Sources: Nucor Corp., Charlotte, N.C.; CP staff Nucor will make a new net-zero carbon steel available in 2022 across its product lines, including bar sold through concrete reinforcement fabrication, distribution and installation subsidiaries Harris Rebar and Harris Supply Solutions. The net-zero billing reflects the absence or offsetting of carbon dioxide emissions as measured in Environmental Protection Agency-designated Scope 1 (production)…
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ASTM steel committee weighs standard on galvanized post tensioning strand
Sources: ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa.; CP staff
ASTM Committee A01 on Steel, Stainless Steel and Related Alloys (A01) is eyeing a standard aimed at improving durability of strand used in (PT) post tension or bridge stay cable applications, principally through galvanized-product test methods. The proposed document would help gauge corrosion potential and a structure’s durability throughout its life cycle.
Read MoreContractors paint dire jobs, cost consequences in steel, aluminum tariff aftermath
Sources: Associated General Contractors of America, Washington, D.C.; CP staff
Responding to President Donald Trump’s March 8 order applying respective 25 percent and 10 percent tariffs to steel and aluminum imports from countries outside the NAFTA region, AGC CEO Stephen Sandherr noted: “These tariffs will cause significant harm to the nation’s construction industry, put tens of thousands of high-paying construction jobs at risk, undermine the President’s proposed infrastructure initiative and potentially dampen demand for new construction.
Read MoreTech think tank: ‘Innovation Infrastructure’ investment vs. concrete and steel
A traditional infrastructure plan that invests in roads and bridges could increase employment in the short term, but the Trump administration and new Congress should also focus on the building blocks of innovation, such as research & development and technology-enabled “smart” public works because they can support a more robust economy long term, contends the Information and Technology Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Washington, D.C.
Read MoreConcrete form release agent
“Release” is a general-purpose concrete form agent of mineral oil and petroleum product composition. Its dual action formulation is lightly reactive with improved barrier characteristics.
Read MoreIndustry gains profile with a little help from Bill Gates and Big Steel
Two symbolic developments this past month spotlight heavy building materials’ wide-ranging contributions: to urbanization across the world as well as the portfolio of an operator in the business for the long haul.
Read MoreMicrosoft founder ties concrete to a halving of world’s extreme poverty rate
Sources: CP staff; Bill Gates’ gatesnotes blog
In “Have You Hugged a Concrete Pillar Today?,” Microsoft founder Bill Gates takes stock of Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization, the latest work from his favorite author: “[Vaclav Smil] argues that the most important man-made material is concrete, both in terms of the amount we produce each year and the total mass we’ve laid down.”
Read MoreEconomist links construction materials’ upward pricing to harsh winter
Source: Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.
Through April, concrete products and iron & steel prices were up 3.4 percent and 3.2 percent year over year, while overall construction materials prices rose 1.5 percent against the first four months of 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s mid-May Producer Price Index.
Read MoreCRSI recommends return to inch-pound markings
Source: Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, Schaumburg, Ill.
At a meeting on November 9, the CRSI Board of Directors urged all producer members to revert to an inch-pound bar marking system for all sizes and grades of deformed reinforcing steel products. CRSI members produce more than 90 percent of domestic reinforcing steel.
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