Due to safety precautions plus travel and event programming complications surrounding the pandemic, the National Concrete Masonry Association will not conduct the in-person ICON Expo 2021: Machinery & Equipment Show, originally scheduled for February 12-13. In lieu of a Nashville gathering anchored by a second triennial Machinery & Equipment exhibit—the 2018 debut of which saw a parade of five block…
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Key clay and concrete masonry unit producer General Shale of Johnson City, Tenn. is on track to more than double its scope, acquiring Atlanta-based Meridian Brick in a $250 million transaction scheduled to close by mid-year.
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Minnesota’s Wells Concrete, the fifth largest precast, prestressed producer in the U.S., has acquired Waukesha, Wis.-based peer Spancrete. With more than 125 years of combined industry experience, principals note, the partnership aligns two companies dedicated to innovation.
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A five-year, $3 billion capital investment plan Bismarck, N.D. parent MDU Resources Inc. unveiled in late 2020 sees Knife River Corp. budgeting for construction of a prestressed concrete plant in Spokane, Wash. and employee training center in Albany, Ore., plus development of the Honey Creek Quarry in Burnet County, Texas. The new Knife River Prestress operation will succeed a legacy…
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Fifty-two percent of the coal ash produced during 2019 was recycled, marking the fifth consecutive year that more than half of the power generating station byproduct in the United States was beneficially used rather than disposed. The volume of fly ash used in concrete, 12.6 million tons, marks a 1 percent increase over 2018 consumption. Year-over-year use of fly ash…
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The parent companies of St. Marys Cement Inc., Toronto, and McInnis Cement Inc., Montreal plan to combine their production and distribution assets serving Canada and United States markets from the Atlantic seaboard to the Great Lakes. With respective stakes split 83 percent and 17 percent, their joint venture will be owned by Votorantim Cimentos International, the global investments platform of…
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service is set to review public comments on a 20-year Mining and Reclamation Plan of Operations that Drake Cement LLC penned with an eye to extracting 300,000 to 500,000 tons of natural pozzolan from a Kaibab National Forest parcel. The concrete-grade material deposit is part of the existing Williams Quarry, or “Frenchy Pit,” located…
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency examines the benefits of constructing at a higher building code standard for natural disasters such as winds, floods and seismic activity in a new report, “Building Codes Save: A Nationwide Study.” The agency finds that 18.1 million buildings constructed at a higher code standard could save the United States about $1.6 billion annually.
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From paperless to wireless, ready-mix producers can thrive in a digital era By: Craig Yeack
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by Pierre G. Villere In one of the scenes in the iconic motion picture Casablanca, Captain Renault attempts to arrest the protagonist, Victor Lazlo, and in one the most famous lines in movie history, Humphrey Bogart’s character Rick Blaine pulls a gun on Renault and utters the famous words “Not so fast, Louie”… .
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