Wilson, N.C.-based construction materials, site preparation, building and heavy/civil project services provider S.T. Wooten Corp. has strengthened its North Carolina Research Triangle Park market position, acquiring Capital Ready Mix Concrete. The late-2024 transaction included four batch plants at Pittsboro headquarters and Knightdale satellite locations, respectively covering work west and east of Raleigh, the state capital. “The addition of Capital’s plants…
Read MoreDay: January 20, 2025
Revolution Mixers and Mack Trucks’ custom holds for CIM Auction
Revolution Concrete Mixers and Mack Trucks are delivering a top-ticket donation for the 2025 Concrete Industry Management Auction, January 22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Bidding on a 2025 Granite 64FR-mounted Bridgemaster Mixer will cap the auction, to be staged in Room N262 on day two for World of Concrete 2025 exhibits. The Granite carries Mack MP7-395C power with…
Read MoreKnife River pens $454M deal for North Dakota neighbor Strata Corp.
Knife River Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Strata Corp., a Grand Forks, N.D. independent with 28 ready mixed concrete and three asphalt plants, plus 75 aggregates sites, extensive reserves and related rail assets. Valued at $454 million and projected to close by mid-year, the transaction will mark Knife River’s largest since a June 2022 spin off…
Read MoreMnROAD demonstration proves binders’ CO2 reduction efficacy
Carbon Upcycling Technologies Inc., Calgary-based developer of supplementary cementitious materials and carbon management methods, has completed a three-year study on the use of low-carbon cement in highway pavement, teaming with Minnesota Department of Transportation and the National Road Research Alliance (NRRA). Managed by Sutter Engineering LLC of Michigan and sponsored by the NRRA, the study rigorously tested 16 unique concrete…
Read MoreState DOTs land Low Carbon Transportation Materials grants
The Inflation Reduction Act-funded Low Carbon Transportation Materials Discretionary Grant Program will provide $1.2 billion with reimbursement and incentive funding to purchase American-made low carbon construction materials and products, primarily concrete, asphalt, glass and steel. The program is part of the White House Buy Clean Initiative, which leverages federal government buying power to spur demand for materials or products of…
Read MoreUpdated OSHA rule sizes up construction PPE requirements
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s revised Personal Protective Equipment in Construction rule explicitly requires garments, head or eye protection gear and other PPE to fit properly. Revisions the agency finalized late last year align the standard for construction with corresponding language in PPE standards for general industry and shipyards. “Ill-fitting PPE may not protect an employee at all, and…
Read MoreEPA enforcement action, industry compliance metrics climb in 2024
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s FY2024 Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Annual Results indicate 1,800-plus concluded civil cases; over 120 criminal defendants charged; 2.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions reduced, treated or eliminated; and, inspections totaling north of 8,500. Work completed in FY 2024, EPA contends, “has established a solid foundation for fulfilling the agency’s mission to protect…
Read MoreIntegration vs Interoperability
Financial markets, tax regulation, environmental policies, and blazing new technological changes have firmly pushed the ready mixed concrete (RMC) industry into one of the most competitive eras of the last century. Simply adhering to business practices of the past is no longer enough to prevent vast swaths of the industry from being acquired, phased out, or deemed obsolete. So what…
Read MoreTapping the Brakes
I have been extremely bullish on the economy in general, and the construction economy in particular, for years now. Going back to pre-pandemic times, I have continued to preach that all is well with the construction economy, despite Covid and the high interest rates that followed. And I have written often about how the strength of the consumer, and the…
Read MoreA New Partnership
Recycling is central to concrete, cement and aggregate sustainability efforts This column is the start of a new media partnership between SEMCO Publishing’s Concrete Products, Rock Products and Cement Optimized publications, and our organization—the Construction & Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA)—that will highlight the important role recycling aggregate materials plays in the sustainability efforts of the concrete, natural aggregate, and cement…
Read More