Document and Entity Information - shares	6 Months Ended
Document and Entity Information - shares	Jun. 30, 2018	Jul. 27, 2018
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Jun. 30, 2018
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2018
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Trading Symbol	VMC
Entity Registrant Name	Vulcan Materials CO
Entity Central Index Key	0001396009
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		132,268,189

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017
Assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 55,059	$ 141,646	$ 1,129,799
Restricted cash	6,056	5,000	0
Accounts and notes receivable
Accounts and notes receivable, gross	640,742	590,986	573,029
Less: Allowance for doubtful accounts	(2,628)	(2,649)	(2,943)
Accounts and notes receivable, net	638,114	588,337	570,086
Inventories
Finished products	343,948	327,711	318,465
Raw materials	29,684	27,152	27,106
Products in process	1,882	1,827	1,210
Operating supplies and other	28,250	27,648	28,148
Inventories	403,764	384,338	374,929
Other current assets	80,209	60,780	109,998
Total current assets	1,183,202	1,180,101	2,184,812
Investments and long-term receivables	41,989	35,115	38,888
Property, plant & equipment
Property, plant & equipment, cost	8,241,164	7,969,312	7,531,536
Allowances for depreciation, depletion & amortization	(4,134,750)	(4,050,381)	(3,992,728)
Property, plant & equipment, net	4,106,414	3,918,931	3,538,808
Goodwill	3,163,954	3,122,321	3,101,439
Other intangible assets, net	1,156,898	1,063,630	834,971
Other noncurrent assets	192,327	184,793	171,025
Total assets	9,844,784	9,504,891	9,869,943
Liabilities
Current maturities of long-term debt	23	41,383	525,776
Short-term debt	360,000	0	0
Trade payables and accruals	231,913	197,335	202,753
Other current liabilities	219,860	204,154	197,264
Total current liabilities	811,796	442,872	925,793
Long-term debt	2,776,906	2,813,482	2,809,293
Deferred income taxes, net	545,756	464,081	706,726
Deferred revenue	188,826	191,476	195,020
Other noncurrent liabilities	500,870	624,087	631,007
Total liabilities	4,824,154	4,535,998	5,267,839
Other commitments and contingencies (Note 8)
Equity
Common stock, $1 par value, Authorized 480,000 shares, Outstanding 132,268, 132,324 and 132,181 shares, respectively	132,268	132,324	132,181
Capital in excess of par value	2,788,486	2,805,587	2,797,269
Retained earnings	2,244,545	2,180,448	1,810,528
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(144,669)	(149,466)	(137,874)
Total equity	5,020,630	4,968,893	4,602,104
Total liabilities and equity	$ 9,844,784	$ 9,504,891	$ 9,869,943

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Parenthetical) - $ / shares	Jun. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS [Abstract]
Common stock, par value	$ 1	$ 1	$ 1
Common stock, shares authorized	480,000,000	480,000,000	480,000,000
Common stock, shares outstanding	132,268,000	132,324,000	132,181,000

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME [Abstract]
Total revenues	$ 1,200,151	$ 1,030,763	$ 2,054,625	$ 1,818,091
Cost of revenues	876,967	740,746	1,572,106	1,369,853
Gross profit	323,184	290,017	482,519	448,238
Selling, administrative and general expenses	89,043	83,056	167,383	165,439
Gain on sale of property, plant & equipment and businesses	2,106	2,773	6,270	3,142
Other operating expense, net	(5,994)	(17,768)	(9,969)	(23,595)
Operating earnings	230,253	191,966	311,437	262,346
Other nonoperating income, net	3,339	3,890	8,421	7,934
Interest expense, net	33,244	38,455	71,018	72,531
Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes	200,348	157,401	248,840	197,749
Income tax expense	40,046	45,652	35,143	42,477
Earnings from continuing operations	160,302	111,749	213,697	155,272
Earnings (loss) on discontinued operations, net of tax	(650)	8,390	(1,066)	9,788
Net earnings	159,652	120,139	212,631	165,060
Other comprehensive income, net of tax
Deferred gain on interest rate derivative	0	0	2,496	0
Amortization of prior interest rate derivative loss	52	328	118	647
Amortization of actuarial loss and prior service cost for benefit plans	1,092	427	2,183	855
Other comprehensive income	1,144	755	4,797	1,502
Comprehensive income	$ 160,796	$ 120,894	$ 217,428	$ 166,562
Basic earnings (loss) per share
Continuing operations	$ 1.21	$ 0.84	$ 1.61	$ 1.17
Discontinued operations	0.00	0.07	(0.01)	0.08
Net earnings	1.21	0.91	1.60	1.25
Diluted earnings (loss) per share
Continuing operations	1.20	0.83	1.59	1.15
Discontinued operations	(0.01)	0.06	(0.01)	0.07
Net earnings	$ 1.19	$ 0.89	$ 1.58	$ 1.22
Weighted-average common shares outstanding
Basic	132,437	132,413	132,563	132,524
Assuming dilution	134,051	134,735	134,280	134,925
Cash dividends per share of common stock	$ 0.28	$ 0.25	$ 0.56	$ 0.50
Depreciation, depletion, accretion and amortization	$ 85,633	$ 76,775	$ 167,072	$ 148,339
Effective tax rate from continuing operations	20.00%	29.00%	14.10%	21.50%

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS - USD ($) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Operating Activities
Net earnings	$ 212,631	$ 165,060
Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash provided by operating activities
Depreciation, depletion, accretion and amortization	167,072	148,339
Net gain on sale of property, plant & equipment and businesses	(6,270)	(3,142)
Contributions to pension plans	(104,794)	(4,744)
Share-based compensation expense	14,763	13,671
Deferred tax expense (benefit)	40,549	2,901
Cost of debt purchase	6,922	0
Changes in assets and liabilities before initial effects of business acquisitions and dispositions	(55,415)	(170,701)
Other, net	302	3,838
Net cash provided by operating activities	275,760	155,222
Investing Activities
Purchases of property, plant & equipment	(247,166)	(291,034)
Proceeds from sale of property, plant & equipment	8,523	8,530
Proceeds from sale of businesses	11,256	0
Payment for businesses acquired, net of acquired cash	(218,996)	(210,562)
Other, net	(10,226)	405
Net cash used for investing activities	(456,609)	(492,661)
Financing Activities
Proceeds from short-term debt	506,200	5,000
Payment of short-term debt	(146,200)	(5,000)
Payment of current maturities and long-term debt	(892,044)	(235,007)
Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt	850,000	1,600,000
Debt issuance and exchange costs	(45,513)	(15,046)
Settlements of interest rate derivatives	3,378	0
Purchases of common stock	(74,921)	(60,303)
Dividends paid	(74,196)	(66,194)
Share-based compensation, shares withheld for taxes	(31,386)	(24,231)
Net cash provided by financing activities	95,318	1,199,219
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash	(85,531)	861,780
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of year	146,646	268,019
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period	$ 61,115	$ 1,129,799

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES [Abstract]

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Note 1: summary of significant accounting policies

NATURE OF OPERATIONS

Vulcan Materials Company (the “Company,” “Vulcan,” “we,” “our”), a New Jersey corporation, is the nation's largest supplier of construction aggregates (primarily crushed stone, sand and gravel) and a major producer of asphalt mix and ready-mixed concrete.

We operate primarily in the United States and our principal product — aggregates — is used in virtually all types of public and private construction projects and in the production of asphalt mix and ready-mixed concrete. We serve markets in twenty states, Washington D.C., and the local markets surrounding our operations in Mexico and the Bahamas. Our primary focus is serving metropolitan markets in the United States that are expected to experience the most significant growth in population, households and employment. These three demographic factors are significant drivers of demand for aggregates. While aggregates is our focus and primary business, we produce and sell asphalt mix and/or ready-mixed concrete in our Alabama, mid-Atlantic, Southwestern, Tennessee and Western markets.

