine do Brasil Ltda, with more than double the existing Vibramolde capacity, while expanding warehouse space for spare parts, molds and off the shelf machines—all with an eye to enhancing service to new customers and existing accounts.

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ICPI INSTALLS HARDSCAPE INSTITUTE PLATFORM IN ONLINE LEARNING PORTAL

Concrete News
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The Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute has launched the new Hardscape Institute, an online learning center for contractors/installers, hardscape sales professionals, designers, government officials and building owners. It will be the gateway to all ICPI education offerings, including trainings, live courses, online courses, demonstrations, live and on-demand webinars and Lunch & Learn Presentations.

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Kirkland Mining anchors Natural Pozzolan group’s inaugural symposium

Concrete News

Sources: Natural Pozzolan Association, Malad City, Idaho; Kirkland Mining Co., Scottsdale, Ariz.; CP staff

The Natural Pozzolan Association will stage its first official industry gathering May 16-17 at Rancho de los Caballeros, a Wickenburg, Ariz., ranch about an hour from Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix. The Natural Pozzolan Symposium will open with afternoon presentations followed by evening reception, and presentations continuing the next morning. Attendees will have the option of a May 17 afternoon visit to a natural pozzolan deposit near Skull Valley, Ariz. Operator and NPA member Kirkland Mining plans to commence extraction and processing this year of concrete-grade material with performance properties matching fly ash—supplies of which are especially constrained in Southwest and West markets. Kirkland Mining is among producers whose 2018-19 ramp up will see an NPA-estimated 1 million tons of new natural pozzolan capacity geared to North American concrete producers. — www.pozzolan.org

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MIT CSHub researchers target ASR gel’s destructive underpinnings

Concrete News

Sources: Concrete Sustainability Hub, Cambridge, Mass.; CP staff

In their current Research Brief, “Simulating the Formation of ASR Gels,” staff at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-hosted Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) shed new light on conditions, mechanics and protracted timelines surrounding alkali-silica reactivity in concrete. 

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Report measures federal agencies’ stepped up role in water infrastructure

Concrete News

Source: Bluefield Research, Boston

Federal government participation in rehabilitating U.S. water utility infrastructure is taking on even greater importance than in the past as municipalities are challenged to keep pace with the aging of 70,000-plus water & wastewater treatment systems and 3 million miles of underground pipe networks. With overall public spending on water utilities declining year-over-year in five of the last 10 years, core federal programs are proving to be more critical in addressing investment needs in urban and rural treatment systems and networks, according to water market-wise Bluefield Research. 

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Decades-old data undermines Davis-Bacon wage schedules

Concrete News

Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff

The Labor Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) cites outdated wage schedules and union-favoring tendencies in an audit report on prevailing wage rates the David-Bacon Act (DBA) mandates on federal or federally assisted construction projects. As of September 2018, according to OIG and authors of a DOL Wage and Hour Division (WHD) report released earlier this month:

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