Source: Lafarge North America, Reston, Va. More than 200,000 hours of safe operation was celebrated recently at Lafarge Canada’s Exshaw, Alberta, cement plant. The 150 laborers, equipment operators, millwrights, electricians, engineers, and managers at the plant have good reason to be proud as they have worked injury free for the better part of 2011 and the streak continues into 2012.
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Ash Grove’s Seattle Plant wins workplace safety award
Source: Ash Grove Cement Co., Overland Park, Kan. The Ash Grove Cement Co.’s Seattle, Wash., plant received the Association of Washington Business’ Better Workplace Safety Award from Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire (D). “We are honored that our company’s comprehensive safety program has been recognized by the Association of Washington Business,” said Plant Manager Todd Hinton. “This is an important recognition…
Read MoreFLSmidth awarded two cement projects in Brazil
Source: FLSmidth, Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen-based FLSmidth has signed a contract for two cement projects worth a total of US$132 million with the company Cimpor Cimentos do Brasil Ltda in Brazil. The contract comprises equipment for the Caxitu project, a new greenfield cement plant in Paraiba State near the town of Joâo Pessoa, and for a new kiln line project at…
Read MoreCement Totals—November 2011
Source: U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va. Total shipments of portland and blended cement in the United States and Puerto Rico were about 6.2 million mt in November 2011, according to the USGS. This was 5.0 perfect higher compared with shipments for November 2010. Total shipments for the year through November were approximately 67.3 million mt, slightly higher compared to the…
Read MoreJudge denies Florida Cement and Concrete Antitrust plaintiffs class certification
Sources: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami; Staff reports An early-January ruling stands to significantly increase costs and complicate litigation burdens for In Re Florida Cement and Concrete Antitrust Litigation plaintiffs. Greatly streamlined from initial claims of a five-year scope and 10-defendant pool, the two-year-old case alleges a 2008–2009 concrete price-fixing conspiracy among Cemex Inc., Florida…
Read MoreCalPortland agrees to pay $1.4 million to settle Clean Air Act violations
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in mid-December that CalPortland Company (CPC) has agreed to pay a $1.425 million penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its cement plant in Mojave, Calif. In addition to the penalty, CPC will spend an estimated $1.3…
Read MoreASTM raises bar to generous threshold for C595’s ground limestone content
Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association; Staff reports In a move that will provide the opportunity for the cement and concrete industries to reduce products’ carbon footprint, a proposal was approved to permit up to 15 percent ground limestone in blended cements under ASTM C595 (Blended Hydraulic Cements), with the resulting product characterized as limestone blended cements. Similar revisions are…
Read MoreAsh Grove becomes first U.S. cement maker ISO certify all plants
Source: Ash Grove Cement Co., Overland Park, Kan. Ash Grove Vice President of Environmental Affairs, Curtis Lesslie, PE, announced that the company is currently the only domestic cement manufacturer to have its entire fleet of eight operating clinker manufacturing facilities earn the prestigious ISO 14001 certification. In 2010, seven of the company’s facilities earned the designation; its reconstructed Foreman, Ark.,…
Read MoreCemex finalizes Davenport Redwood Forest property to conservation group
Source: Cemex USA, Houston Cemex USA recently finalized the $30 million sale of its approximately 8,500-acre Redwood Forest property near the Cemex Davenport cement plant to a consortium of local land trusts. The land trusts comprise the Living Landscape Initiative, a major conservation project in the Silicon Valley area. The deal follows the plant’s closure in January 2010 and guarantees…
Read MoreRetirements push Ash Grove to reorganize manufacturing department
Source: Ash Grove Cement Co., Overland Park, Kan. With the impending retirement of two key leaders in Ash Grove’s manufacturing organization during the first half of 2012, the company is beginning the transition to its new reporting structure, explained Michael J. Hrizuk, senior vice president–manufacturing. The changes became effective Jan. 1, 2012.
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