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Our accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements were prepared in compliance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X and thus do not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete financial statements. We prepared the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements on the same basis as our annual financial statements, except for the adoption of new accounting standards as described in Note 17. Our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2017 was derived from the audited financial statement, but it does not include all disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. In the opinion of our management, the statements reflect all adjustments, including those of a normal recurring nature, necessary to present fairly the results of the reported interim periods. Operating results for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2018. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes included in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Due to the 2005 sale of our Chemicals business as described in Note 2, the results of the Chemicals business are presented as discontinued operations in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

RECLASSIFICATIONS

Certain items previously reported in specific financial statement captions have been reclassified to conform to the 2018 presentation. In the first quarter of 2018, we adopted Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2017-07, “Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Benefit Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost,” resulting in the reclassification of certain benefit costs from operating income to nonoperating income as described in Note 17.

RESTRICTED CASH

Restricted cash consists of cash proceeds from the sale of property held in escrow for the acquisition of replacement property under like-kind exchange agreements and cash reserved by other contractual agreements (such as asset purchase agreements) for a specified purpose and therefore is not available for use for other purposes. The escrow accounts are administered by an intermediary. Cash restricted pursuant to like-kind exchange agreements remains restricted for a maximum of 180 days from the date of the property sale pending the acquisition of replacement property. Restricted cash is included with cash and cash equivalents in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

EARNINGS PER SHARE (EPS)

Earnings per share are computed by dividing net earnings by the weighted-average common shares outstanding (basic EPS) or weighted-average common shares outstanding assuming dilution (diluted EPS), as set forth below:



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Weighted-average common shares
outstanding	132,437	132,413	132,563	132,524
Dilutive effect of
Stock-Only Stock Appreciation Rights	583	1,317	636	1,330
Other stock compensation plans	1,031	1,005	1,081	1,071
Weighted-average common shares
outstanding, assuming dilution	134,051	134,735	134,280	134,925

All dilutive common stock equivalents are reflected in our earnings per share calculations. In periods of loss, shares that otherwise would have been included in our diluted weighted-average common shares outstanding computation would be excluded.

Antidilutive common stock equivalents are not included in our earnings per share calculations. The number of antidilutive common stock equivalents for which the exercise price exceeds the weighted-average market price is as follows:



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Antidilutive common stock equivalents	157	79	155	79

DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS [Abstract]

DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

Note 2: Discontinued Operations

In 2005, we sold substantially all the assets of our Chemicals business to Basic Chemicals, a subsidiary of Occidental Chemical Corporation. The financial results of the Chemicals business are classified as discontinued operations in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for all periods presented. There were no revenues from discontinued operations for the periods presented. Results from discontinued operations are as follows:



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Discontinued Operations
Pretax earnings (loss)	$ (883)	$ 12,804	$ (1,449)	$ 14,896
Income tax (expense) benefit	233	(4,414)	383	(5,108)
Earnings (loss) on discontinued operations,
net of tax	$ (650)	$ 8,390	$ (1,066)	$ 9,788

Our discontinued operations include charges related to general and product liability costs, including legal defense costs, and environmental remediation costs associated with our former Chemicals business. The 2017 results noted above primarily reflect charges and related insurance recoveries, including those associated with the Texas Brine matter as discussed in Note 8.

INCOME TAXES

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

INCOME TAXES [Abstract]

INCOME TAXES

Note 3: Income Taxes

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was enacted in December 2017. The TCJA, among other changes, (1) reduces the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, (2) allows for the immediate 100% deductibility of certain capital investments, (3) eliminates the alternative minimum tax (though allows for the future use of previously generated alternative minimum tax credits), (4) repeals the domestic production deduction, (5) requires a one-time “transition tax” on earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries that were previously tax deferred, (6) limits the deductibility of interest expense, (7) further limits the deductibility of certain executive compensation and (8) taxes global intangible low taxed income.

The SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 118 to provide guidance for companies that have not completed their accounting for the income tax effects of the TCJA in the period of enactment. SAB 118 provides a one-year measurement period from the TCJA enactment date for companies to complete their income tax accounting. In accordance with SAB 118, a company must reflect the income tax effects of those elements of the TCJA for which the income tax accounting is complete. To the extent that a company’s accounting for certain elements of the TCJA is incomplete but for which it is able to determine a reasonable estimate, it must record a provisional estimate in the financial statements. If a company is unable to determine a provisional estimate, it should account for its income taxes on the basis of the provisions of the tax laws that were in effect immediately before the enactment of the TCJA.

Our accounting for certain elements of the TCJA is incomplete. As we disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, we were able to make reasonable estimates, and therefore, recorded provisional estimates for the following elements. We have not made any measurement-period adjustments related to these items during the first half of 2018.

§

DEEMED REPATRIATION TRANSITION TAX — The TCJA subjects companies to a one-time Deemed Repatriation Transition Tax (Transition Tax) on previously untaxed foreign accumulated earnings and profits. We recorded a provisional Transition Tax obligation of $12,301,000 at December 31, 2017.

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DEDUCTIBILITY OF EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION — The TCJA eliminates the performance-based compensation exception from the limitation on covered employee remuneration. At this time, we believe that a portion of the performance-based remuneration accounted for in our deferred taxes will likely be non-deductible. As such, we included a provisional expense of $1,403,000 at December 31, 2017.

Our accounting for certain other elements of the TCJA is incomplete, and as we disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, we were not yet able to make reasonable estimates of the effects. Therefore, no provisional estimates were recorded. We have not recorded any measurement-period adjustments related to these items during the first half of 2018.

§

OUTSIDE BASIS DIFFERENCE IN FOREIGN SUBSIDIARIES — For U.S. income tax purposes, the Transition Tax will greatly reduce outside basis differences in our foreign subsidiaries. Completing this calculation is dependent on first finalizing the Transition Tax liability. As a result, we are not yet able to reasonably estimate the outside basis difference remaining in our foreign subsidiaries after the Transition Tax, and therefore, continue to assert that our undistributed earnings from foreign subsidiaries are indefinitely reinvested.

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GLOBAL INTANGIBLE LOW TAXED INCOME — We can make an accounting policy election of either (1) treating taxes due on the future U.S. inclusions in taxable income related to global intangible low taxed income (GILTI) as a current period expense when incurred (period cost method) or (2) factoring such amounts into our measurement of deferred taxes (deferred method). Our selection of an accounting policy with respect to the new GILTI tax rules will depend, in part, on determining whether we expect to have future U.S. inclusions in taxable income related to GILTI and, if so, the expected impact. We have not recorded any amount of GILTI tax in our financial statements nor have we made an accounting policy decision.

Our estimated annual effective tax rate (EAETR) is based on full-year expectations of pretax earnings, statutory tax rates, permanent differences between book and tax accounting such as percentage depletion, and tax planning alternatives available in the various jurisdictions in which we operate. For interim financial reporting, we calculate our quarterly income tax provision in accordance with the EAETR. Each quarter, we update our EAETR based on our revised full-year expectation of pretax earnings and calculate the income tax provision so that the year-to-date income tax provision reflects the EAETR. Significant judgment is required in determining our EAETR.

In the second quarter of 2018, we recorded income tax expense from continuing operations of $40,046,000 compared to income tax expense from continuing operations of $45,652,000 in the second quarter of 2017. The decrease in income tax expense was largely due to the change in the U.S. statutory income tax rate to 21% in 2018 from 35% in 2017.

For the first six months of 2018, we recorded income tax expense from continuing operations of $35,143,000 compared to income tax expense from continuing operations of $42,477,000 for the first six months of 2017. The decrease in income tax expense was largely due to the change in the U.S. statutory income tax rate to 21% in 2018 from 35% in 2017.

We recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities (which reflect our best assessment of the future taxes we will pay) based on the differences between the book basis and tax basis of assets and liabilities. Deferred tax assets represent items to be used as a tax deduction or credit in future tax returns while deferred tax liabilities represent items that will result in additional tax in future tax returns.

Each quarter we analyze the likelihood that our deferred tax assets will be realized. A valuation allowance is recorded if, based on the weight of all available positive and negative evidence, it is more likely than not (a likelihood of more than 50%) that some portion, or all, of a deferred tax asset will not be realized.

At December 31, 2018, we project state net operating loss carryforward deferred tax assets of $71,812,000 ($67,611,000 relates to Alabama), against which we project to have a valuation allowance of $29,695,000 ($29,182,000 relates to Alabama). The Alabama net operating loss carryforward, if not utilized, would expire in years 2023 – 2033.

We recognize a tax benefit associated with a tax position when, in our judgment, it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained based upon the technical merits of the position. For a tax position that meets the more likely than not recognition threshold, we measure the income tax benefit as the largest amount that we judge to have a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized. A liability is established for the unrecognized portion of any tax benefit. Our liability for unrecognized tax benefits is adjusted periodically due to changing circumstances, such as the progress of tax audits, case law developments and new or emerging legislation.

A summary of our deferred tax assets is included in Note 9 “Income Taxes” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.

REVENUES

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

REVENUES [Abstract]

REVENUES

Note 4: revenueS

There have been no significant changes to the amount or timing of our revenue recognition as a result of our adoption of Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606). Revenues are measured as the amount of consideration we expect to receive in exchange for transferring goods or providing services. Sales and other taxes we collect are excluded from revenues. Costs to obtain and fulfill construction paving contracts are also immaterial and are expensed as incurred when the expected amortization period is one year or less.

Total revenues are primarily derived from our product sales of aggregates, asphalt mix and ready-mixed concrete, and include freight & delivery costs that we pass along to our customers to deliver these products. We also generate revenues from our asphalt construction paving business (represents less than 10% of our Asphalt segment’s revenues) and services related to our aggregates business (represents less than 2% of our Aggregates segment’s revenues).

Our products typically are sold to private industry and not directly to governmental entities. Although approximately 45% to 55% of our aggregates shipments have historically been used in publicly funded construction, such as highways, airports and government buildings, relatively insignificant sales are made directly to federal, state, county or municipal governments/agencies. Therefore, although reductions in state and federal funding can curtail publicly funded construction, our business is not directly subject to renegotiation of profits or termination of contracts with state or federal governments.

Our segment total revenues by geographic market for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 are disaggregated as follows:



	Three Months Ended June 30, 2018
in thousands	Aggregates	Asphalt	Concrete	Calcium	Total
Total Revenues by Geographic Market 1
East	$ 313,245	$ 49,339	$ 69,605	$ 0	$ 432,189
Gulf Coast	493,696	38,845	18,354	2,282	553,177
West	149,324	123,644	18,764	0	291,732
Segment sales	$ 956,265	$ 211,828	$ 106,723	$ 2,282	$ 1,277,098
Intersegment sales	(76,947)	0	0	0	(76,947)
Total revenues	$ 879,318	$ 211,828	$ 106,723	$ 2,282	$ 1,200,151



	Three Months Ended June 30, 2017
in thousands	Aggregates	Asphalt	Concrete	Calcium	Total
Total Revenues by Geographic Market 1
East	$ 281,304	$ 29,775	$ 59,647	$ 0	$ 370,726
Gulf Coast	384,793	24,444	25,501	1,971	436,709
West	151,489	121,539	20,065	0	293,093
Segment sales	$ 817,586	$ 175,758	$ 105,213	$ 1,971	$ 1,100,528
Intersegment sales	(69,765)	0	0	0	(69,765)
Total revenues	$ 747,821	$ 175,758	$ 105,213	$ 1,971	$ 1,030,763



	Six Months Ended June 30, 2018
in thousands	Aggregates	Asphalt	Concrete	Calcium	Total
Total Revenues by Geographic Market 1
East	$ 496,459	$ 61,068	$ 131,175	$ 0	$ 688,702
Gulf Coast	888,271	53,488	43,554	4,224	989,537
West	271,192	201,107	32,956	0	505,255
Segment sales	$ 1,655,922	$ 315,663	$ 207,685	$ 4,224	$ 2,183,494
Intersegment sales	(128,869)	0	0	0	(128,869)
Total revenues	$ 1,527,053	$ 315,663	$ 207,685	$ 4,224	$ 2,054,625



	Six Months Ended June 30, 2017
in thousands	Aggregates	Asphalt	Concrete	Calcium	Total
Total Revenues by Geographic Market 1
East	$ 463,762	$ 39,154	$ 113,897	$ 0	$ 616,813
Gulf Coast	752,006	42,480	51,807	3,857	850,150
West	252,118	189,900	28,259	0	470,277
Segment sales	$ 1,467,886	$ 271,534	$ 193,963	$ 3,857	$ 1,937,240
Intersegment sales	(119,149)	0	0	0	(119,149)
Total revenues	$ 1,348,737	$ 271,534	$ 193,963	$ 3,857	$ 1,818,091

1

The geographic markets are defined by states/countries as follows:

East market — Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington D.C.

Gulf Coast market — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mexico, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and the Bahamas

West market — Arizona, California and New Mexico

PRODUCT AND SERVICE REVENUES

Revenue is recognized when obligations under the terms of a contract with our customer are satisfied; generally this occurs at a point in time when our aggregates, asphalt mix and ready-mixed concrete are shipped/delivered and control passes to the customer. Revenue for our products and services is recorded at the fixed invoice amount and is due by the 15th day of the following month — we do not offer discounts for early payment. Freight & delivery generally represents pass-through transportation we incur (including our administrative costs) and pay to third-party carriers to deliver our products to customers and are accounted for as a fulfillment activity. Likewise, the cost related to freight & delivery is included in cost of revenues.

CONSTRUCTION PAVING REVENUES

Revenue from our asphalt construction paving business is recognized over time using the percentage-of-completion method under the cost approach. The percentage of completion is determined by costs incurred to date as a percentage of total costs estimated for the project. Under this approach, recognized contract revenue equals the total estimated contract revenue multiplied by the percentage of completion. Our construction contracts are unit priced and an account receivable is recorded for amounts invoiced based on actual units produced. Contract assets for estimated earnings in excess of billings, contract assets related to retainage provisions and contract liabilities for billings in excess of costs are immaterial. Variable consideration in our construction paving contracts is immaterial and consists of incentives and penalties based on the quality of work performed. Our construction paving contracts may contain warranty provisions covering defects in equipment, materials, design or workmanship that generally run from nine months to one year after project completion. Due to the nature of our construction paving projects, including contract owner inspections of the work during construction and prior to acceptance, we have not experienced material warranty costs for these short-term warranties.

VOLUMETRIC PRODUCTION PAYMENT REVENUES

In 2013 and 2012, we sold a percentage interest in certain future aggregates production for net cash proceeds of $226,926,000. These transactions, structured as volumetric production payments (VPPs):

§

relate to eight quarries in Georgia and South Carolina

§

provide the purchaser solely with a nonoperating percentage interest in the subject quarries’ future aggregates production

§

contain no minimum annual or cumulative guarantees by us for production or sales volume, nor minimum sales price

§

are both volume and time limited (we expect the transactions will last approximately 25 years, limited by volume rather than time)

We are the exclusive sales agent for, and transmit quarterly to the purchaser the proceeds from the sale of, the purchaser’s share of future aggregates production. Our consolidated total revenues exclude the revenue from the sale of the purchaser’s share of aggregates.

