Displaying items by tag: concrete
Qatar: Sika is starting operation at a new concrete admixture plant in Doha. The site will include production lines for concrete-admixture manufacturing as well as a main office and a central storage facility. The new plant follows the establishment of the national subsidiary in 2012.
"The optimisation of our supply chain will enable us to play an even greater role in major construction projects in Qatar. Having our own production capacities available locally makes it possible for us to lower transportation costs and enhance proximity to customers," said Ivo Schädler, EMEA Regional Manager for Sika.
Italy: Martin Engineering has launched its successful ‘Mr Blade’ conveyor belt optimisation program in Italy's construction materials sector. The service is a direct-to-site service to maintain and replace belt-cleaner blades that has previously been implemented in the US and the UK. Martin Engineering offers a range of conveyor belt solutions in Italy for industries like energy and steel. The ‘Mr Blade’ program extends this offering to smaller sites – such as quarries, concrete and asphalt plants. Martin Engineering expects to launch its ‘Mr Blade’ service in other European countries later in 2019.
China: Researchers from the Xinjiang Communications Construction Group have developed a new type of cement-based concrete that uses soil as well as wind-blown sand. The new concrete also uses construction waste and steel slag, according to the Xinhua News Agency. It is intended to lower construction costs and times with applications in infrastructure projects.
France: Fives Group has tested using its FCB Rhodax cone crusher to process concrete wastes resulting from the demolition and deconstruction industry. During an internal innovation competition, the crusher was used to sort hydrated cement paste from the aggregates and sand. The development will enable cement producers to reuse the paste as a cement additive. Ready mixed concrete producers will be able to make new concrete using the recycled aggregates and sand allowing for a reduction in CO2 emissions. Fives hopes to turn demolition concrete waste into a valuable commodity.
Colombia: Cementos Argos’ revenue grew by 14% year-on-year to US$657m in the first quarter of 2019 from US$576m in the same period in 2018. Its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 3.7% to US$94m from US$90.7m. Its cement sales volumes increased by 4.7% to 3.86Mt from 3.69Mt. Ready-mixed concrete sales volumes increased by 2.3% to 2.5Mm3. Revenue grew fastest in the US followed by Colombia but it decreased in the Caribbean and Central America.
Cemex agrees final agreement to sell aggregate and ready-mixed concrete assets in Germany
14 May 2019Germany: Cemex has signed the final agreement to sell its aggregates and ready-mix assets in the North and North-West regions of Germany to GP Günter Papenburg AG for around Euro87m. The divestment is expected to close during the second quarter of 2019.
The assets in Germany being divested consist of four aggregates quarries and four ready-mix facilities in North Germany, and nine aggregates quarries and 14 ready-mix facilities in North-West Germany. The proceeds expected to be obtained from this divestment will be used mainly for debt reduction and for general corporate purposes.
Germany: Dyckerhoff is supplying 12,000t of CEM III/A 32.5 N-LH cement to Frankfurt Airport for the production of underwater concrete. The airport is building a new terminal and the construction pit for the floor slab is deeper than the groundwater level, hence the floor slab must be concreted underwater.
The construction pit has a size of almost 66,000m² with excavation carried out in dry conditions to a depth of 5.5m to the groundwater table. Then a further 8 -11m was excavated in wet conditions using industrial divers. The excavation pit has been prepared in sections and then concreted by the divers resulting in short sections. The quantities of cement to be delivered by Dyckerhoff also fluctuate considerably, with sometimes 20 silo trucks/day leaving the Dyckerhoff plant in Wiesbaden. Deliveries started in March 2019.
Around 40,000m3 of concrete has been produced by Sehring Beton, using a mobile mixing plant directly on site. The construction work is being carried out by the Arge Ingenieurbau Baugrube T3, which consists of the two companies Adam Hörnig Bau and Bickhardt Bau.
US: Martin Marietta has benefited from aggregate sales volume growth in the first quarter of 2019. Its revenue grew by 17% year-on-year to US$939m from US$802m. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 28% to US$159m from US$124m. However, the gross profit on its cement business was down and both sales and profit was down for ready-mixed concrete (RMX). Despite this the company said that its cement shipments and pricing increased 7.3% due to demand in Texas, a new Houston-area sales yard and an enhanced product line.
US: Illinois State University has been awarded a US$15,000 grant by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to research the use of recycled glass as a substitute for Ordinary Portland Cement and fly ash in controlled low-strength material (CLSM). CLSM, also called flowable fill, is a cement-based construction material commonly used for backfilling trenches or other excavations, as well as soil-stabilisation. It can be produced at any ready-mix concrete plant by mixing cement, fly ash, sand and water in the correct proportions.
Project lead Pranshoo Solanki said that preliminary results are promising, and show that required flow and strength can be met by replacing cement and fly ash with recycled glass powder.
The EPA grant is for phase one of the recycled glass project for research at the laboratory scale. Funding for phase two will then be sought to test the product in real-world trials.
Polish cement production grew by 12% to 18.9Mt in 2019
17 April 2019Poland: Data from the Cement Producers Association (SPC) shows that cement production grew by 12% year-on-year to 18.9Mt in 2019. Concrete production rose by 6.8% to 25.3Mm3. This was attributed to a growing construction sector, according to the Polish News Bulletin. Both cement and concrete production is expected to continue growing in 2019 to 19Mt and 26.2Mm3 respectively.