Sources: Slag Cement Association, Farmington Hills, Mich.
The Slag Cement Association is finalizing the next version of a Product Category Rule informing ground granulated blast furnace slag producers’ Environmental Product Declarations.
Read MoreMonth: August 2020
Software, IoT devices complete ready mixed dispatch-plant-truck link
Sources: Complete Load Solutions, Chicago; CP staff
A Chicago-based technology developer aims to eliminate load-out errors and maximize ready mixed concrete plant production through a patent-backed program and Internet of Things device platform enabling full realization of communications links between ready mixed concrete dispatch software, batch software, and mixer trucks.
Read MoreMajor general contractors crowdsource best safety practices
Sources: Swinerton, San Francisco; CP staff
Swinerton is the latest general contractor to join the NEXT Coalition, through which leading critical infrastructure and construction stakeholders promote and share industry safety best practices. Black & Veatch, DPR Construction, Haskell, McCarthy Building and Swinerton are leveraging deep expertise in a campaign to ensure the well-being of crews and office team members facing complex challenges posed by the coronavirus outbreak.
Read MoreLafargeHolcim grows EPD library, shrinks concrete and cement carbon intensities
Sources: LafargeHolcim, Chicago; CP staff
To address calls for streamlining embodied carbon in private and public work, LafargeHolcim plans to issue Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) covering shipments from its U.S. Aggregates and Construction Materials (ACM) and Cement businesses. It will enlist top auditors and EPD Program Operators to prepare, verify and host a library of ready mixed concrete or cement declarations abiding the latest criteria for quantifying carbon dioxide emissions throughout raw material, processing, delivery and finishing phases.
Read MoreASTM International joins United Nations-aligned global resilience group
Source: ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa.
ASTM International has been accepted for membership in the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies (ARISE). The latter focuses on mitigating effects of disasters, risk-informed capital assets and investments, and resilient infrastructure.
Read MoreLafargeHolcim teams with IBM to power road design optimization platform
Sources: LafargeHolcim Ltd., Zurich; CP staff
LafargeHolcim will leverage IBM Services’ hybrid clouds, data analytics, plus machine learning, artificial intelligence, industrial Internet of Things tools to extend its heavy building materials knowledge base and build out ORIS, promoted as the first digital platform for road design optimization, for global deployment.
Read MoreNPCA, PCI clarify product certification requirements
Sources: National Precast Concrete Association, Carmel, Ind.; Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, Chicago; CP staff
The National Precast Concrete Association and the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute have issued a joint document to alleviate confusion in the marketplace regarding certification programs for precast and prestressed concrete products. Posted here, the document allows specifiers to easily determine whether products require NPCA or PCI certification, or if either is allowable. The clarification ensures the accurate specification of certification programs, and that all appropriately certified plants can bid on a project.
Read MoreICPI confirms growth in segmental concrete pavements
Sources: Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute, Chantilly, Va.; CP staff
The Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute has released its annual Industry Sales Profile, representing the most accurate and current sales information publicly available on the United States and Canadian segmental concrete pavement industry. The Profile tracks growth trends indicative of 100-plus producers running about 250 high-output machines in more than 200 plant locations.
Read MoreInvestors set $4 billion Construction Supply Group, White Cap merger
Sources: Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, New York; HD Supply Holdings, Inc., Atlanta; CP staff
Two private equity fund managers have outlined a transaction creating a powerhouse in concrete and masonry construction accessories and supplies. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) will acquire HD Supply’s Construction & Industrial segment, better known as White Cap and including the Home Improvement Solutions and Brafasco businesses, then pursue a merger of that entity with Construction Supply Group (CSG). Based in Denver, the latter is a portfolio company of Sterling Group, a Houston investor that has acquired concrete and masonry contractor centers since chartering the business in 2016 with Minnesota’s Brock White.
Read MoreResearch contrasts resistivity test vs. w/c ratio to gauge permeability
Sources: Ready Mixed Concrete Research & Education Foundation, Alexandria, Va.; CP staff
A new RMC Research Foundation report based on work at the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s College Park, Md. laboratory addresses the lack of a consistent and cost-effective concrete permeability test method. “Reliability of Resistivity Tests of Concrete” authors evaluate mix design and specimen preparation factors that impact resistivity measurement; their conclusions can be incorporated in standards driving agency and engineer specifications in public and private concrete construction.
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