Purebase ramps up calciner for commercial scale metakaolin output

Purebase Corp. anticipates a Q3 start up for a calciner engineered to process reactive, concrete-grade metakaolin from an Ione, Calif. kaolin clay deposit. An ASTM C618-designated natural pozzolan, metakaolin presents a reduced carbon alternative to portland cement, owing to the lower calcination phase heat, < 700°C versus 1,400°C+, required to drive off CO2 from calcium and other minerals. It can…

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Caltrans veteran takes helm of lightweight aggregate group

Sources: Expanded Shale, Clay and Slate Institute, Chicago; CP staff

California State University, Fresno College of Engineering Associate Professor Fariborz Tehrani, Ph.D., P.E., has been named Expanded Shale, Clay and Slate Institute director, bringing nearly three decades of structural and geotechnical engineering experience.

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Industry, lawmakers mark California concrete pavement milestone

Sources: American Concrete Pavement Association, Rosemont, Ill.; CP staff

Highway construction stakeholders, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) officials, and state legislators assembled in mid-August to recognize the performance, longevity and value inherent in a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 10 concrete pavement, linking Ontario and Colton and placed in 1947 with a projected 20-year service life.

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Oldcastle Precast caps record 6,500-slab contract along Interstate stretch

CC032017 Oldcastle

Sources: Oldcastle Precast Inc., Atlanta; CP staff

Oldcastle Precast’s Fontana, Calif., operation is set to close by month’s end the Interstate 210/Foothill Freeway Pavement and Slab Replacement Project precast schedule. Over an April 2016–March 2017 window, the producer is fabricating 6,500 precast slabs, 12.5-ft. wide x 11.33-ft. long to replace 9.7 miles of deteriorated, mainline pavement north of Los Angeles.

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Oldcastle Precast ships record-length Caltrans girders

Oldcastle

As part of California Department of Transportation’s $1.6 billion Santa Ana Freeway (Interstate 5) South Corridor Improvement Project, Oldcastle Precast-Perris is fabricating 158.5-ft. prestressed concrete super girders for the Norwalk-San Antonio Bridge—built in stages entailing placement of seven, four and nine beams. 

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Kie-Con bests by a foot Caltrans’ recent prestressed girder threshold

Sources: National Precast Concrete Association; Kie-Con Inc., Antioch, Calif.; CP staff

Kie-Con has shipped four of seven prestressed California Wide-Flange girders, which at 159 ft. 5 in. are the longest non-spliced, monolithic precast members delivered by trailer to a Golden State bridge site. The girders are 12 inches longer than similarly configured beams Oldcastle Precast–Perris is fabricating for the Santa Ana Freeway South Corridor in southern California.

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