These proceeds we received from the sale of the percentage interest were recorded as deferred revenue on the balance sheet. We recognize revenue on a unit-of-sales basis (as we sell the purchaser’s share of future production) relative to the volume limitations of the transactions. Given the nature of the risks and potential rewards assumed by the buyer, the transactions do not reflect financing activities.

Reconciliation of the deferred revenue balances (current and noncurrent) is as follows:



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Deferred Revenue
Balance at beginning of period	$ 198,201	$ 204,819	$ 199,556	$ 206,468
Revenue recognized from deferred revenue	(1,905)	(1,719)	(3,260)	(3,368)
Balance at end of period	$ 196,296	$ 203,100	$ 196,296	$ 203,100

Based on expected sales from the specified quarries, we expect to recognize $7,470,000 of deferred revenue as income during the 12-month period ending June 30, 2019 (reflected in other current liabilities in our June 30, 2018 Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet).

FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS [Abstract]

FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

Note 5: Fair Value Measurements

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The fair value hierarchy prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three broad levels as described below:

Level 1: Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities

Level 2: Inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data

Level 3: Inputs that are unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement

Our assets subject to fair value measurement on a recurring basis are summarized below:



	Level 1 Fair Value
	June 30	December 31	June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2017
Fair Value Recurring
Rabbi Trust
Mutual funds	$ 20,698	$ 20,348	$ 5,348
Equities	0	0	11,785
Total	$ 20,698	$ 20,348	$ 17,133



	Level 2 Fair Value
	June 30	December 31	June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2017
Fair Value Recurring
Rabbi Trust
Money market mutual fund	$ 1,754	$ 1,203	$ 2,338
Total	$ 1,754	$ 1,203	$ 2,338

We have two Rabbi Trusts for the purpose of providing a level of security for the employee nonqualified retirement and deferred compensation plans and for the directors' nonqualified deferred compensation plans. The fair values of these investments are estimated using a market approach. The Level 1 investments include mutual funds and equity securities for which quoted prices in active markets are available. Level 2 investments are stated at estimated fair value based on the underlying investments in the fund (short-term, highly liquid assets in commercial paper, short-term bonds and certificates of deposit).

Net gains (losses) of the Rabbi Trust investments were $(428,000) and $848,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The portions of the net gains (losses) related to investments still held by the Rabbi Trusts at June 30, 2018 and 2017 were $(430,000) and $413,000, respectively.

The carrying values of our cash equivalents, restricted cash, accounts and notes receivable, short-term debt, trade payables and accruals, and other current liabilities approximate their fair values because of the short-term nature of these instruments. Additional disclosures for derivative instruments and interest-bearing debt are presented in Notes 6 and 7, respectively.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

+ References + Details

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS [Abstract]

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS

Note 6: Derivative Instruments

During the normal course of operations, we are exposed to market risks including interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates and commodity prices. From time to time, and consistent with our risk management policies, we use derivative instruments to balance the cost and risk of such exposure. We do not use derivative instruments for trading or other speculative purposes.

The accounting for gains and losses that result from changes in the fair value of derivative instruments depends on whether the derivatives have been designated and qualify as hedging instruments and the type of hedging relationship. The interest rate locks described below were designated as cash flow hedges. The changes in fair value of our cash flow hedges are recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) and are reclassified into interest expense in the same period the hedged items affect earnings.

We occasionally enter into interest rate locks of future debt issuances to hedge the risk of higher interest rates. The gain/loss upon settlement is deferred (recorded in AOCI) and amortized to interest expense over the term of the related debt.

This amortization was reflected in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income as follows:



		Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	Location on	June 30		June 30
in thousands	Statement	2018	2017	2018	2017
Interest Rate Hedges
Loss reclassified from AOCI	Interest
(effective portion)	expense	$ (71)	$ (539)	$ (160)	$ (1,067)

For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2019, we estimate that $297,000 of the pretax loss in AOCI will be reclassified to interest expense.

DEBT

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

DEBT [Abstract]

DEBT

Note 7: Debt

Debt is detailed as follows:



	Effective	June 30	December 31	June 30
in thousands	Interest Rates	2018	2017	2017
Short-term Debt
Bank line of credit expires 2021 1	1.25%	$ 360,000	$ 0	$ 0
Total short-term debt		$ 360,000	$ 0	$ 0
Long-term Debt
Bank line of credit expires 2021 1		$ 0	$ 250,000	$ 0
Term loan due 2018 2		0	350,000	0
7.00% notes due 2018		0	0	272,512
10.375% notes due 2018		0	0	250,000
Floating-rate notes due 2020	3.00%	250,000	250,000	250,000
Floating-rate notes due 2021	2.93%	500,000	0	0
7.50% notes due 2021		0	35,111	600,000
8.85% notes due 2021	8.88%	6,000	6,000	6,000
Term loan due 2021 2		0	250,000	250,000
4.50% notes due 2025	4.65%	400,000	400,000	400,000
3.90% notes due 2027	4.00%	400,000	400,000	400,000
7.15% notes due 2037	8.05%	129,239	240,188	240,188
4.50% notes due 2047	4.59%	700,000	700,000	700,000
4.70% notes due 2048	5.42%	460,949	0	0
Other notes 2	6.46%	219	230	358
Total long-term debt - face value		$ 2,846,407	$ 2,881,529	$ 3,369,058
Unamortized discounts and debt issuance costs		(69,478)	(26,664)	(33,989)
Total long-term debt - book value		$ 2,776,929	$ 2,854,865	$ 3,335,069
Less current maturities		23	41,383	525,776
Total long-term debt - reported value		$ 2,776,906	$ 2,813,482	$ 2,809,293
Estimated fair value of long-term debt		$ 2,782,543	$ 2,983,419	$ 3,077,069


1	Borrowings on the bank line of credit are classified as short-term debt if we intend to repay within twelve months and as long-term debt otherwise.
2	This short-term loan was refinanced on a long-term basis in February 2018 as discussed below. Thus, it was classified as long-term debt as of December 31, 2017.

Discounts and debt issuance costs are amortized using the effective interest method over the terms of the respective notes resulting in $2,698,000 of net interest expense for these items for the six months ended June 30, 2018.

LINE OF CREDIT

Our unsecured $750,000,000 line of credit matures December 2021 and contains affirmative, negative and financial covenants customary for an unsecured investment-grade facility. The primary negative covenant limits our ability to incur secured debt. The financial covenants are: (1) a maximum ratio of debt to EBITDA of 3.5:1 (upon certain acquisitions, the maximum ratio can be 3.75:1 for three quarters), and (2) a minimum ratio of EBITDA to net cash interest expense of 3.0:1. As of June 30, 2018, we were in compliance with the line of credit covenants.

Borrowings on our line of credit are classified as short-term debt if we intend to repay within twelve months and as long-term debt if we have the intent and ability to extend repayment beyond twelve months. Borrowings bear interest, at our option, at either LIBOR plus a credit margin ranging from 1.00% to 1.75%, or SunTrust Bank’s base rate (generally, its prime rate) plus a credit margin ranging from 0.00% to 0.75%. The credit margin for both LIBOR and base rate borrowings is determined by our credit ratings. Standby letters of credit, which are issued under the line of credit and reduce availability, are charged a fee equal to the credit margin for LIBOR borrowings plus 0.175%. We also pay a commitment fee on the daily average unused amount of the line of credit that ranges from 0.10% to 0.25% determined by our credit ratings. As of June 30, 2018, the credit margin for LIBOR borrowings was 1.25%, the credit margin for base rate borrowings was 0.25%, and the commitment fee for the unused amount was 0.15%.

