Structural engineer Cary Kopczynski once penned a prediction: “There may come a day in the not-too-distant future when concrete building structures will commonly be reinforced with a combination of steel fibers and steel reinforcing bar.
Good performance of the cross-laminated timber panels, made by the first certified CLT supplier in the U.S., is expected to have a positive impact on domestic production.
Having recently validated assumptions about floor-system capacities in its timber-and-concrete structural model for a 42-story residential building, architect-engineer Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is planning additional load tests, followed by fire tests, to nail down the viability of mass-timber-and-concrete high-rises.
User-friendlier language, provisions on alkali-silica reactivity and the absence of default requirements for slump are three of the changes in the latest update of ACI 301-16 Specifications for Structural Concrete, according to the American Concrete Institute.
Looking to realign its presence in Europe following the U.K.’s Brexit vote on June 23, India-based steel producer Tata Steel is in talks with German-based ThyssenKrupp AG and the British government about a possible joint venture for the European market.
The world’s number two cement maker is making steady strides in closing a €3.7 billion deal in a consolidating building materials market. It’s also doing some interesting tinkering in the Caucasus and West Bank.
HeidelbergCement is turning its eyes to Washington in anticipation of an antitrust ruling, perhaps in as soon as two weeks, which is the German-based building materials giant’s next big hurdle in its ongoing effort to acquire Italcementi.