Construction aggregates shipments near $30 billion watermark

Construction aggregate producers closed 2021 with shipments totaling 1.54 billion metric tons (mt) of crushed stone and 1 billion mt of sand & gravel, valued respectively at $19.6 billion and $10 billion, according to U.S. Geological Survey figures. The estimated 2.54 billion mt of construction aggregate volume represents a 5 percent year over year gain. Annual shipment values in USGS…

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Inflation drives construction aggregates toward $30 billion

Sources: U.S. Geological Survey; CP staff Construction aggregate producers closed 2021 with shipments totaling 1.54 billion metric tons (mt) of crushed stone and 1 billion mt of sand & gravel, valued respectively at $19.6 billion and $10 billion, according to just-released U.S. Geological Survey figures. The estimated 2.54 billion mt of construction aggregate volume represents a 5 percent year-over-year gain.…

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California cement producers tie carbon neutral operation to sound policies

A California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA) roadmap envisions three major pathways for the industry to attain net zero carbon operation by 2045: reducing production process emissions, reducing combustion emissions through fuel switching, and increasing distributed electricity generation. With 11.8 million metric tons’ clinker and 11.45 million metric tons’ grinding capacity in California (per USGS 2017 data), CNCA members can reach…

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Interior Department scientists define climate change projection limits

A new report from the U.S. Geological Survey—the indispensable source of portland cement, crushed stone and sand & gravel shipment data—stresses the need to factor uncertainties attending climate change predictions, especially as models link present greenhouse gas emission levels to earth temperature trajectories through the year 2100.

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U.S. Geological Survey reveals limits of climate change projections

Sources: U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior; CP staff A new report from the USGS—the indispensable source of portland cement, crushed stone and sand & gravel shipment data—stresses the need to factor uncertainties attending climate change predictions, especially as models link present greenhouse gas emission levels to earth temperature trajectories through the year 2100. 

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Crumbling foundations spawn agency’s pyrrhotite-prone aggregate tracing

The U.S. Geological Survey has developed the first map of rock deposits exhibiting the potential to contain or form pyrrhotite, whose presence in otherwise ASTM C33 aggregate can prove extraordinarily deleterious in concrete. The map is part of a new fact sheet, “Pyrrhotite Distribution in the Conterminous United States,” publication of which abides a Congressional directive addressing widespread residential foundation failure cases in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

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Northeast foundations catastrophe spawns USGS pyrrhotite reference

Sources: U.S. Geological Survey; CP staff 

The U.S. Geological Survey has developed the first map of rock deposits exhibiting the potential to contain or form pyrrhotite, whose presence in otherwise ASTM C33 aggregate can prove extraordinarily deleterious in concrete. The map is part of a new fact sheet, “Pyrrhotite Distribution in the Conterminous United States,” whose publication abides a Congressional directive addressing widespread residential foundation failure cases in Connecticut and Massachusetts. 

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Sand & gravel production, use survey measures concrete prevalence

Sources: U.S. Geological Survey; CP staff

The annual USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries estimates 2019 construction sand & gravel production at 970 million metric tons, valued at $9 billion and extracted from 6,830 sites operated by 3,870 companies. In order of decreasing tonnage, the lead states for production were Texas, California, Arizona, Minnesota, Michigan, Washington, Ohio, New York, Utah and Colorado—accounting for upward of 55 percent of total U.S. output. 

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