The 2019 Fastest Trowel on the Block Competition hosted by the Canadian Concrete Masonry Producers Association and Spec Mix, is a showcase of industry craftsmanship and a testament of both the speed and skill of our industry’s workforce. Only those journeymen masons who have the skill, confidence and courage to face-off with the industry’s best […]
Top 10 Reasons to Pursue a Career in Masonry Excellent income potential. More skill equals more money — you control your future. Plentiful & varied careers. Be part of a progressive and thriving industry (restoration, new construction, industrial and refractory opportunities). Earn while you learn. Don’t wait until you graduate before you start to receive […]
Climate change is uppermost in the minds of most Canadians — and it’s a concern for the construction industry too. In fact, concrete masonry producers are using new ways to manufacture their product in a more planet-friendly manner. These producers are now able to sequester CO2 within concrete block. Through the use of advanced curing […]
Fires today burn hotter and faster than ever before. Lightweight floor assemblies can now collapse 10 minutes into a blaze — just when you may be arriving and entering the premises. Concrete block helps preserve structural integrity under conditions that often reduce other materials to ashes. We’re working to raise awareness of the need to […]
By: Paul Hargest, President of CCMPA Last March, part of a floor under construction at Oregon State University collapsed after it became ‘de-laminated’ (unglued) at one end. It was a 4- by 20-foot panel of cross-laminated timber, or CLT. Ironically, it was part of a new building that will house the university’s College of Forestry. […]
A new website “BuildingStudies.org” www.buildingstudies.org has been developed to provide information from third party studies to help educate designers, owners and developers. The studies currently provided are for initial cost, energy and feasibility of construction for a variety of structures. Over time additional studies will be made available. Visit site: www.buildingstudies.org or access via the […]
In nature, fire can seem almost impossible to control, as the devastation in British Columbia this summer has reminded us. When it comes to our buildings, however, it is possible to control fire and the damage it causes — if we take the right preventive steps. Consider, for instance, a recent blazen that tore through […]
By some standards, 150 years is a long time. But for Canada’s masonry producers, 150 years isn’t that long at all. Take a building like Montreal’s Saint-Sulpice Seminary. Built almost entirely of brick, block and stone, it has withstood more than 300 years of Canadian weather – and may well be around for 300 more. […]
Expocrete receives the 2017 Oldcastle Community Ambassador Award for their efforts in helping victims of the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfires. Watch the video.
