Concrete mix technology is demanding and, all too often, thankless. We ask our people to guarantee the structural integrity of the design and minimize costs despite the host of bad things that can happen with mix components and transit. When things go right, our folks are invisible. Yet when things go wrong, they are the first to bear the brunt…
Read MoreDay: August 9, 2021
The Economic Fun Is Here – Will Delta Derail It?
Various reports from our industry press mark a jump in ready mixed concrete production in April, which is just a thumbnail indicator of the health of the overall economy. Production was estimated at 35.6 million cubic yards, an astonishing 20 percent higher than in April 2020. Moreover, the estimated production nationally through April is 114.3 million cubic yards, approximately 6.8…
Read MoreA contractor’s bold statement
In a welcome sign of economic stability and pandemic recovery in the building industry, Utah’s Jacobsen Construction Co. has built a modern headquarters near the Salt Lake City International Airport. The facility bears on robust and prominently exposed cast-in-place elements, and recognizes concrete practice through touches that include repurposing formwork shoring in a wall sculpture. The headquarters was designed by…
Read MorePeterbilt assembles two medium-duty companions to 567 workhorse
Peterbilt Motors has added Models 537 and 548 to its Class 7/8 segment offering, crediting the trucks’ versatility to robust multiplex electrical architecture and engineering that deliver “seamless body builder integration allowing customers complete customization.” Both trucks feature the new eight-speed Paccar TX-8 automatic transmission, paired with Paccar PX-7 or PX-9 engines. The transmission monitors changes in road grade, vehicle…
Read MoreFoamed glass aggregate producer plans Florida satellite plant
Sources: AeroAggregates, Eddystone, Pa.; CP staff AeroAggregates has broken ground on a Dunnellon, Fla. production facility for ultra-lightweight foamed glass aggregate. Scheduled for October 2021 start up, the operation will turn post-consumer recycled glass into a 0.375- to 2.5-in. graded material suiting concrete block mixes, plus fill for placement over soft compressible soils or underground utilities, or along embankments.
Read MoreConExpo-Con/Agg Manager Tanel to succeed AEM chief Slater
Sources: Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Milwaukee; CP staff The Association of Equipment Manufacturers Board has named Senior Vice President, Construction & Utility Sector Megan Tanel successor to President Dennis Slater, who will retire at the end of 2021, capping a nearly 40-year career with AEM and its predecessor.
Read MoreIllinois Brick plumbs Brickworks’ Midwest vertical integration
Sources: Brickworks Ltd., New South Wales, Australia; Brickworks North America Corp., Wyomissing, Pa.; CP staff Brickworks, the ambitious Australian operator building a North American platform from a 2018 deal for Pennsylvania’s Glen-Gery Corp., will strengthen its Great Lakes region production and distribution footprint by acquiring certain assets of Palos Hill, Ill.-based Southfield Corp. At the heart of the $51 million…
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