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The Toledo Zoo recently welcomed the largest
saltwater crocodile in North America to its animal family that includes
hundreds of mammals, amphibians, aquatic creatures, reptiles, insects and
spiders, and birds. Transported from Australia, the 17-foot crocodile required
a spacious and ecologically friendly home at the Toledo Zoo, so A.A. Boos &Sons and Great Lakes Concrete Restoration turned to QUIKRETE, a manufacturer of packaged cement mixes for the construction and home
improvement markets, to help renovate an existing solarium into the ideal
crocodile habitat.
Great Lakes Concrete Restoration
applied more than 50 3,000-pound bulk bags of QUIKRETE Shotcrete MS
over a rebar frame in the 80,000-gallon solarium pool before Graphite Design
sculpted the material into a landscape that reflected the crocodile’s native
Australian environment. The shotcrete surface was finished with a concrete
stain to maximize the authenticity of this unique and highly anticipated zoo
exhibit, which opened on May 24.
The board of directors of Holcim (US) Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of cement and
mineral components, has named Filiberto Ruiz to serve
as the company’s president and CEO. Ruiz’s
appointment also includes serving as president and CEO of Aggregate Industries US, a Holcim Group Co.
Additionally,
Bernard Terver, currently a member of the Holcim Ltd. Executive
Committee, formerly president and CEO of Holcim (US)
and Aggregate Industries US, has been named chairman of the board.
“As
we look to the future, it is clear that Filiberto is the right choice
to lead both organizations,” says Terver. “I am confident that through
his leadership we will continue to develop the next generation of
leaders from within the organization, maintain our focus on the
communities we operate in, the environment and our commitment to
delivering the highest quality products and services to our valued
customers.”
“Holcim
is one of the world’s most distinguished companies, with a 100-year
history of commitment to its employees, customers, and the communities
in which we operate,” says Ruiz. “It’s a tremendous honor to have been
selected to lead this talented team and to build on the success of the
past.”
Ruiz
has served as the company’s deputy CEO since August
2012 and has been with the company for more than 26 years, holding a
range of general management, manufacturing and sales and marketing
positions both within and outside of the United States.
Terver
has been president and CEO of Holcim (US) since
October 2008 and Aggregate Industries United States since 2010. He has more than 30
years’ experience in the cement and mineral components industry both in
the United States and internationally.
Today’s
sports fans have more options than ever to show support for their favorite
teams. From apparel to pennants, and novelty items like barbeque tongs and
steak knives, nothing seems out of the ordinary when it comes to fan support.
And when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers, you can take that sentiment up
another notch.
Such is the story of Mark Modine, whose basement in his North Haven, Conn., home
features a mini football field and Steelers’ logo embossed on the floor. The
idea came to personal trainer Modine after chatting with one of his clients,
LATICRETE Chairman and CEO David Rothberg. One day during a workout session,
Modine, who has some experience in the construction field, became enthralled
with some of the products that Rothberg had mentioned from DRYTEK Innovative
Flooring Solutions, a recent addition to the LATICRETE family of products.
“David was telling me about some of the different options that these products,
especially the selfleveling one, were capable of performing,” Modine says. “I
just couldn’t believe the opportunities these applications had. I kept asking,
‘Can you put it on this, and that?’ And he kept saying that you could. So I
said, let’s try something creative at my house!”
Modine, who only lives 12 miles or so from the LATICRETE world headquarters in
Bethany, Conn., was willing to be the test pilot for the new applications. And
he had just the project. A die-hard Steelers’ fan, whose house is the
“ultimate” sports palace on Sundays during the season, Modine wanted to try
something different in his basement.
He envisioned having the Steelers’ logo embossed on his basement floor – the
ultimate testament to the Black and Gold. “Even though he said that you could
do practically anything with it, David kept stating that there were no
guarantees how it would turn out unless installed correctly,” Modine says. “But
every time he said, ‘you could, you could, you could;’ I said, ‘yes, yes, yes.’
I knew I could be the perfect test subject to see how this would all work. I
told David that any of the small mistakes that we would make – and there were
some through trial and error – would be left at my house.”
So Rothberg put a call into DRYTEK technical sales representative, Tom Leahy.
Quickly, Leahy set up a meeting with Modine, at which he explained the various
types of products and options available. After the meeting, Modine decided he
wanted his basement to feature a black floor with the logo that the players’
wear on their helmets. He also wanted the logo to feature the words
“Pittsburgh” and “Steelers.” Modine envisioned a mini football field, complete
with two end zones, occupying the 400-square-foot space in his basement. The
logo would serve as the 50-yard line, so to speak.
To help pull all the pieces together, Modine purchased the logo from Fathead, a
licensed product manufacturer that supplies an array of decorative wall
graphics. He also enlisted the help of Jo Rapisarda, senior graphic designer at
LATICRETE. Rapisarda worked closely with Modine to create a template and design
utilizing the black and gold colors for the logo, etc.
