Harvard, MIT researchers peg cement + carbon energy storage prospects

Sources: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; CP staff An investigation based at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has revealed the potential of portland cement, water and carbon black, a common industrial mineral resembling ultrafine charcoal, to create a supercapacitor material suited to low-cost storage of energy derived from solar, wind and tidal power sources. MIT and Harvard University researchers see the…

Read More

Solar array powers northernmost Valmont prestressed pole plant

Sources: Valmont Industries Inc., Omaha, Neb.; CP staff A new solar array abutting a Bristol, Ind. cornfield has the potential to deliver 900-plus kilowatts of electricity, or up to 100 percent of the power to run an adjacent facility: Valmont Industries’ spun, prestressed concrete utility pole plant. The array includes 70 single-axis trackers from a sister business offering the Convert…

Read More

Lafarge Canada secures full output of recycled glass pozzolan plant

Sources: Progressive Planet, Kamloops, British Columbia; CP staff  Under a new purchase agreement, Lafarge Canada Inc. will assume the entire run of PozGlass 100G ground glass pozzolan—upward of 3,500 metric tons—from a pilot Progressive Planet facility in British Columbia, scheduled for 2024 start up. PozGlass 100G technology centers on a reactor equipped to transform the sodium in finely ground, post-consumer…

Read More

Eco Material teams with Hive 3D on printed home collection

Sources: Eco Material Technologies, South Jordan, Utah; CP staff Eco Material Technologies and builder Hive 3D have unveiled the first 3D-printed homes at The Casitas @ The Halles, a Round Top, Texas development featuring 400- to 900-sq.-ft. studio, single-bedroom or two-bedroom models. The mortar-like ink for the single-level homes utilizes Eco Material’s PozzoCEM Vite, a full portland cement replacement binder.…

Read More

Port Authority NYNJ sets carbon threshold for concrete specifications

Sources: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; CP staff Concrete schedules for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s infrastructure and building portfolio will soon reflect maximum carbon dioxide emissions limits—equivalent to a 25 percent or greater reduction in portland cement content—plus portland limestone cement and ground glass pozzolans allowances. The new CO2 threshold and conditional binder…

Read More

Prometheus Materials’ bio-concrete masonry units clear ASTM C129, C90

Sources: Prometheus Materials, Boulder, Colo.; CP staff Prometheus Materials, developer of a micro-algae binder alternative to portland cement, has proved the efficacy of its material in concrete masonry units, successfully testing specimen blocks to ASTM C129-22, Standard Specification for Nonloadbearing Concrete Masonry Units and C90, Standard Specification for Loadbearing Concrete Masonry Units performance requirements.  “We are thrilled to have achieved…

Read More

Cemex reaches volume watermark with low carbon concrete mix deliveries

Cemex USA has delivered more than 1 million yd. of Vertua for public and private projects in California, where the lower carbon mix recently debuted as part of the producer’s Future in Action program. When measured on embodied carbon metrics, Vertua offers carbon dioxide emission reduction of at least 30 percent against ordinary portland cement concretes. Golden State customers have…

Read More

Allen-Villere Partners, Rock Products take construction “Pulse”

Source: Rock Products Magazine Concrete Products’ sister publication, Rock Products, has launched “The Pulse,” a quarterly construction industry economic report, and the monthly AVP Pulse Index. Both are joint efforts with Allen-Villere Partners, leading merger & acquisition advisor to aggregate and concrete operators, and debut in the January edition. The premier Pulse is rich in data from authoritative private and public sources alike:…

Read More

Titan America fully converts Pennsuco, Roanoke plants to Type IL

Sources: Titan America LLC, Norfolk, Va.; CP staff Titan America has become the first U.S. producer to fully switch its ASTM C150 Type I/II portland cement to ASTM C595 Type IL or portland-limestone cement. This lower carbon powder utilizes conventional clinker and gypsum, typically blended with up to 15 percent limestone at the grinding lines of Roanoke Cement in Virginia…

Read More

Cemex ‘Spider Tracker’ sensors gauge mix temperatures wire-to-wire

Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V. has announced a proprietary technology, dubbed “Spider Tracker,” that monitors concrete during placing and hardening to measure strength development in real-time. It enables contractors to remove formwork at precisely the right moment and make informed decisions about the concrete specified for their jobs.  Such actions can result in time and cost savings and potentially a reduction…

Read More