Sources: Portland Cement Association, Washington, D.C.; CP staff Portland Cement Association Chief Economist Ed Sullivan cites the potential for a dip in cement consumption and concrete output attributable to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. At a joint luncheon in San Antonio during the PCA and National Ready Mixed Concrete Association 2022 conventions, he offered three scenarios for U.S. shipments through 2024:
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Workforce survey finds salaries on the rise for skilled crafts
Source: NCCER, Alachua, Fla. Skilled craft professionals’ wage trajectory continues upward, according to the NCCER 2022 Construction Craft Salary Survey—a sampling of 135-plus commercial, industrial and residential construction contractors employing nearly 340,000.
Read MoreFlorida stays on top of ABC construction business climate survey
Sources: Associated Builders and Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff The Associated Builders and Contractors’ seventh annual Merit Shop Scorecard salutes the Sunshine State for fostering a climate friendly to construction interests and their clients. The group determines the ranking on state policies and programs that encourage workforce development, grow career and technical education, strengthen careers in construction, and advocate for…
Read MoreRaw material, freight costs drive GCP admixture price increase
Source: GCP Applied Technologies Inc., Alpharetta, Ga. GCP Applied Technologies will raise concrete admixture prices up to 10 percent for North American customers, effective January 2022. “The global supply chain impacts on raw material and freight costs have been unprecedented over the past six months and input costs are not expected to subside in the near-term,” explains GCP Specialty Construction…
Read MoreInsurance giant tailors underwriting program to mass timber
Source: Zurich North America, Schaumburg, Ill. A key player in insurance solutions for construction, Zurich North America is expanding coverage offerings to commercial projects using mass timber, a group of engineered wood products touted for resilience and sustainability. The company will offer up $50 million insurance capacity to qualified customers and make Mass Timber Builders Risk available for project-specific coverage…
Read MoreASTM floor noise standard raises another wood structure red flag
A new standard from ASTM International Committee E33 on Building and Environmental Acoustics establishes an evaluation metric for low-frequency impact noise, especially the thudding from footfalls typical in multi-level buildings constructed of materials other than cast-in-place or precast concrete.
Read MoreBid-rigging contractor discovers law federal agencies choose to enforce
By Don Marsh In an age of opponent cancellation and selective federal, state or local law enforcement, a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) plea agreement with an employee of a contractor performing concrete work for Minnesota municipalities offers two takeaways. First, despite Herculean efforts, the current White House has some unfinished business in its quest to erase all things Donald…
Read MoreACI moves Concrete Convention from in-person to virtual format
Sources: American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, Mich.; CP staff Engineers, contractors, educators, material or manufacturing representatives, plus other allied interests will assemble online from October 17-21, 2021 for the ACI Concrete Convention—the world’s gathering place for advancing construction. Originally scheduled as a hybrid event with virtual presentations accompanying in-person meetings in Atlanta, the program will now be fully online.
Read MoreInstitute does project math in Concrete Solutions, Embodied Carbon Guides
Sources: RMI, Boulder, Colo.; CP staff Energy market-driven RMI has released Concrete Solutions Guide in tandem with the broader Reducing Embodied Carbon in Buildings, the former presenting specific opportunities for “a nearly ubiquitous material with a sizable climate impact” and expanding on the need to optimize mixes to reduce overall embodied carbon in buildings at little to no additional cost.
Read MorePandemic measures drive doubling of safety training outlays
Members responding to the Associated Builders and Contractors 2021 Workforce Development Survey invested $1.3 billion last year to provide craft, leadership and safety education to 500,000 course attendees, advancing their careers in commercial and industrial construction. Safety education accounted for 71 percent of the total workforce investment as per-person spending doubled, revealing an elevated focus on total human health during…
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