Concrete masonry commons

The National Concrete Masonry Association Education & Research Foundation and Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture have named 2023 Concrete Masonry Student Competition winners. The program challenged students to use concrete masonry products as the primary material in the design of a Community Commons for indoor or outdoor gathering, play and shelter. Jurors representing the University of Illinois, Universidad de…

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Trolley and hook block sensors arrest tower crane load sway

The Wolff 6523 Clear, debuting in Europe with a North American version in the works, features a newly designed jib plus technical equipment for operating the manufacturer’s High-Speed-Positioning-System (HiSPS), introduced last year at the bauma trade fair in Munich. Sensors on the trolley and hook block, coupled with a control unit, enable the load to be transported free of sway…

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ASTM Advances Sustainable Non-Hydraulic Cements

ASTM C01 Committee on Cement recently approved the first standards addressing non-hydraulic cements and specifically, cements that require carbonation curing. With almost several years in the making, ASTM C1905, Specification for Cements that Require Carbonation Curing and ASTM C1910, Standard Test Methods for Cements that Require Carbonation Curing set the requirements for specifying these unique cements. Approval emerged from Committee…

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Pole Power

Where engineering efficiency and cement optimization go, spun prestressed power transmission and distribution (T&D) poles have few rivals in concrete production: The centrifugal forces that low-slump mixes encounter in hollow cylindrical molds, bearing on horizontal racks and spinning at up to 300 rpm, drive inordinate cement particle hydration and packing. Robust bonding of reinforcing cage and prestressing strand steel to…

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Manufacturers – October 2023

York, Neb.-based cementitious material blending and transfer equipment specialist Cyclonaire Corp. formally marked 50 years in operation and paid homage to late founder Don Baker with a gathering of nearly 300 current and past employees, partners, community members, representatives and vendors. The event saw the unveiling of the Don Baker Breakroom, designed to serve as a meeting place for employees…

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Organizations – October 2023

The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association has named Darryl Dixon, director, Energy Codes and Standards. Based in Tampa, Fla. and reporting to NRMCA Senior Vice President, Sustainability and Codes Shamim Rashid-Sumar, he will work with national energy codes and standards organizations plus industry associations to advocate, promote and maintain provisions favorable to the concrete industry at the national, state and…

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Producers – October 2023

CarbonBuilt ultra-low carbon concrete was recognized in the Circular Design, Materials and Sustainability Categories of the Fast Company Innovation by Design 2023 awards. The Los Angeles company’s core technology equips concrete producers to replace portland cement with a lower cost, low-carbon alternative, then capture and use carbon dioxide to produce blocks that have one quarter or less the embodied carbon…

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Cummins X15H hydrogen engine enters Terex Advance specs

Terex Advance will integrate the Cummins X15H hydrogen internal combustion engine into its Commander Series front discharge mixer truck specifications as production of the diesel power alternative commences later this decade. “We are actively pursuing practical, cost-effective strategies to help customers decarbonize. The X15H is a feasible option for our trucks, and we are eagerly anticipating deployment of this technology,”…

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Oregon State team tops PCI Big Beam with Knife River Prestress assist

A three-member Oregon State University team took the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute’s 2023 Engineering Design Competition. Also known as Big Beam, it challenges college or university engineering students to design, build and test a 20-ft. precast, prestressed beam. Teams participate with oversight from a faculty advisor and local or regional PCI producer member—Knife River Prestress in Oregon State’s case. Students are…

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Drake Cement parent sets sights on Martin Marietta California plant

Martin Marietta Materials Inc. has entered a definitive agreement to sell its Tehachapi, Calif. cement plant to Unacem Corp., Peru-based parent company of Arizona’s Drake Cement. With a projected closing by year end, the $317 million cash deal will position Unacem with 1.7 million tons of U.S. clinker capacity, about 15 percent of the volume in a cement plant fleet…

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