Welcome to CONCRETE CURRENTS, the electronic newsletter from
Concrete Products magazine.
For additional industry news, technology, and highlights from the latest
issue of Concrete Products, please visit www.concreteproducts.com
Submissions for upcoming issues of CONCRETE CURRENTS or Concrete
Products can be directed to Editor Don Marsh, don.marsh@penton.com or
312/840-8483.
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ITW Muller
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Ex-Oldcastle Chief Hill resurfaces with Wall
Street heavyweights’ backing
Sources: Blackstone Group, New York; Silverhawk Capital
Partners, Greenwich, Conn.; CP staff
With nearly $800 million in commitments from major investment
bankers and advisers, longtime Oldcastle Inc. and CRH Americas executive
Tom Hill has formed acquisition-driven Summit Materials, LLC. Crediting
Blackstone and Silverhawk for the Washington, D.C.-based venture’s
“strong capital base and significant strategic resources,” he noted
in a Summit launch announcement: “Our management team and investors
believe now is a great time to invest in the sector and build a large
and profitable new company in aggregates and heavy-side building
materials." Click
here for full story
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Dissident TXI shareholder faction gains momentum
with top investor’s support
Sources: Shamrock Activist Value Fund, Burbank, Calif.; CP
staff
With Texas Industries, Inc.’s annual meeting one month away in
Dallas, the company’s third-largest shareholder (representing a 10.2
percent stake), SAVF, has gained a major new supporter in its efforts to
shake up the nine-member TXI board. The firm proposes an opposition
slate of director candidates and three resolutions, one of which would
require annual election of all directors, rather than staggered
three-year terms. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing,
Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris, owner of 14.9 percent of TXI
outstanding shares, announced his intent to vote in favor of SAVF’s
three director nominees and its three shareholder proposals. Click
here for full story
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Eagle Materials names three executives to finance,
strategy posts
Sources: Eagle Materials Inc., Dallas; CP staff
Cement, aggregate, ready mixed and wallboard producer Eagle
Materials recently named Craig Kesler executive vice president, Finance
and Administration and CFO; William Devlin senior vice president,
controller and chief accounting officer; and, Robert Stewart executive
vice president, Strategy, Corporate Development and Communications.
Kesler has served as vice president, Investor Relations and Corporate
Development, and Devlin vice president and controller--both since 2005.
Stewart joins the executive suite from Dallas-based Centex Corp., which
spun off Eagle Materials in 2005, where he was responsible for strategy,
marketing, sales, corporate development and communications.
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U.S. Concrete exits California capital’s RM
business
Sources: U.S. Concrete Inc., Houston; CP staff
U.S. Concrete has sold its four Sacramento, Calif., ready-mixed
plants to an undisclosed buyer in a transaction of approximately $6
million. The properties, whose shipments for the first six months of
2009 fell sharply from prior year figures, were part of U.S.
Concrete’s anchor franchise, Central Concrete Supply, based in San
Jose. Click
here for full story
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EPA serves up $140K in fines to Knife River,
Midwest Concrete for Clean Water violations
Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7,
Kansas City, Kan.; CP staff
On the heels of the largest-ever penalty assessed to a ready mixed
company--$2.75 million paid by Aggregate Industries--for storm water
violations, EPA has filed consent agreements against two companies that
it says violated the Clean Water Act. Totaling just under $140,000, the
consent agreements are subject to a 30-day public comment period and
final approval, which ends in late September. Click
here for full story
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NRMCA launches 3-STEP Green Building Expert
program
Source: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver
Spring, Md.
NRMCA now offers a 3-STEP
sequence of online courses and certifications to help concrete industry
professionals develop a thorough understanding of sustainability
concepts and design guidelines used in the U.S. Green Building
Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design [LEED]
program. Designed by NRMCA staff and industry experts, the new program
assists individuals in achieving certification as a LEED Green
Associate. Click
here for full story
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British precast veteran loads
key2concrete.com
Source: J&P Building Systems Ltd., Oxon, U.K.
A new online information center for precast specifiers and users
provides document downloads covering Connections & Fittings,
Environment, Joints & Interfaces, and Lifting & Transportation, plus an
“Ask Cliff” function to submit questions in confidence. Click
here for full story
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ACAA addresses EPA panic on fly ash designation,
handling
Sources: American Coal Ash Association, Aurora, Colo.;
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.
Citing a new administration and the December 2008 spill of 5.4
million cu. yd. of fly ash from a Tennessee Valley Authority impoundment
as reasons for recent Environmental Protection Agency actions regarding
coal combustion byproducts regulations, ACAA Executive Director Tom Adams
assesses such products, including fly ash, flue gas desulfurization
materials, bottom ash and boiler slag, in a new white paper. Click
here for full story
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Rapid Set receives Home Depot Eco Options
Seal
Source: CTS Cement Manufacturing Corp., Cypress, Calif.
Recently placed on Home Depot’s Eco Options list were
several Rapid Set cement products
reportedly suitable for concrete repair and new slabs--Cement All,
Mortar Mix, and Concrete Mix. The Home Depot Eco Options program, which
enables customers to identify products of lesser environmental impact,
requires that all brands receiving its seal of approval offer one or
more of the following benefits: sustainability, forest conservation,
energy efficiency, healthy home environment, clean air, and/or water
conservation. Click
here for full story
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ConExpo-Con/Agg 2011 organizers call for paper
submissions
Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver
Spring, Md.; Association of Equipment Manufacturers,
Milwaukee
Although the event does not arrive for another year and a half,
ConExpo-Con/Agg 2011 organizers have already put out a call to those in
the concrete industry to submit a seminar topic. The deadline for
submission is October 12, 2009, with the seminar program running March
22–25 (with the possibility of an extension to March 26), at the Las
Vegas Convention Center. Click
here for full story
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2010 National Concrete Bridge Conference
registration begins
Source: Portland Cement Association, Skokie,
Ill.
A national venue for dissemination and exchange of information on
concrete bridge design and construction, the 2010 Concrete Bridge
Conference (CBC) will be hosted by the National Concrete Bridge Council
on Feb. 24–26 in Phoenix. “Achieving Safe, Smart, and Sustainable
Bridges” is the theme of the event, which will offer technical
sessions, a tour of local bridges, the 2010 Concrete Bridge Awards
presentation, and an exhibit area. Primary focus areas will include
Sustainable Bridges, Smart Bridges, Non-Destructive Evaluations of
Bridges, Durable Bridge Decks, and Innovative Design and Construction.
Registration can be completed at www.nationalconcretebridge.org/cbc/.
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