Precast wall systems match residential, commercial and earth-retaining sites

Residential

VanHooseCo Precast, LLC recently launched a production licensing program for proprietary wall systems. Engineered for residential and commercial building, plus earth-retaining applications, they are based on EnvirOcast structural panel templates, with vertical and horizontal concrete studs and bond beams imparting flexural and shear capacity. System licensees can offer various face finish options, including patterns from brick or stone form liners. VanHooseCo Precast will promote licensing options for these systems at the 2017 Precast Show (March 2-4, Cleveland):

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Construction Specifications Institute publishes MasterFormat 2014

Source: Construction Specifications Institute, Alexandria, Va.

CSI and Construction Specifications Canada released the 2014 updates to MasterFormat, their flagship product used to organize construction documents for commercial, industrial, and institutional building projects.

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Lafarge eyes $60M prairie province precast capacity upgrade

Lafarge eyes $60M prairie province precast capacity upgrade

Growing demand in energy, infrastructure, commercial and residential markets is driving Lafarge Canada’s planned doubling of output capability at its Edmonton precast operation, enclosure groundbreaking and equipment delivery scheduled for 2014. An investment upward of $60 million will see the addition of plant automation technology, including robotics and full-scale computer-aided design and fabrication.

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Lead forecaster confirms positive construction trends

Source: FMI, Raleigh, N.C.

In its Q1-2014 Construction Outlook, management consulting and investment banking services provider FMI tracks construction put-in-place activity, projected at 8 percent growth this year over 2013, and offers an early gauge on key sectors:

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PLYCEM ADDS FIBER CEMENT SIDING IN SAINT-GOBAIN DEAL

Paris-based Saint-Gobain anticipates a firstquarter 2014 closing on the sale of its RoaringRiver, N.C.; Terre Haute, Ind.; and, WhiteCity, Ore., fiber cement siding facilities toAlpharetta, Ga.-based Plycem USA Inc., whichdistributes fiber cement trim sourced from aCosta Rica plant.

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Lafarge eyes $60M prairie province precast capacity upgrade

Source: Lafarge Canada, Inc., Calgary

Growing demand in energy, infrastructure, commercial and residential markets is driving Lafarge Canada’s planned doubling of output capability at its Edmonton precast operation, enclosure groundbreaking and equipment delivery scheduled for 2014. An investment upward of $60 million will see the addition of plant automation technology, including robotics and full-scale computer-aided design and fabrication.

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MMC deploys TruStar infrastructure for inaugural CNG-powered mixers

Sources: TruStar Energy LLC, Tampa, Fla.; CP staff

Madison, Miss.-based MMC Materials Inc. has rolled out the Southeast’s first compressed natural gas-powered concrete mixer fleet, ramping up for delivery of 12 McNeilus Ngen (Next Generation Initiatives) models with the installation of a TruStar Energy Portable Fuel Station (PFS).

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Ozinga Brothers charts future of CNG fleet power; dedicates commercial fueling station

Sources: Ozinga Brothers Inc., Mokena, Ill.; CP staff

One of the top independent ready mixed concrete operators has leaped to the forefront of a revolution in heavy duty truck and fuel specs, announcing a projected eight-year migration from diesel to compressed natural gas power in its 500 mixer and support vehicle fleet, plus an extension of its CNG supply infrastructure to a commercial fueling station.

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Coal operator Alpha takes stake in Class C ash-based cement purveyor Ceratech

Sources: Alpha Natural Resources, Abingdon, Va.; CP staff

A major coal producer has acquired a 10.3 percent position in Alexandria, Va.-based Ceratech Inc., whose Ekkomaxx technology can yield concrete binding agents with performance characteristics reportedly matching ASTM C150 Types I–V powder.

Alpha Natural Resources can increase its Ceratech stake to 28.3 percent under certain future terms. It becomes the second coal producer to invest in prospective concrete technology offsetting carbon dioxide emissions from either portland cement production or fossil fuel-fired power generation. In April 2010, market leader Peabody Energy took a $15 million interest in Calera Corp., whose calcium carbonate precipitation processes—applied to power plants’ flue gas streams—are netting concrete-grade fine aggregate.

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