Construction workers often face some of their industry’s most serious dangers—such as falls from elevation, being struck or crushed by equipment or other objects, and electrocution—but recent studies suggest another occupational concern is lurking silently at U.S. worksites: worker suicides. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the suicide rate for men in construction and extraction was five…
Read MoreDay: October 17, 2022
A ‘Bit’ on Digital Currency and Ready-Mix Concrete
With Ethereum’s blockchain radical overhaul, look for digital currency to come to an industry near you. We have all heard of the cryptocurrency called bitcoin. Ether (ETH) is the second most popular cryptocurrency, and it’s about to expand into vastly new areas thanks to a recent development with the platform on which it is used: Ethereum. The Latin word aether…
Read MoreOur Industry Needs to Recommit to Blunting the Lumber Threat
By Pierre G. Villere I can tell you that of all the things I have aspired to in life, being a lumber dealer has never been one of them. Goodness, the fluctuations in prices is far worse than dispensing gasoline at a convenience store, and now thousands of lumber dealers have seen their standing inventory significantly devalued because of the…
Read MoreCarbon policies ignite fires under federal agency seats
A hastily conducted first quarter survey spawning the General Services Administration’s Low Embodied Carbon Concrete Standards, noted here in May, set the table for comparably quick, parallel action by the Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency (note Federal Buy Clean Initiative, page 13), plus the Department of Energy (DOE). The latter’s new “Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap” identifies pathways—Energy Efficiency; Industrial…
Read MoreWhite Cap Northwest Region adds Valley Supply
Source: White Cap L.P., Atlanta Leading concrete construction product distributor White Cap L.P. has finalized an agreement to acquire Valley Supply Co., which supplies contractors across Washington State from six locations. The business will be assimilated in the White Cap Northwest Region. “We look forward to offering expanded service capabilities for customers in the Puget Sound area and across our…
Read MoreCIM Committees invite 2023 Auction pool donations
Sources: Concrete Industry Management National Steering Committee; CP staff The CIM National Steering Committee is soliciting equipment, tool, bulk material, leisure or sports travel package, and other candidate donations for silent and live bidding at its January 18 auction, staged at the Las Vegas Convention Center on 2023 World of Concrete day two. “Proceeds support CIM programs at Middle Tennessee…
Read MoreCement producers pinpoint Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality deliverables
Sources: Portland Cement Association, Washington, D.C.; CP staff Portland Cement Association members are marking the first year of their Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality by 2050 by highlighting key deliverables for public and private construction market stakeholders. Released in mid-October 2021, the Roadmap outlines strategies in a value chain—Clinker, Cement, Concrete, Construction, Carbonation—through which cement producers and their downstream partners can…
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