Masonry Magazine February 1980 Page. 36
RYD-UP SCAFFOLDING
Sturdy 10-foot sections make material placement more flexible, with fewer towers to handle.
ADJUSTOMATIC
SCAFFOLDING
Steel reinforced tapered aluminum couplers
"Instant Locks
Tapered Studs
Wide selection of panels, color-coded braces, all accessories.
Whether it's standard scaffolding or big Ryd-Up scaffolding, depend on Automatic Devices scaffolding equipment for increased user safety and peak efficiency...it means profits for you.
AUTOMATIC DEVICES, INC.
D 2440 Adie Rd., Maryland Heights, MO 63043
Phone 314/432-5710
Ancient Adobe Block Being Revived
As Energy-saving Building Material
A segment of the building industry in Tucson, Ariz., is turning to one of the world's oldest construction materials-adobe-in the hope of saving costly energy.
The Southwest Adobe Co., which began production last April as Arizona's sole large-scale adobe factory, sees the future of adobe construction tied to passive solar energy applications. The simple mud-and-water substance is promising because of the way it naturally enhances the effects of solar energy. Adobe houses are generally cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
A heavy material weighing 25 to 50 pounds per block, adobe is brown in color but can be stained or painted. Block sizes go up to dimensions of 12 × 4 × 16 inches. The Southwest Adobe Co. reports it has perfected a stabilized adobe to which asphalt is added to the sunbaked mud and water. The asphalt waterproofs the adobe, eliminating the need for exterior sealants or interior wall plastering.
A number of Tucson home-building companies are beginning to use adobe in the construction of custom homes. One such firm plans an 80-unit development with homes priced from $80,000 to $175,000.
Contracting Firms Rank Low
In Executive Compensation
Executive compensation for top management in the construction and contracting industry increased 12.9% over 1977, according to a new survey conducted for Financial Executives Institute by Arthur Young & Company. Of the 24 industries studied in the survey, the construction and contracting group ranked 11th in total average compensation and 17th in percent of increases in total cash compensation.
The survey also shows that 96.2% of all construction and contracting companies surveyed paid a bonus to their chief executive officers, averaging 73.6% of base salary for bonus-paying companies.
Nationwide, corporate management exercised restraint in top executive pay increases during 1978 in spite of an unusually strong executive job market and a high rate of inflation. The survey showed that top executive pay rose 13.6% in the period, down from a record high of 14% in 1976.
These highlights are among the results of the comprehensive new survey of salary and bonus compensation for positions in the executive and financial departments of more than 1,100 companies. The eighth biennial survey of "Executive Compensation" was conducted by Edwin S. Mruk and James A. Giardina, of Arthur Young.
Robert W. Moore, president of Financial Executives Institute, said, "If past experience holds true, the economic downturn of 1979 will further increase the demand for financial executives skilled in financial control systems and cash management and put even greater pressure to bolster their compensation levels. We expect, however, a continuation of the trend toward restraint in executive compensation and different types of compensation packages."
For shoppers who yearn to return to the old ways, there is Farmer's Market in downtown Dallas, where the public may buy fresh produce, flowers and plants to recall an earlier, more personalized era of history.