As of June 30, 2018, our available borrowing capacity was $344,933,000. Utilization of the borrowing capacity was as follows:

§

$360,000,000 was borrowed

§

$45,067,000 was used to provide support for outstanding standby letters of credit

TERM DEBT

All of our $2,846,407,000 of term debt is unsecured. $2,846,188,000 of such debt is governed by three essentially identical indentures that contain customary investment-grade type covenants. The primary covenant in all three indentures limits the amount of secured debt we may incur without ratably securing such debt. As of June 30, 2018, we were in compliance with all term debt covenants.

In March 2018, we early retired via exchange offer $110,949,000 of the $240,188,000 7.15% notes due 2037 for: (1) a like amount of notes due 2048 (these notes are a further issuance of, and form a single series with, the $350,000,000 of notes due 2048 issued in February 2018 as described below) and (2) $38,164,000 of cash. The cash payment primarily reflects the trading price of the retired notes relative to par and will be amortized to interest expense over the term of the notes due 2048. We recognized transaction costs of $1,314,000 with this early retirement.

In February 2018, we issued $350,000,000 of 4.70% senior notes due 2048 (these notes now total $460,949,000 including the $110,949,000 issued in March as described above) and $500,000,000 of floating-rate senior notes due 2021. Total proceeds of $846,029,000 (net of discounts, transaction costs and an interest rate derivative settlement gain), together with cash on hand, were used to retire/repay without penalty or premium: (1) the $350,000,000 term loan due 2018, (2) the $250,000,000 term loan due 2021, and (3) the $250,000,000 bank line of credit borrowings. We recognized net noncash expense of $203,000 with the acceleration of unamortized deferred transaction costs.

In January 2018, we early retired via redemption the remaining $35,111,000 of the 7.50% senior notes due 2021 at a cost of $40,719,000 including a premium of $5,608,000. Additionally, we recognized net noncash expense of $263,000 with the acceleration of unamortized deferred transaction costs.

As a result of the first quarter 2018 early debt retirements described above, we recognized premiums of $5,608,000, transaction costs of $1,314,000 and noncash expense (acceleration of unamortized deferred transaction costs) of $466,000. The combined charge of $7,388,000 was a component of interest expense in the first quarter of 2018.

In December 2017, we early retired via tender offer, $564,889,000 of the $600,000,000 7.50% senior notes due 2021 at a cost of $662,613,000 including a premium of $96,167,000 and transaction costs of $1,558,000. Additionally, we recognized net noncash expense of $4,228,000 with the acceleration of unamortized deferred transaction costs.

Also in December 2017, we entered into a 6-month $350,000,000 unsecured term loan with one of the banks that provides our line of credit. Proceeds were used for general corporate purposes. This term loan was prepaid, as described above, in February 2018 with the proceeds of the 4.70% senior notes due 2048.

In July 2017, we early retired via redemption: (1) the $272,512,000 7.00% senior notes due 2018 and (2) the $250,000,000 10.375% senior notes due 2018 — at a combined cost of $565,560,000 including a premium of $43,020,000 and transaction costs of $28,000. Additionally, we recognized net noncash expense of $3,029,000 with the acceleration of unamortized deferred discounts, transaction costs and interest rate derivative settlement losses. Such redemptions were partially funded with the proceeds of the senior notes issued in June 2017 as described below.

In June 2017, we issued $1,000,000,000 of debt composed of three issuances as follows: (1) $700,000,000 of 4.50% senior notes due 2047, (2) $50,000,000 of 3.90% senior notes due 2027 (these notes are a further issuance of, and form a single series with, the 3.90% notes issued in March 2017), and (3) $250,000,000 of floating-rate senior notes due 2020. Total proceeds of $989,512,000 (net of discounts/premiums and transaction costs) were used to partially finance an acquisition and to early retire the notes due in 2018 as described above.

In June 2017, we drew the full $250,000,000 on the unsecured delayed draw term loan due 2021. These funds were used to repay the $235,000,000 line of credit borrowings and for general corporate purposes. This term loan was prepaid, as described above, in February 2018 with proceeds of the floating-rate senior notes due 2021.

In March 2017, we issued $350,000,000 of 3.90% senior notes due 2027. Proceeds of $345,450,000 (net of discounts and transaction costs) were used for general corporate purposes. This series of notes now totals $400,000,000 including the additional $50,000,000 issued in June as described above.

As a result of the 2017 early debt retirements described above, we recognized premiums of $139,187,000, transaction costs of $1,586,000 and net noncash expense (acceleration of unamortized deferred transaction costs) of $7,257,000. The combined charge of $148,030,000 was a component of interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2017 with none recognized in the six months ended June 30, 2017.

STANDBY LETTERS OF CREDIT

We provide, in the normal course of business, certain third-party beneficiaries with standby letters of credit to support our obligations to pay or perform according to the requirements of an underlying agreement. Such letters of credit typically have an initial term of one year, typically renew automatically, and can only be modified or cancelled with the approval of the beneficiary. All of our standby letters of credit are issued by banks that participate in our $750,000,000 line of credit, and reduce the borrowing capacity thereunder. Our standby letters of credit as of June 30, 2018 are summarized by purpose in the table below:



in thousands
Standby Letters of Credit
Risk management insurance	$ 38,111
Reclamation/restoration requirements	6,956
Total	$ 45,067

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Note 8: Commitments and Contingencies

As summarized by purpose directly above in Note 7, our standby letters of credit totaled $45,067,000 as of June 30, 2018.

As described in Note 9, our asset retirement obligations totaled $215,421,000 as of June 30, 2018.

LITIGATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS

We are subject to occasional governmental proceedings and orders pertaining to occupational safety and health or to protection of the environment, such as proceedings or orders relating to noise abatement, air emissions or water discharges. As part of our continuing program of stewardship in safety, health and environmental matters, we have been able to resolve such proceedings and to comply with such orders without any material adverse effects on our business.

We have received notices from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or similar state or local agencies that we are considered a potentially responsible party (PRP) at a limited number of sites under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) or similar state and local environmental laws. Generally, we share the cost of remediation at these sites with other PRPs or alleged PRPs in accordance with negotiated or prescribed allocations. There is inherent uncertainty in determining the potential cost of remediating a given site and in determining any individual party's share in that cost. As a result, estimates can change substantially as additional information becomes available regarding the nature or extent of site contamination, remediation methods, other PRPs and their probable level of involvement, and actions by or against governmental agencies or private parties.

We have reviewed the nature and extent of our involvement at each Superfund site, as well as potential obligations arising under other federal, state and local environmental laws. While ultimate resolution and financial liability is uncertain at a number of the sites, in our opinion based on information currently available, the ultimate resolution of claims and assessments related to these sites will not have a material effect on our consolidated results of operations, financial position or cash flows, although amounts recorded in a given period could be material to our results of operations or cash flows for that period.

We are a defendant in various lawsuits in the ordinary course of business. It is not possible to determine with precision the outcome, or the amount of liability, if any, under these lawsuits, especially where the cases involve possible jury trials with as yet undetermined jury panels.

In addition to these lawsuits in which we are involved in the ordinary course of business, certain other material legal proceedings are more specifically described below:

§

Lower Passaic River Study Area (Superfund Site) — The Lower Passaic River Study Area is part of the Diamond Shamrock Superfund Site in New Jersey. Vulcan and approximately 70 other companies are parties (collectively the Cooperating Parties Group) to a May 2007 Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) with the EPA to perform a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (draft RI/FS) of the lower 17 miles of the Passaic River (River). However, before the draft RI/FS was issued in final form, the EPA issued a record of decision (ROD) in March 2016 that calls for a bank-to-bank dredging remedy for the lower 8 miles of the River. The EPA estimates that the cost of implementing this proposal is $1.38 billion. In September 2016, the EPA entered into an Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent with Occidental Chemical Corporation (Occidental) in which Occidental agreed to undertake the remedial design for this bank-to-bank dredging remedy, and to reimburse the United States for certain response costs.

