World of Concrete 2012 wraps up Friday in Las Vegas and the show’s 50,000 attendees are optimistic and expect better days ahead.
One indicator of the concrete market is the annual Cement Outlook presented by Ed Sullivan, economist for the Portland Cement Association, Skokie, Ill. Cement consumption is expected to increase significantly in 2013, the first time an increase has been predicted in the past five years.
While his presentation focused primarily on the infrastructure, he noted there was a “tinge of optimism” for other markets including public utilities, industrial, and retail sectors.
By 2017, cement consumption is expected to reach levels last recorded in 2005. “The construction market is in a 12-year peak-to-peak recovery,” said Sullivan. A number of factors, including a reduction in office vacancy rates as well as unemployment rates must come to fruition before the construction market sees a significant recovery, says Sullivan.
"Jobs will determine the growth rate in the economy and also shorten the healing process," Sullivan said. "The more jobs, the more recovery at the state level, the more construction spending."
A host of GCs and concrete contractors noted an increase in residential and commercial business, however their profit margins are expected remain small in 2012.
Meanwhile, WOC 2012 exhibitors rolled out a series of new products. Maxwell Systems showcased its new construction management software; ProSpec introduced a new high-strength grout that contributes to LEED credits; and Laticrete introduced their Supercap Pump Truck, a mobile blending unit that can deliver up to 15 tons of material per hour. BD+C
Related Stories
| Sep 16, 2010
Gehry’s Santa Monica Place gets a wave of changes
Omniplan, in association with Jerde Partnership, created an updated design for Santa Monica Place, a shopping mall designed by Frank Gehry in 1980.
| Sep 16, 2010
Green recreation/wellness center targets physical, environmental health
The 151,000-sf recreation and wellness center at California State University’s Sacramento campus, called the WELL (for “wellness, education, leisure, lifestyle”), has a fitness center, café, indoor track, gymnasium, racquetball courts, educational and counseling space, the largest rock climbing wall in the CSU system.
| Sep 13, 2010
Community college police, parking structure targets LEED Platinum
The San Diego Community College District's $1.555 billion construction program continues with groundbreaking for a 6,000-sf police substation and an 828-space, four-story parking structure at San Diego Miramar College.
| Sep 13, 2010
Campus housing fosters community connection
A 600,000-sf complex on the University of Washington's Seattle campus will include four residence halls for 1,650 students and a 100-seat cafe, 8,000-sf grocery store, and conference center with 200-seat auditorium for both student and community use.
| Sep 13, 2010
Second Time Around
A Building Team preserves the historic facade of a Broadway theater en route to creating the first green playhouse on the Great White Way.
| Sep 13, 2010
Palos Community Hospital plans upgrades, expansion
A laboratory, pharmacy, critical care unit, perioperative services, and 192 new patient beds are part of Palos (Ill.) Community Hospital's 617,500-sf expansion and renovation.
| Sep 13, 2010
China's largest single-phase hospital planned for Shanghai
RTKL's Los Angles office is designing the Shanghai Changzheng New Pudong Hospital, which will be the largest new hospital built in China in a single phase.
| Sep 13, 2010
World's busiest land port also to be its greenest
A larger, more efficient, and supergreen border crossing facility is planned for the San Ysidro (Calif.) Port of Entry to better handle the more than 100,000 people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border there each day.
