Falling interest rates in the closing weeks of 2023 helped to bring buyers off the sidelines and provide a boost for new home sales. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in December increased 8.0% to a 664,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from an upwardly revised reading in November, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and…
Read MoreDay: January 29, 2024
Rice University Study: Coal-Based Product Could Replace Sand in Concrete
A study by Rice University researchers found that graphene derived from metallurgical coke, a coal-based product, could serve not only as a reinforcing additive in cement but also as a replacement for sand in concrete. “This could have a major impact on one of the biggest industries in the world,” said James Tour, Rice’s T. T. and W. F. Chao…
Read MoreMSHA Impact Inspections Target 16 Mines in 11 States in December
The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) completed impact inspections at 16 mines in 11 states in December 2023, issuing 247 violations. The agency began conducting impact inspections after an April 2010 explosion in West Virginia at the Upper Big Branch Mine killed 29 miners. MSHA’s impact inspections in 2023 identified 2,739 violations,…
Read MorePresident Hails Infrastructure Investments at Wisconsin Event
During a press event at the Earth Rider Brewery in Superior, Wis., President Joe Biden highlighted a $1 billion grant award to the Blatnik Bridge project, which will replace the original structure built in 1961 with a new design that will not only handle higher volumes of motor vehicle and freight traffic but more safely accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians as…
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