As we closed our 2020 work schedule producing this issue, a slew of post-Thanksgiving developments quickly sealed December as the most consequential month of a year we are pleased to see in the rearview mirror. While absent CRH, HeidelbergCement, LafargeHolcim, Martin Marietta, Summit Materials, Vulcan Materials and other deal catalysts or newsmakers of the past decade, the developments warrant cement,…
Read MoreMonth: January 2021
Jensen Precast closes on EnCon United plants in Washington State
Sources: Jensen Precast, Reno, Nev.; CP staff Jensen Precast has acquired the EnCon Northwest LLC and EnCon Washington LLC precast concrete plants in Camus and Puyallup, Wash. The deal provides Pacific Northwest infrastructure customers with direct access to the suitor’s portfolio of utility vaults and pull boxes, box culvert, stormwater systems, highway barriers, pump stations, underground enclosures, and earth retention…
Read MoreArgos USA, liability heir, cooperates in feds’ concrete price-fixing investigation
Sources: U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division; CP staff Argos USA has entered a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) resolving a DOJ Antitrust Division charge of conspiring to fix prices, rig bids and allocate sales for ready mixed concrete in Savannah and neighboring markets under U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia jurisdiction.
Read MoreCalPortland moves CNG power upstream, from mixers to bulk tankers
Eyeing deliveries throughout southern California, CalPortland Co. is deploying compressed natural gas-powered bulk tankers as part of strategy to capture fuel economy and lower the net greenhouse gas emissions associated with cement production at its Oro Grande plant. The producer has staged 24 CNG-fueled tractors with double bulk trailers along a slow-fill island station and related fueling infrastructure at the…
Read MoreConcrete Technology, WSDOT push the envelope with record 223-ft. girder
Sources: Washington State Department of Transportation; CP staff Washington State DOT and Guy F. Atkinson Construction have mapped a two- to three-week January schedule to place the final precast, prestressed concrete girders for the three-span, southbound Interstate 5 Puyallup River Bridge in Tacoma. To eliminate piers along BNSF and Union Pacific rail lines paralleling the water, engineers enlisted Federal Way,…
Read MoreLafargeHolcim measures building enclosure prospects in Firestone deal
Sources: LafargeHolcim Ltd., Zurich; CP staff LafargeHolcim projects a second quarter closing on a $3.4 billion deal for Nashville-based Firestone Building Products (FBP), the largest acquisition in the company’s five-year history and one stretching well beyond its cement, aggregate and ready mixed concrete production competencies. With a full range of EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer), thermoplastic polyolefin, PVC, asphalt and…
Read MoreEPA rule clears traditional opaqueness in science justifying regulatory actions
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; CP staff A new rule establishes that when promulgating significant regulatory actions or developing influential scientific information, the Environmental Protection Agency will give greater consideration to studies where the underlying dose-response data are available in a manner sufficient for independent validation. The rule does not require the release of personally identifiable information or confidential business…
Read MoreU.S. Geological Survey reveals limits of climate change projections
Sources: U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior; CP staff A new report from the USGS—the indispensable source of portland cement, crushed stone and sand & gravel shipment data—stresses the need to factor uncertainties attending climate change predictions, especially as models link present greenhouse gas emission levels to earth temperature trajectories through the year 2100.
Read MoreClyde Cos. elevates Hafen, Golding, Ritchie in leadership transition
Sources: Clyde Companies Inc., Orem, Utah The parent company of WW Clyde, Geneva Rock, Sunroc, Sunpro and Scott Contracting has announced three executive promotions within its Intermountain State construction materials and road building operations. Jeremy Hafen, who during a 16-year tenure has led Clyde Business Group, Sunroc Corp. and Sunroc Building Materials, has been appointed Clyde Companies president. He assumes…
Read MoreACI ‘frees’ education, practice assets under new membership terms
Source: American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, Mich. Effective January 2021, American Concrete Institute members enjoy free ACI University live webinars and 260+ on-demand courses, plus unlimited use of the Institute’s practices and symposium online volumes. Expanded knowledge resource access joins membership offerings that include periodical subscriptions and publication or event registration discounts.
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