The first step in the process was to get rid of the excessive adhesive markings
on the floor, which Leahy noticed during the initial meeting. The markings were
a result of carpeting that previously was pulled off of the floor. This
concrete pavement restoration technique is designed to help correct
irregularities such as faulting and roughness. In this case, it was to smooth
out the cracks and eliminate any leftover adhesive residue.
To further smooth out the floor, they put mesh tape on the cracks, and then
laid down DRYTEK 104S Epoxy Primer, which would help further smooth out the
cracks in the concrete. The two-component, high-solids epoxy primer, part of
the DRYTEK Decorative Wear Surface System, is applied with a sand broadcast.
Next, DRYTEK 7400, a fast-drying, dual purpose, self-leveling cement in gray, was
poured. The cement can be used both as a durable and attractive interior wear
surface and as a high-performance underlayment for troubled substrates. To give
the floor that Steelers look, Leahy poured a black liquid dye in the concrete,
and then poured the floor, which took a day to dry.
The next steps included spraying one coat of LATICRETE epoxy primer (which
takes eight to 12 hours to dry), positioning in the Fathead logo (followed by
painting the “Pittsburgh” and “Steelers” word logos), spraying another coat of
clear, and then adding a coat of LATICRETE SpectraLOCK Dazzle, which adds a
metallic, micro-chip glittered look.
The last step involved using a spray that would lock in the micro chip glitter
and give the emblem that shiny look. The team also sprayed yellow epoxy paint
over the words ‘Pittsburgh’ and ‘Steelers’ in the logo.
“This is my first project that featured a Fathead logo,” Leahy says. “Custom
jobs like this take a minimum of anywhere from four to five days to complete.
When it was over, Mark was very happy with the way the project turned out. And
now, when we show pictures of this project to prospective clients, they can see
what we are able to do. It is leading to other custom jobs.”
Holcim
(US), a manufacturer and supplier of cement
and mineral components, says its Ste. Genevieve and Ada plants reached employee safety milestones in May and July. The Ste. Genevieve and Ada
plants marked three and five years, respectively, without a lost time injury. A lost time injury is defined as an accident resulting in an
injury that requires the employee to take time off.
“These milestones are more than a point of pride for
us, they demonstrate employees living our safety culture every day”, says
Bernard Terver, president and CEO of Holcim (US).
“Our employees have shown great commitment to implementing our universal
safety measures. We’re extremely proud of the results and look forward to
continued excellence.”
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected an appeal filed by the NAACP and National Association of Home Builders, who claimed that revised zoning standards adopted by the City of Kyle, Texas, violate the Federal Fair Housing Act (FHA). The Federal Court’s decision (Case No. 09-50352) published on Nov. 11, 2010, essentially affirms the Federal District Court decision in March 2009, which had rejected the legal challenge on the basis that the plaintiffs had not presented any evidence that the city’s revised zoning standards had discriminated against African-Americans or Hispanics.
The case was being followed closely by cities throughout the region and beyond, because of the potential impact on local planning and development decisions.
The lower court judgment was affirmed unanimously by the Fifth Circuit, which found that neither the NAACP nor the NAHB had standing to sue the City under the FHA. In a nutshell, the court embraced all of Kyle’s standing arguments and held, in particular, that neither the NAACP nor the NAHB had established any direct injury to their members or any substantial diversion of their own financial resources traceable to the particular effect of Kyle's regulations.
Kyle (est. pop. 26,000), located about 20 minutes south of Austin, is known in the area for having a rapidly growing population, a “minority majority” City Council, a large Hispanic population (57 percent), and for having a large inventory of entry-level affordable housing. Kyle’s zoning ordinance, revised in 2003, established minimum standards for residential construction in the city: a) minimum of 1,600 square feet, up from 1,400 square feet; b) minimum lot size of 8,190 square feet, 20 percent greater than previously; c) garages of not less than 480 square feet, and d) constructed with exteriors of 100 percent masonry, encompassing clay (brick), concrete, cement-based or stone options.
The zoning ordinance was amended again in November 2005, when the city, anticipating litigation, raised the fee for residential building permits by 25 percent to cover the expected litigation costs. When Austin-area home builders and the NAACP joined forces and singled out Kyle’s revised zoning ordinance, which included new masonry standards, as being “anti-growth” and, in effect, discriminatory toward minorities and low-income people, the folks in Kyle felt a mixture of disbelief and amusement, according to former City Manager Tom Mattis.
In November 2005, the national NAACP, Texas State Conference of NAACP, Austin Branch of NAACP together with the National Association of Home Builders and the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin filed suit in Federal District Court. The plaintiffs claimed that the revised zoning ordinance violated the Fair Housing Act and that the city retaliated against the HBA by raising the permit fees.
U.S. Dist. Court Judge Lee Yeakel heard the case in February 2008 and handed down his ruling in favor of the city on March 30, 2009. Judge Yeakel stated in his decision that “the Austin HBA and NAACP failed to conduct a proper statistical analysis” to support their claim that the city was trying to price minorities out of the housing market in Kyle. He said most of the home builders who are active in Kyle have adjusted well to the new minimum standards, because they want to build a product that people will want.
The full text of the appeals court decision can be found at
