July 27, 2021 – O&G Industries recently hosted high school students from Meriden Public Schools at its Southbury Quarry in Southbury, Conn. The onsite visit and tour, which included students from Maloney High School and Platt High School, is a part of the Meriden Public School’s career outreach program. Fifty students visited the quarry over a two-day span to learn about…
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Concrete News
July 21, 2021 – According to the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA), the estimated ready mixed concrete produced in April 2021 is 35.6 million cu. yd., 20% higher than that in April 2020. The estimated production in the U.S. through April is 114.3 million cu. yd., approximately 6.8% higher than that during the same period in 2020. NRMCA joined a…
Read MoreAggregates Facts
July 20, 2021 – Did you know that 38,000 tons of aggregate go into each lane mile of interstate highway? Construction of the average home requires 400 tons of aggregate, while the average size school or hospital requires 15,000 tons. Every state and roughly three-quarters of the nation’s counties are home to an aggregate operation, producing nearly 2.4 billion tons…
Read MoreCompanies Call for Net-Zero Investment
July 16, 2021 – Forty-one leading companies, including Holcim, called on Congress to prioritize investments that can accelerate the transition to a resilient net-zero economy in any infrastructure legislation. The companies, in a joint statement organized by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), cited the physical and economic risks posed by climate change, which have already begun to critically…
Read MoreHere Come Autonomous Excavators
July 13, 2021 – Researchers from the University of Maryland’s Baidu Research Robotics and Auto-Driving Lab (RAL) have introduced an autonomous excavator system (AES), one of the first uncrewed projects to be deployed in real-world scenarios and continuously operating for more than 24 hours. According to Baidu, the AES can perform material loading tasks for a long duration without any human…
Read MoreCoalition for Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment
July 8, 2021 – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced that it has joined Business Roundtable, the National Association of Manufacturers, AFL-CIO, the National Retail Federation, the Bipartisan Policy Center, North America’s Building Trades Unions, as well as over 20 business and labor organizations to launch the Coalition for Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment. The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association has also signed on…
Read MoreCEMEX Balcones Presents
July 6, 2021 – On July 4th, CEMEX’s Balcones plant presented the 36th Infantry Division Band at the Brauntex Performing Arts Theatre in New Braunfels, Texas. The 36th Infantry Division Band was first formed on Apr. 1, 1937, in New Braunfels, as an element of the historic 36th Infantry Division, Texas Army National Guard. The band, along with the entire 36 Infantry Division, was federally activated for WWII, becoming the first…
Read MorePacific Northwest Not Built For Heat
July 1, 2021 – Very interesting story on Wired. On Sunday, as temperatures hit 105, the concrete beneath State Route 544 outside Everson, Wash., began to do what concrete does when it gets really hot: It expanded. By 5 p.m., the asphalt above it had softened and cracked, leaving a thick, humped seam across two lanes. To the south, in Portland, Ore., a road on the…
Read MoreBoaters Watch Cliff Wall Fall
June 30, 2021 – Boaters on northern Michigan’s Lake Superior captured a dramatic video of a large section of cliff wall crashing into the water. The piece of the cliff wall, which consists of sandstone and dirt measuring around 200 ft., fell at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The rock fall looked like a quarry face coming down after…
Read MoreCondo Collapse Tragedy
June 29, 2021 – The tragic collapse of a condo complex in Florida once again shines a harsh light on the issue of infrastructure. This time, the concrete infrastructure of buildings. Per CNN, engineers who have reviewed the available information about the tower’s collapse say the investigation into its cause should focus on potential failures near the base of the building. Sinisa…
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