In August 2017, the EPA informed certain members of the Cooperating Parties Group, including Vulcan that it planned to use the services of a third-party allocator with the expectation of offering cash-out settlements to some parties in connection with the bank-to-bank remedy. This voluntary allocation process is intended to establish an impartial third-party expert recommendation that may be considered by the government and the participants as the basis of possible settlements. We have begun participating in this voluntary allocation process, which is likely to take several years. In July 2018, Vulcan, along with more than one hundred other defendants, was sued by Occidental in United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, Newark Vicinage. Occidental is seeking cost recovery and contribution under CERCLA. It is unknown at this time whether the filing of the Occidental lawsuit will impact the EPA allocation process.

Efforts to remediate the River have been underway for many years and have involved hundreds of entities that have had operations on or near the River at some point during the past several decades. We formerly owned a chemicals operation near the mouth of the River, which was sold in 1974. The major risk drivers in the River have been identified as dioxins, PCBs, DDx and mercury. We did not manufacture any of these risk drivers and have no evidence that any of these were discharged into the River by Vulcan.

The AOC does not obligate us to fund or perform the remedial action contemplated by either the draft RI/FS or the ROD. Furthermore, the parties who will participate in funding the remediation and their respective allocations have not been determined. We do not agree that a bank-to-bank remedy is warranted, and we are not obligated to fund any of the remedial action at this time; nevertheless, we previously estimated the cost to be incurred by us as a potential participant in a bank-to-bank dredging remedy and recorded an immaterial loss for this matter in 2015.

§

TEXAS BRINE MATTER — During the operation of its former Chemicals Division, Vulcan secured the right to mine salt out of an underground salt dome formation in Assumption Parish, Louisiana from 1976 - 2005. Throughout that period and for all times thereafter, the Texas Brine Company (Texas Brine) was the operator contracted by Vulcan (and later Occidental) to mine and deliver the salt. We sold our Chemicals Division in 2005 and transferred our rights and interests related to the salt and mining operations to the purchaser, a subsidiary of Occidental, and we have had no association with the leased premises or Texas Brine since that time. In August 2012, a sinkhole developed in the vicinity of the Texas Brine mining operations, and numerous lawsuits were filed in state court in Assumption Parish, Louisiana. Other lawsuits, including class action litigation, were also filed in federal court before the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans.

There are numerous defendants, including Texas Brine and Occidental, to the litigation in state and federal court. Vulcan was first brought into the litigation as a third-party defendant in August 2013 by Texas Brine. We have since been added as a direct and third-party defendant by other parties, including a direct claim by the State of Louisiana. Damage categories encompassed within the litigation include individual plaintiffs’ claims for property damage, a claim by the State of Louisiana for response costs and civil penalties, claims by Texas Brine for response costs and lost profits, claims for physical damages to nearby oil and gas pipelines and storage facilities (pipelines), and business interruption claims.

In addition to the plaintiffs’ claims, we were also sued for contractual indemnity and comparative fault by both Texas Brine and Occidental. It is alleged that the sinkhole was caused, in whole or in part, by our negligent actions or failure to act. It is also alleged that we breached the salt lease with Occidental, as well as an operating agreement and related contracts with Texas Brine; that we are strictly liable for certain property damages in our capacity as a former lessee of the salt lease; and that we violated certain covenants and conditions in the agreement under which we sold our Chemicals Division to Occidental. We have likewise made claims for contractual indemnity and on a basis of comparative fault against Texas Brine and Occidental. Vulcan and Occidental have since dismissed all of their claims against one another. Texas Brine has claims that remain pending against Vulcan and against Occidental.

A bench trial (judge only) began in September 2017 and ended in October in the pipeline cases. The trial was limited in scope to the allocation of comparative fault or liability for causing the sinkhole, with a damages phase of the trial to be held at a later date. In December 2017, the judge issued a ruling on the allocation of fault among the three defendants as follows: Occidental 50%, Texas Brine 35% and Vulcan 15%. This ruling has been appealed by the parties.

Also in December 2017, we agreed to a settlement in a federal putative class action which has now been finalized by the court. Our insurers participated in the settlement discussions and have funded the settlement. We have settled all but three outstanding cases. The remaining cases involve one third-party plaintiff, Texas Brine, and the State of Louisiana. Discovery remains ongoing in these cases.

We cannot reasonably estimate a range of liability pertaining to the open cases at this time.

§

HEWITT LANDFILL MATTER (SUPERFUND SITE) — In September 2015, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) issued a Cleanup and Abatement Order (CAO) directing Vulcan to assess, monitor, cleanup and abate wastes that have been discharged to soil, soil vapor, and/or groundwater at the former Hewitt Landfill in Los Angeles. The CAO follows a 2014 Investigative Order from the RWQCB that sought data and a technical evaluation regarding the Hewitt Landfill, and a subsequent amendment to the Investigative Order requiring us to provide groundwater monitoring results to the RWQCB and to create and implement a work plan for further investigation of the Hewitt Landfill. In April 2016, we submitted an interim remedial action plan (IRAP) to the RWQCB, proposing an on-site pilot test of a pump and treat system; testing and implementation of a leachate recovery system; and storm water capture and conveyance improvements.

Operation of the on-site pilot-scale treatment system began in January 2017, and was completed in April 2017. With completion of the pilot testing and other investigative work to date, we submitted an amendment to the IRAP (AIRAP) to RWQCB in August 2017 proposing the use of a pump, treat and reinjection system. In December 2017, we submitted an addendum to the AIRAP, incorporating new data acquired since the prior submission. In February 2018, the AIRAP was approved by RWQCB. As a result of this approval, we will begin to implement the on-site source control activities described in the AIRAP. Based on the preliminary design of this system, we accrued $15,239,000 in 2017 (of which $14,216,000 was recorded to other operating expense in the second quarter of 2017).

We are also engaged in an ongoing dialogue with the EPA, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and other stakeholders regarding the potential contribution of the Hewitt Landfill to groundwater contamination in the North Hollywood Operable Unit (NHOU) of the San Fernando Valley Superfund Site. We are gathering and analyzing data and developing technical information to determine the extent of possible contribution by the Hewitt Landfill to the groundwater contamination in the area. This work is also intended to assist in identification of other PRPs that may have contributed to groundwater contamination in the area.

The EPA and Vulcan entered into an AOC and Statement of Work having an effective date of September 2017, for the design of two extraction wells south of the Hewitt Site to protect the North Hollywood West well field. In November 2017, we submitted a Pre-Design Investigation Work Plan to the EPA, which sets forth the activities and schedule for our evaluation of the need for a two-well remedy. Estimated costs to comply with this AOC are immaterial and have been accrued. Until the remedial design work and evaluation of the two-well remedy is complete, and a comprehensive remedial action for the NHOU is identified, we cannot reasonably estimate a loss pertaining to this matter.

It is not possible to predict with certainty the ultimate outcome of these and other legal proceedings in which we are involved and a number of factors, including developments in ongoing discovery or adverse rulings, or the verdict of a particular jury, could cause actual losses to differ materially from accrued costs. No liability was recorded for claims and litigation for which a loss was determined to be only reasonably possible or for which a loss could not be reasonably estimated. Legal costs incurred in defense of lawsuits are expensed as incurred. In addition, losses on certain claims and litigation described above may be subject to limitations on a per occurrence basis by excess insurance, as described in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K.

ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS [Abstract]

ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS

Note 9: Asset Retirement Obligations

Asset retirement obligations (AROs) are legal obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets resulting from the acquisition, construction, development and/or normal use of the underlying assets. Recognition of a liability for an ARO is required in the period in which it is incurred at its estimated fair value. The associated asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the underlying asset and depreciated over the estimated useful life of the asset. The liability is accreted through charges to operating expenses. If the ARO is settled for other than the carrying amount of the liability, we recognize a gain or loss on settlement.

