Sources: Informa Connect, New York; U.S. Green Building Council, Washington, D.C. This year at Greenbuild 2023 in Washington, DC, the Greenbuild team has made communicating with sustainability leaders easier and more valuable through new, customized Circles of Sustainability Networking Activities – providing exciting ways to meet with the right partners. As the U.S. recently passed the billion-dollar Inflation Reduction Act,…
Read MoreDay: September 18, 2023
Levy agreement raises Heidelberg Materials’ slag cement profile
Dearborn, Mich.-based Edw. C. Levy Co. will provide Heidelberg Materials a projected 400,000-plus tons of slag granules annually, sourced from domestic sites, under a new supply contract. The granules will be delivered to a Speed, Ind. operation that Heidelberg Materials is converting from legacy cement plant to advanced cementitious materials grinding, finishing and distribution hub. The producer anticipates slag…
Read MoreAK Masonry investor envisions organic growth and bolt-on deals
Maddix Capital, a Lehi, Utah growth-stage private equity firm, has acquired a controlling stake in AK Masonry, citing plans to expand the South Jordan, Utah contractor’s services, reach and workforce. The firm worked with Hillcrest Bank, a division of NBH Bank, to secure partial financing to complete the deal. “AK Masonry exists to fix what’s broken in a fragmented market…
Read MoreFiberglass reinforced polymer rebar acceptance grows in Sunshine State
Fiber reinforced polymer rebar manufacturers and distributors see increasing traction for their alternative to conventional concrete steel reinforcement. Tampa Steel & Supply of Florida recently aligned with manufacturer SFTec Inc. to offer SFT-Bar FRP in the Southeast. Sales and engineering staff promote the SFT FRP rebar for: The addition of SFT-Bar in the Tampa Steel offering, company officials note, “heralds…
Read MoreCalifornia cement producers chart carbon neutrality goal progress
Thirty months out from releasing “Achieving Carbon Neutrality in the California Cement Industry,” California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA) producers report considerable progress on related public policy, material processing and market development measures toward their 2045 goal: “We are committed to continuing progress to reach net zero emissions for all cement producers in California, hopefully sooner than our projected date of…
Read MoreMerit shop contractors report $1.5 billion in workforce development expenditures
Associated Builders and Contractors member contractors invested more than $1.5 billion to provide nearly 1.3 million course attendees with craft, leadership and safety education in 2022, according to the 2023 Workforce Development Survey, down from $1.6 billion in 2021. The annual assessment quantifies the scope of ABC members’ workforce development initiatives to advance their employees’ careers in commercial and industrial…
Read MoreABC: Davis-Bacon updates add paperwork, skew prevailing wage math
Capping a 28-month rulemaking process in August, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule, Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations, which revises prevailing wage calculations and increases paperwork for contractors on federal and federally assisted construction projects. “This is yet another handout to organized labor on the backs of taxpayers, small businesses and the free market,”…
Read More2023 ConcreteWorks Technical Highlights
Must-see technology-related presentations at the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s annual conference. Citizens of the Industry, NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks is here! This is clearly the singular most important industry meeting of the year, and it now benefits from being co-located with the fall committee meetings of the Portland Cement Association. From September 29 through October 3, your days will be filled…
Read MoreThe Science of Pricing Concrete
The day before this column was due, I suffered a serious hand injury which made it impossible to write on a keyboard. I gave up on writing with dictation software years ago, as it is the connection with the keyboard that allows me to do my best work. With my editor’s permission, I dusted off an educational column I wrote…
Read MoreBuild America, Buy America fine print contrasts cast-in-place, precast concrete
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has formally delineated Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements as they relate to concrete materials for Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)-funded building or nonbuilding construction projects. Final BABA sourcing requirement guidance issued last month indicates procurement interpretations relating to cast-in-place and precast concrete. It puts to rest questions surrounding IIJA…
Read More