The Swiss parent company of New Jersey-based Sika Corp. will tailor a new family of concrete admixtures and cement additives around the chemistry and behavior of an emerging binder known as LC3, or Limestone Calcined Clay Cement. Through work with Sika AG and peers, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology officials view the material as a means of carbon footprint reduction…
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Lehigh Hanson Inc. is extending its recently launched, carbon-wise EcoCem portland-limestone cement series with EcoCem PLUS, milled at the Lehigh Cement Edmonton Plant and Terminal and debuting in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Finished by inter-grinding cement clinker, fly ash, limestone and gypsum, the material outperforms traditional CSA Group-grade (High Sulphate Limestone blend) HSLb-20F powder in resisting sulphate attack, common in…
Read MoreSources: Blue Planet Systems Corp., Los Gatos, Calif.; CP staff A $10 million funding round positions Blue Planet to advance a carbon capture and utilization system netting concrete-grade synthetic limestone. The Silicon Valley company is approaching commercialization of a process that converts diluted carbon dioxide from fossil fuel-powered electricity generating stations, cement or steel mills, and petroleum refineries to carbonate…
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Volvo Trucks North America parent, Volvo Truck Corp. of Sweden, recently entered an agreement to equip Norway limestone producer Brønnøy Kalk AS with six dump body-bearing FH cabover models programmed for driverless operation. Following individual vehicle demonstrations last year, the fleet will be deployed in 2019 to haul rock from underground mine to crusher—navigating a three-mile tunnel and outdoor road route at a wheel loader operator’s direction.
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Sources: Volvo Truck Corp., Goteborg, Sweden; CP staff
Volvo Trucks North America’s European parent has entered an agreement to equip Norway limestone producer Brønnøy Kalk AS with six dump body-bearing Volvo FH cabover models programmed for driverless operation. Following individual vehicle demonstrations this year, the fleet will be deployed in 2019 to haul rock from underground mine to crusher, navigating a three-mile route of tunnels and outdoor roads at the direction of a wheel loader operator.
Read MoreSources: Lehigh Hanson Inc., Irving, Texas; CP staff
Lehigh Hanson’s most ambitious undertaking to date entails a four-year, $600 million-plus modernization and expansion of the Lehigh Cement Co. Mitchell plant, aimed at increasing capacity from present 662,038 metric-ton-per-year level; lowering energy usage and emissions per ton of finished cement; and, continuing to leverage the southern Indiana site’s limestone riches.
Read MoreSources: ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa.; CP staff
ASTM Committee C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates’ latest standard, C1797, Specification for Ground Calcium Carbonate and Aggregate Mineral Fillers for Use in Hydraulic Cement Concrete, addresses limestone and similar materials exhibiting potential to improve mix characteristics and hardened structure performance.
Read MoreSources: McInnis Cement, Montreal; CP staff
Rhode Island and Providence officials joined McInnis Cement executives for an early-August groundbreaking at the deep-water Port of Providence, where the producer is building a 30,000-plus ton capacity terminal linked to its Port-Daniel-Gascons mill under construction in eastern Quebec.
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North Miami Beach-based Artistic Paver Mfg. has shored up its West Coast presence, opening a southern California distribution center for Steplock and Roadlock series paving units from the company’s Case Grande, Ariz., plant. Offerings will include the latest addition to the Steplock West Coast line, Limestonelock, promoted as a “sophisticated paver with the smoothness found in limestone,” available in ‘polished’ or ‘polished and antiqued’ finishes’ plus Almond, Holly Brown or Linen Grey colors.
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Research in Mississippi shows that portland cement/limestone blends (PLC) result in notable compressive strength improvements in mixtures with high Class C fly ash replacement versus conventional Type I portland cement, say Jay Shannon and Dr. Isaac L. Howard, P.E., Mississippi State University, and V. Tim Cost, P.E., F.ACI, and Wayne M. Wilson, P.E., Holcim (US) Inc., in their 2015 TRB paper, Benefits of Portland-Limestone Cement for Concrete with Rounded Gravel Aggregates and Higher Fly Ash Replacement Rates.