We record all AROs for which we have legal obligations for land reclamation at estimated fair value. Essentially all these AROs relate to our underlying land, including both owned properties and mineral leases. For the three and six month periods ended June 30, we recognized ARO operating costs related to accretion of the liabilities and depreciation of the assets as follows:



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
ARO Operating Costs
Accretion	$ 2,668	$ 2,881	$ 5,352	$ 5,763
Depreciation	1,343	1,615	2,680	3,247
Total	$ 4,011	$ 4,496	$ 8,032	$ 9,010

ARO operating costs are reported in cost of revenues. AROs are reported within other noncurrent liabilities in our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Reconciliations of the carrying amounts of our AROs are as follows:



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Asset Retirement Obligations
Balance at beginning of period	$ 214,709	$ 226,012	$ 218,117	$ 223,872
Liabilities incurred	0	335	0	335
Liabilities settled	(1,805)	(5,610)	(7,826)	(10,475)
Accretion expense	2,668	2,881	5,352	5,763
Revisions, net	(151)	335	(222)	4,458
Balance at end of period	$ 215,421	$ 223,953	$ 215,421	$ 223,953

ARO liabilities settled during the first six months of 2018 and 2017 include $5,158,000 and $5,017,000, respectively, of reclamation activities required under a development agreement and conditional use permits at two adjacent aggregates sites on owned property in Southern California. The reclamation required under the reclamation agreement will result in the restoration and development of 90 acres of previously mined property suitable for retail and commercial development.

BENEFIT PLANS

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

BENEFIT PLANS [Abstract]

BENEFIT PLANS

Note 10: Benefit Plans

We sponsor three qualified, noncontributory defined benefit pension plans. These plans cover substantially all employees hired before July 2007, other than those covered by union-administered plans. Normal retirement age is 65, but the plans contain provisions for earlier retirement. Benefits for the Salaried Plan and the Chemicals Hourly Plan are generally based on salaries or wages and years of service; the Construction Materials Hourly Plan provides benefits equal to a flat dollar amount for each year of service. In addition to these qualified plans, we sponsor three unfunded, nonqualified pension plans.

Effective July 2007, we amended our defined benefit pension plans to no longer accept new participants. Effective December 2013, we amended our defined benefit pension plans to freeze future benefit accruals for salaried pension participants. Effective December 31, 2015, we amended our defined benefit pension plans to freeze earnings for salaried pension participants.

The following table sets forth the components of net periodic pension benefit cost:



PENSION BENEFITS	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost
Service cost	$ 1,429	$ 1,654	$ 2,858	$ 3,308
Interest cost	8,875	9,058	17,751	18,115
Expected return on plan assets	(14,797)	(12,096)	(29,594)	(24,192)
Amortization of prior service cost	335	335	670	670
Amortization of actuarial loss	2,456	1,823	4,913	3,647
Net periodic pension benefit cost (credit)	$ (1,702)	$ 774	$ (3,402)	$ 1,548
Pretax reclassifications from AOCI included in
net periodic pension benefit cost	$ 2,791	$ 2,158	$ 5,583	$ 4,317

The contributions to pension plans for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, as reflected on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, pertain to benefit payments under nonqualified plans and a first quarter 2018 discretionary qualified plan contribution of $100,000,000.

In addition to pension benefits, we provide certain healthcare and life insurance benefits for some retired employees. In 2012, we amended our postretirement healthcare plan to cap our portion of the medical coverage cost at the 2015 level. Substantially all our salaried employees and, where applicable, certain of our hourly employees may become eligible for these benefits if they reach a qualifying age and meet certain service requirements. Generally, Company-provided healthcare benefits end when covered individuals become eligible for Medicare benefits, become eligible for other group insurance coverage or reach age 65, whichever occurs first.

The following table sets forth the components of net periodic other postretirement benefit cost:



OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFITS	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost
Service cost	$ 340	$ 291	$ 679	$ 583
Interest cost	310	315	620	630
Amortization of prior service credit	(990)	(1,059)	(1,981)	(2,118)
Amortization of actuarial gain	(325)	(396)	(649)	(793)
Net periodic postretirement benefit credit	$ (665)	$ (849)	$ (1,331)	$ (1,698)
Pretax reclassifications from AOCI included in
net periodic postretirement benefit credit	$ (1,315)	$ (1,455)	$ (2,630)	$ (2,911)

We present the service cost component of net periodic benefit cost in cost of revenues and selling, administrative and general expense consistent with employee compensation costs. The other components of net periodic benefit cost (credit) are reported within other nonoperating income in our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME [Abstract]

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

Note 11: other Comprehensive Income

Comprehensive income comprises two subsets: net earnings and other comprehensive income (OCI). The components of other comprehensive income are presented in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income, net of applicable taxes.

Amounts in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI), net of tax, are as follows:



	June 30	December 31	June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2017
AOCI
Interest rate hedges	$ (8,824)	$ (11,438)	$ (12,653)
Pension and postretirement plans	(135,845)	(138,028)	(125,221)
Total	$ (144,669)	$ (149,466)	$ (137,874)

Changes in AOCI, net of tax, for the six months ended June 30, 2018 are as follows:



		Pension and
	Interest Rate	Postretirement
in thousands	Hedges	Benefit Plans	Total
AOCI
Balance as of December 31, 2017	$ (11,438)	$ (138,028)	$ (149,466)
Other comprehensive income
before reclassifications	2,496	0	2,496
Amounts reclassified from AOCI	118	2,183	2,301
Net current period OCI changes	2,614	2,183	4,797
Balance as of June 30, 2018	$ (8,824)	$ (135,845)	$ (144,669)

Amounts reclassified from AOCI to earnings, are as follows:



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Amortization of Interest Rate Hedge Losses
Interest expense	$ 71	$ 539	$ 160	$ 1,067
Benefit from income taxes	(19)	(211)	(42)	(420)
Total	$ 52	$ 328	$ 118	$ 647
Amortization of Pension and Postretirement
Plan Actuarial Loss and Prior Service Cost
Other nonoperating income	$ 1,477	$ 703	$ 2,953	$ 1,406
Benefit from income taxes	(385)	(276)	(770)	(551)
Total	$ 1,092	$ 427	$ 2,183	$ 855
Total reclassifications from AOCI to earnings	$ 1,144	$ 755	$ 2,301	$ 1,502

EQUITY

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

EQUITY [Abstract]

EQUITY

Note 12: Equity

Our capital stock consists solely of common stock, par value $1.00 per share. Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote per share. Our Certificate of Incorporation also authorizes 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock of which no shares have been issued.

There were no shares held in treasury as of June 30, 2018, December 31, 2017 and June 30, 2017.

Our common stock purchases (all of which were open market purchases) and subsequent retirements are summarized below:



	June 30	December 31	June 30
in thousands, except average price	2018	2017	2017
Shares Purchased and Retired
Number	643	510	510
Total purchase price	$ 74,921	$ 60,303	$ 60,303
Average price per share	$ 116.49	$ 118.18	$ 118.18

As of June 30, 2018, 8,846,570 shares may be purchased under the current purchase authorization of our Board of Directors.

