Foamed glass aggregate producer plans Florida satellite plant

Sources: AeroAggregates, Eddystone, Pa.; CP staff AeroAggregates has broken ground on a Dunnellon, Fla. production facility for ultra-lightweight foamed glass aggregate. Scheduled for October 2021 start up, the operation will turn post-consumer recycled glass into a 0.375- to 2.5-in. graded material suiting concrete block mixes, plus fill for placement over soft compressible soils or underground utilities, or along embankments. 

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CMU Checkoff will propel industry to new heights

People make the concrete masonry industry. And it doesn’t hurt that the men and women who call the business home also contribute to one of the most economically sound, environmentally friendly and functional building materials on the planet. A new checkoff program will help propel the industry to new heights, help block producers put more money in their pockets and…

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NCMA research quantifies CMUs’ carbon dioxide-sequestering capacity

Sources: National Concrete Masonry Association, Herndon, Va.; CP staff National Concrete Masonry Association technicians are collecting block from a cross section of producer members for a two-year investigation measuring specimens’ carbon dioxide sequestration characteristics. Findings have the potential to arm the industry with critical CO2 uptake data plus delineate the sequestration rates and net volumes of dry cast versus conventional precast…

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Masonry interests affirm block construction economy, speed

Sources: Block Strong, Orlando, Fla.; CP staff Block Strong, a public awareness-geared partnership between the Florida Concrete & Products Association Inc. and Florida Concrete Masonry Education Council Inc., taps current Pennsylvania State University research to inform multifamily project specifications. Stakeholders especially note a) how construction materials can be an afterthought when developers and real estate investment trusts define the financial…

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Block producers reach new consumer, developer engagement threshold

Sources: Florida Concrete & Products Association, Orlando; CP staff A Florida Concrete & Products Association and Florida Concrete Masonry Education Council Inc. campaign has achieved a milestone in building awareness of the benefits of concrete block construction in single family home and multiunit dwellings: Its centerpiece, the consumer- and professional-geared site, www.BlockStrong.com, has surpassed the 1 million annual visitor mark.…

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LoJac deal brings Alley-Cassetty masonry production, distribution assets

Source: Alley-Cassetty Companies Inc., Nashville; CP staf

One of largest independent and family owned masonry distributors in the U.S., Alley-Cassetty Cos., entered a purchase agreement late last year to acquire the block, brick and stone assets of LoJac Materials, Inc., serving the middle Tennessee market from three locations. Projected to close this month, the transaction will expand its reach to 14 Southeast locations.

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Basalite raises Rocky Mountain market stake in General Shale asset deal

Sources: Basalite Building Products LLC, Roseville, Calif.; CP staff

Basalite has acquired Colorado Springs, Colo., and Cheyenne, Wyo., concrete block production assets—plus a retail showroom adjacent to the latter site—from Tennessee-based General Shale, best known for leadership in clay masonry. The deal extends the Rocky Mountain market presence of Basalite, which has concrete masonry production in Boise, Idaho, and Denver.

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Florida block makers open their wallets for voluntary, check-off-modeled fund

Sources: Florida Concrete Masonry Education Council Inc., Orlando; CP staff

Independent and major operators representing 60–70 percent of the Sunshine State’s concrete masonry production capacity assembled earlier this month to sign a commitment, effective April 1, to contribute 1 cent per concrete block sold to support the Florida Concrete Masonry Education Council (FCMEC).

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A.A. Robbins deal broadens R.I. Lampus footprint in Keystone State

Source: Trib Total Media, Pittsburgh Springdale, Pa.-based R.I. Lampus Co. has strengthened its leading stake in western Pennsylvania concrete block and hardscape unit production, acquiring A.A. Robbins Co. of Cambridge Springs. The buyout of retiring owner Denny Robbins adds a Crawford County plant to Lampus’ Allegheny, Beaver, Erie and Lawrence county sites, and dovetails a recent brick distribution and retail showroom expansion.

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