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Valmont brand of green jobs links wind farms to population centers

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Published: Monday, 31 October 2011 15:17
Written by Don Marsh

There is much to recommend in our cover story subject, a sprawling spun cast prestressed pole plant (pages 22–26), the people who run it, and the NYSE-traded company behind it. Located on a 150-acre site, Valmont Newmark/Bellville is running new batching, mix delivery, placing and forming equipment to support one of the more promising product categories in prestressed concrete.

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Building energy facts rise as judge dismisses LEED lawsuit

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Published: Tuesday, 20 September 2011 12:01
Written by Don Marsh

Findings from charter research projects at the two-year-old Concrete Sustainability Hub continue to validate longstanding industry claims on potential energy savings a home or building owner can realize with concrete structures. They surface as construction and real estate interests look beyond the style of green certification to the substance of hard energy-consumption numbers during a project’s use or operation phase.

Read more: Building energy facts rise as judge dismisses LEED lawsuit

Rogue union locals do little to sustain cast-in-place practice

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Published: Thursday, 21 July 2011 11:08
Written by Don Marsh

Quality control in a plant environment and absence of weather-induced pour delays lead advantages that precast concrete interests cite when comparing their methods to cast-in-place alternatives. A few United Brotherhood of Carpenters locals, embittered by failure to organize concrete subcontractor crews, might codify another advantage in precasters’ pitch: Lower probability of general contractor or project owner harassment.

Read more: Rogue union locals do little to sustain cast-in-place practice

Highway funding faces perfect storm

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Published: Tuesday, 16 August 2011 18:22
Written by Don Marsh

The slight, gradual rebound in projected 2011-12 concrete demand has given way to a nearly flat outlook for the period, after a downgraded forecast Portland Cement Association released late last month. Chief Economist Ed Sullivan attributed highway-funding legislation uncertainty in calling for a 0.6 percent 2011-12 cement consumption increase over a 2009-10 trough. A previous forecast that might have seen cement shipments this year and next combine for an 8–10 percent gain factored a 20 percent increase in federal highway funding, which PCA now sees will continue at its present level.

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An old standby meets sustainability era

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Published: Friday, 01 July 2011 13:22
Written by Don Marsh

“A product as old as time.” That’s how our cover story subject, Shaw Brick of Nova Scotia, describes its core offering in a 150th anniversary timeline. Market share-driven acquisitions, plant investment, and integrated production and distribution of clay and concrete masonry units have kept the Shaw brand a fixture in North American masonry.

Read more: An old standby meets sustainability era

More Articles ...

  1. OSH, Davis-Bacon Acts Bring Taxpayers Divergent Returns
  2. Metromont, Tindall break new ground
  3. Revolution in trucks on full display at ConExpo-Con/Agg
  4. LEED stunt rates as environmentalists’ last hurrah to destroy fly ash viability

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Don Marsh, Editor of Concrete Products
As Editor of Concrete Products for the past 20 years, Don Marsh has his thumb on the pulse of the concrete industry. Concrete Products covers the issues that attract producers of ready mixed and manufactured concrete. With an editorial focus on equipment and material technology, market development and management topics, Concrete Products provides practical information for management professionals on how to run their day to day business.

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