The U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration were set for center stage this year thanks to Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding and contract activity. Yet a sister agency with its $75 billion building and pavement contracting budget is stealing some of the thunder. The General Services Administration is capturing attention with its Low Embodied Carbon Concrete Standards…
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Cement, concrete, and carbon conversation turns to intellectual honesty and plausibility
A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) survey of cement and concrete production builds on U.S. General Services Administration measures, noted here last month, to guide federal construction procurement policy toward lower embodied carbon levels in finished structures. Along with the Departments of Defense and Transportation, General Services stands to favor material or product specifications backed by carbon data presented in…
Read MoreLifting to accolades
Design-build specialist Keystone Construction Company has received the St. Louis Concrete Council’s 2021 Quality Concrete Award for work at The Factory entertainment venue in Chesterfield, Mo. The 52,000-sq.-ft., tilt-up building is the first performance venue to be built from the ground up in the region in over 20 years. The venue was constructed using more than 50,000 square feet of…
Read MoreFederal agencies trigger a third flourish for Environmental Product Declarations
Our coverage of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for ready mixed and manufactured concrete dates to 2013. The record of producers and their national associations responding to market signals calling for such documents continues to be exemplary. This past month saw a third turning point in EPDs’ evolution from a target of green building practitioners, to data files for the Embodied…
Read MorePrecast Show 2022: Elevated enthusiasm, record participation
Sources: National Precast Concrete Association, Carmel, Ind.; CP staff The precast concrete industry was on full display March 3-5 in Kansas City, Mo., as record-setting attendee and exhibit numbers combined for an exciting and eventful Precast Show 2022. Registration exceeded 4,600 individuals, more than 90 percent of them experiencing 80,000-plus square feet of Kansas City Convention Center space harboring plant…
Read MoreWine Country precaster presses concrete tank vs. oak barrel efficacy
A Petaluma, Calif. specialty precaster’s latest innovation sets a new threshold for making wine in concrete tanks. With a capacity of just over 1,000 gallons or 3,800 liters, the Sonoma Cast Stone SuperEgg is more than twice the size of any other such vessel, including the producer’s own top gun, the 476-gal. Egg. The SuperEgg will allow users to produce…
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Oldcastle APG makes major capital investment in bagging plant along Charlotte-Atlanta corridor By Don Marsh Significant capital investments made by Oldcastle APG, a CRH company, have timed well with strong 2020-2022 building activity. On the heels of a similar investment in Austin, Texas, the provider of integrated outdoor living solutions finalized its most recent big-ticket investment in the last year:…
Read MoreInvesting in the future
A visit with 2021-22 National Precast Concrete Association Chairman of the Board Mark Wieser By Josephine Patterson Mark Wieser, vice president of Wieser Concrete Products in Maiden Rock, Wis., grew up in the precast industry—and by extension the National Precast Concrete Association. In fact, his father Joe held the pivotal role of association chairman in 1985-86, while his older brother…
Read MoreHemp fiber adds to FRP buzz
Carbon, glass and basalt fiber manufacturers are improving their concrete market prospects by pursuing certification for fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement. FRP bar and tendons offer compelling alternatives to traditional reinforcements for bridge decks, pavements, marine structures and other conditions whose chemical exposure invites steel corrosion. FRP is also attracting attention for its potential to lower embodied carbon in finished…
Read MoreEagle Materials earns last laugh on Monday morning quarterback
Two years ago we saw Dallas-based Eagle Materials Inc., slightly reeling from a fracking sand production play, heed an activist investor’s proposal for a Light Materials (wallboard, paperboard) and Heavy Materials (cement, aggregates, concrete) business split. The action had the aura of an opportunistic New Yorker swaggering into Texas to shed light on running a construction materials business. Eagle Materials…
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