The premier AggNexus Digital Innovation Conference drew upward of 100 representatives of independent or multinational concrete, cement, aggregate and asphalt producers, along with their software and hardware partners. Staged last month on the University of Texas, Austin campus, it demonstrated how the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence models, coupled with data capture or analytics methods, are transforming construction material producer…
Read MoreDay: October 11, 2024
University Lab-to-Slab team measures metakaolin performance
The Sustainable Concrete Lab-to-Slab Initiative under the University of California, Davis Pavement Research Center will see testing of three slabs bearing 2.5 yd. or more of concrete mixes designed with novel binders, including a supplementary cementitious blend from metakaolin producer Purebase Corp., Ione, Calif. Through prequalification testing, QA/QC, mid-term monitoring, plus environmental, constructability and life cycle cost assessment, Center officials…
Read MoreIT upgrade expedites NLRB case processing
The General Services Administration Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) announced a $23 million investment to modernize the National Labor Relations Board case management system. The funding will enable the agency to replace its outdated hardware with an advanced, cloud-based solution, dramatically improving its ability to process labor disputes efficiently. In 2023, the NLRB processed over 22,000 cases and recovered more than…
Read MoreBureau sees construction ranks nearing 8.4 million by 2033
Employment Projections — 2023-2033, a new Bureau of Labor Statistics report, tracks the addition of 6.7 million jobs to the U.S. economy over the next 10 years, 380,000 of them in Construction, 75,000 in Architectural, Engineering and Related Services occupational categories. The projected 4.7 percent gain in Construction jobs through 2033, where industry headcount would hover 8.4 million versus 8…
Read MoreOptimization for Ready Mixed Concrete Dispatch
Expect artificial intelligence to impact all aspects of the fulfillment process. “If it ain’t late, you ain’t making money.” Sound familiar? This has been a decades-long mantra of ready mixed concrete (RMC) dispatchers all over the world when pressured to minimize the typical 17 to 23 percent of total costs due to logistics. And the bookend customer complaint to dispatchers…
Read MoreAs Predicted: All the News is Good
There is a series of metrics and indicators that point to continuing strength in the economy, with arrows from every imaginable direction pointing upward. Of course, leading off all the good news was the first interest rate cut by the Fed in four years. In September, the all-but-assured rate cut of 25 basis points was supplanted by a far more…
Read MoreLow-carbon materials at what price?
A new report from The Climate Group, based in London with a New York office, looks beyond carbon dioxide emissions reduction cost factors in concrete and steel to price premiums the market might bear when presented conventional versus low-carbon material options. “The Steel and Concrete Transformation: 2024 market outlook on lower emission steel and concrete” was released late last month…
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