Cemex ‘Spider Tracker’ sensors gauge mix temperatures wire-to-wire

Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V. has announced a proprietary technology, dubbed “Spider Tracker,” that monitors concrete during placing and hardening to measure strength development in real-time. It enables contractors to remove formwork at precisely the right moment and make informed decisions about the concrete specified for their jobs.  Such actions can result in time and cost savings and potentially a reduction…

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Mixer driver survey results evidence Great Resignation undercurrent

An analysis of National Ready Mixed Concrete Association 2022 Mixer Driver Recruitment and Retention Survey data shows that 28 of every 100 drivers hired in 2021 quit at some point during the year. That places ready mixed producers 3 percent above the national resignation rate, 25 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported for last year.  The figures continue…

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Saint-Gobain guides GCP businesses to Chryso, CertainTeed homes

Following approvals from North American and overseas regulators, Paris-based Saint-Gobain consummated a takeover of Georgia-based GCP Applied Technologies Inc. late last month. Distinct GCP profit centers will have separate destinations. Cement additive and concrete admixture assets will be combined with Chryso Inc., which Saint-Gobain acquired in mid-2021 and positioned in its High Performance Solutions segment. A specialty materials business specializing…

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Lehigh Hanson brand nears sunset

Texas-based Lehigh Hanson Inc. plans a Q1 2023 transition to Heidelberg Materials following last month’s abrupt adoption of the new banner by German parent company HeidelbergCement AG. Heidelberg Materials represents “a brand with global reach and focus on sustainability, digitalization and leadership in the building materials industry,” management notes. In North America, it will unify—and gradually succeed—Lehigh Portland Cement Co.…

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Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality progresses along Madison Avenue

Portland Cement Association Chairman Ron Henley (GCC America) told a New York Climate Week gathering in mid-September how U.S. producers have exceeded expectations outlined a year ago in the PCA Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality. With a 2050 horizon, the document offered carbon dioxide emissions reduction opportunities across a Clinker, Cement, Concrete, Construction and Carbonation value/process chain.  Taking the podium at…

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HaulHub Agency Portal application advances at U.S. Patent Office

HaulHub Technologies, Haverhill, Mass. developer of digital tools assisting state transportation agency e-Ticketing and e-Construction program management, cites a United States Patent and Trademark Office notice of allowance for a patent application directed to use of a system to reconcile and reformat delivered construction material data with project data between various contract stakeholders. “In the Covid-era of e-Ticketing, sharing a…

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EPA take stock of Diesel Emissions Reduction Act deliverables

A new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report attributes significant air quality improvements to the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA), federal legislation aimed at protecting health and conserving truck fleet fuel.  “Reducing harmful diesel emissions results in cleaner air and healthier communities, and this bipartisan legislation is delivering these benefits to communities across the nation,” says EPA Administrator Michael Regan. “The…

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Low-carbon steel interests like Federal Buy Clean Initiative

The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), Chicago, reports that members are ready to meet expanded White House Federal Buy Clean Task Force objectives announced during a mid-September gathering at the Cleveland-Cliffs Toledo Direct Reduction plant in Ohio. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, U.S. General Services Administration Administrator Robin Carnahan, and Deputy National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi noted that federal agencies…

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Commerce Secretary seats inaugural CMU Checkoff Board of Directors

The Department of Commerce named 21 block producers to two-, three- or four-year terms on the CMU Checkoff Board of Directors. A planned, mid-November meeting in Chicago will see the launch of initial operations; appointment of chairs and vice chairs for five Regional Advisory Committees (RAC); and, determination of when checkoff assessments begin. Charter directors, 15 voting and six alternate(*),…

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Concrete.ai mix optimization platform arrives at beta stage

Sources: Concrete.ai, Los Angeles; CP staff Mix design optimization specialist Concrete.ai has launched a beta version of its pioneering data science platform that reduces the cost and embodied carbon intensity (CO2e) in concrete construction. The new Software as a Service product debuted at AI DevWorld, a late-October conference in San Jose, Calif., and was selected as one of the top…

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