GCCA issues call for ‘Concrete in Life’ entries

The Global Cement and Concrete Association is accepting entries through October 22 for the third annual “Concrete in Life” global photography competition, open to professional and amateur photographers via social media and spanning four categories: Urban Design and Use – Images of city landscapes and buildings, both well-known and hidden away. Infrastructure – Photographs of infrastructure, in cities and rural,…

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ACI moves Concrete Convention from in-person to virtual format

Sources: American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, Mich.; CP staff Engineers, contractors, educators, material or manufacturing representatives, plus other allied interests will assemble online from October 17-21, 2021 for the ACI Concrete Convention—the world’s gathering place for advancing construction. Originally scheduled as a hybrid event with virtual presentations accompanying in-person meetings in Atlanta, the program will now be fully online. 

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Foamed glass processor AeroAggregates plans Sunshine State satellite operation

Pennsylvania-based 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.  AeroAggregates envisions the facility recycling the…

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Missouri KC, N. Arizona, Lehigh teams top PCI Big Beam Competition

Sources: Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, Chicago; CP staff University of Missouri Kansas City, Team 2 took the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute 2021 Engineering Student Design Competition, also known as the Big Beam Competition. Students Jose Luis Ramirez and Juan Carlos Plasencia Chinchay prevailed with guidance from Civil Engineering Professor Thiagarajan Ganesh and Terry Fleck of Coreslab Structures (Kansas).

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Command Alkon investor weighs HCSS acquisition in watershed terms

Sources: Thoma Bravo, San Francisco; CP staff Sugar Land, Texas-based construction estimating, operations, and fleet management software provider HCSS has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Thoma Bravo, a major technology investor that closed on Command Alkon in early 2020 and characterizes its latest construction target as “a leader and pioneer in the industry with a long…

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Commerce Department to open CMU Checkoff referendum in October

Sources: CMU Checkoff Coalition, Washington, D.C.; CP staff A Department of Commerce-administered referendum, October 15-November 15, will enable registered concrete masonry unit producers to vote to approve formation of a Concrete Masonry Products Board authorized to fund a CMU Checkoff through a 1-cent assessment per 8-in. equivalent building block sold in the United States. Commerce staff will email ballots to…

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Key Holcim (US) mill all in on portland limestone cement

Sources: LafargeHolcim U.S. Cement, Chicago; CP staff A Texas concrete materials supply chain fixture, the Holcim (US) Inc. Midlothian plant is the first cement mill in the country to fully convert to production of portland limestone cement (PLC), where fine limestone at 5 percent to 15 percent volumes is ground with clinker. The finished binder exhibits performance comparable to ordinary…

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