Changes in total equity are summarized below:



	Six Months Ended
	June 30
in thousands	2018	2017
Total Equity
Balance at beginning of year	$ 4,968,893	$ 4,572,476
Net earnings	212,631	165,060
Common stock issued
Share-based compensation plans, net of shares withheld for taxes	(31,337)	(24,108)
Purchase and retirement of common stock	(74,921)	(60,303)
Share-based compensation expense	14,763	13,671
Cash dividends on common stock ($0.56/$0.50 per share)	(74,196)	(66,194)
Other comprehensive income	4,797	1,502
Balance at end of period	$ 5,020,630	$ 4,602,104

SEGMENT REPORTING

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

SEGMENT REPORTING [Abstract]

SEGMENT REPORTING

Note 13: Segment Reporting

We have four operating (and reportable) segments organized around our principal product lines: Aggregates, Asphalt, Concrete and Calcium. The vast majority of our activities are domestic. We sell a relatively small amount of construction aggregates outside the United States. Our Asphalt and Concrete segments are primarily supplied with their aggregates requirements from our Aggregates segment. These intersegment sales are made at local market prices for the particular grade and quality of product used in the production of asphalt mix and ready-mixed concrete. Management reviews earnings from the product line reporting segments principally at the gross profit level.

segment financial disclosure



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Total Revenues
Aggregates 1	$ 956,265	$ 817,586	$ 1,655,922	$ 1,467,886
Asphalt	211,828	175,758	315,663	271,534
Concrete	106,723	105,213	207,685	193,963
Calcium	2,282	1,971	4,224	3,857
Segment sales	$ 1,277,098	$ 1,100,528	$ 2,183,494	$ 1,937,240
Aggregates intersegment sales	(76,947)	(69,765)	(128,869)	(119,149)
Total revenues	$ 1,200,151	$ 1,030,763	$ 2,054,625	$ 1,818,091
Gross Profit
Aggregates 2	$ 283,476	$ 251,419	$ 431,697	$ 390,210
Asphalt 2	25,750	28,760	25,996	37,242
Concrete 2	13,191	9,253	23,511	19,478
Calcium	767	585	1,315	1,308
Total	$ 323,184	$ 290,017	$ 482,519	$ 448,238
Depreciation, Depletion, Accretion
and Amortization (DDA&A)
Aggregates	$ 69,738	$ 60,832	$ 135,691	$ 118,488
Asphalt	7,298	6,615	14,300	12,347
Concrete	3,049	3,672	6,463	6,695
Calcium	70	192	139	387
Other	5,478	5,464	10,479	10,422
Total	$ 85,633	$ 76,775	$ 167,072	$ 148,339
Identifiable Assets 3
Aggregates			$ 8,751,186	$ 7,931,603
Asphalt			625,985	358,801
Concrete			276,743	233,355
Calcium			4,258	3,939
Total identifiable assets			$ 9,658,172	$ 8,527,698
General corporate assets			125,497	212,446
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash			61,115	1,129,799
Total			$ 9,844,784	$ 9,869,943


1	Includes product sales, as well as freight & delivery costs that we pass along to our customers, and service revenues related to aggregates.
2	The 2017 amounts have been revised as a result of our adoption of ASU 2017-07 as described in Note 17.
3	Certain temporarily idled assets are included within a segment's Identifiable Assets but the associated DDA&A is shown within Other in the DDA&A section above as the related DDA&A is excluded from segment gross profit.

SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION [Abstract]

SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION

Note 14: Supplemental Cash Flow Information

Supplemental information referable to our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows is summarized below:



	Six Months Ended
	June 30
in thousands	2018	2017
Cash Payments (Refunds)
Interest (exclusive of amount capitalized)	$ 62,021	$ 67,849
Income taxes	(102,711)	117,204
Noncash Investing and Financing Activities
Accrued liabilities for purchases of property, plant & equipment	$ 21,257	$ 17,924
Amounts referable to business acquisitions
Liabilities assumed	4,040	1,935
Consideration payable to seller	4,500	0

GOODWILL

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

GOODWILL [Abstract]

GOODWILL

Note 15: Goodwill

Goodwill is recognized when the consideration paid for a business exceeds the fair value of the tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired. Goodwill is allocated to reporting units for purposes of testing goodwill for impairment. There were no charges for goodwill impairment in the six month periods ended June 30, 2018 and 2017. Accumulated goodwill impairment losses amount to $252,664,000 in the Calcium segment.

We have four reportable segments organized around our principal product lines: Aggregates, Asphalt, Concrete and Calcium. Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill by reportable segment from December 31, 2017 to June 30, 2018 are summarized below:



in thousands	Aggregates	Asphalt	Concrete	Calcium	Total
Goodwill
Total as of December 31, 2017	$ 3,030,688	$ 91,633	$ 0	$ 0	$ 3,122,321
Goodwill of acquired businesses 1	41,633	0	0	0	41,633
Total as of June 30, 2018	$ 3,072,321	$ 91,633	$ 0	$ 0	$ 3,163,954


1	See Note 16 for a summary of acquisitions.

We test goodwill for impairment on an annual basis or more frequently if events or circumstances change in a manner that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying value. A decrease in the estimated fair value of one or more of our reporting units could result in the recognition of a material, noncash write-down of goodwill.

ACQUISITIONS AND DIVESTITURES

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

ACQUISITIONS AND DIVESTITURES [Abstract]

ACQUISITIONS AND DIVESTITURES

Note 16: Acquisitions and Divestitures

BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS

2018 BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS — Through the six months ended June 30, 2018, we purchased the following operations for total consideration of $217,440,000:

§

Alabama — aggregates, asphalt mix and construction paving operations

§

California — asphalt mix operations

§

Texas — aggregates rail yards, asphalt mix and construction paving operations

The 2018 acquisitions listed above are reported in our condensed consolidated financial statements as of their respective acquisition dates. None of these acquisitions are material to our results of operations or financial position either individually or collectively. The fair value of consideration transferred for these acquisitions and the preliminary amounts (pending appraisals for intangible assets and property, plant & equipment) of assets acquired and liabilities assumed, are summarized below:



	June 30
in thousands	2018
Fair Value of Purchase Consideration
Cash	$ 212,940
Payable to seller	4,500
Total fair value of purchase consideration	$ 217,440
Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed
Accounts and notes receivable, net	$ 14,218
Inventories	12,110
Other current assets	826
Property, plant & equipment	105,613
Other intangible assets
Contractual rights in place	90,803
Deferred income taxes, net	(36,172)
Liabilities assumed	(10,599)
Net identifiable assets acquired	$ 176,799
Goodwill	$ 40,641

As a result of the 2018 acquisitions, we recognized $90,803,000 of amortizable intangible assets (contractual rights in place). The contractual rights in place will be amortized against earnings ($89,723,000 – straight-line over a weighted-average 20 years and $1,080,000 – units of sales over an excess of 20 years) of which $4,720,000 will be deductible for income tax purposes over 15 years. Of the $40,641,000 of goodwill noted above (none of which will be deductible for income tax purposes), $36,172,000 represents the balance of deferred tax liabilities generated from carrying over the seller’s tax basis in the assets acquired.

2017 BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS — For the full year 2017, we purchased the following operations for total consideration of $842,013,000 ($822,432,000 cash, $9,681,000 payable, $9,900,000 fair value of assets swapped), less $287,292,000 cash received for assets divested immediately upon acquisition as required by the Department of Justice:

§

Arizona — asphalt mix operations

§

California — aggregates and ready-mixed concrete operations

§

Florida — aggregates operations

§

Georgia — aggregates operations

§

Illinois — aggregates operations

§

New Mexico — aggregates operations

§

South Carolina — aggregates operations

§

Tennessee — aggregates, asphalt mix and construction paving operations

§

Virginia — aggregates and ready-mixed concrete operations

The fair value of consideration transferred for the 2017 acquisitions considered to be material, and the preliminary amounts at December 31, 2017 (immaterial adjustments were recorded in the first and second quarters of 2018 including an increase to goodwill of $992,000) of assets acquired and liabilities assumed, are summarized below:



	December 31
in thousands	2017
Fair Value of Purchase Consideration
Cash	$ 1,072,978
Payable to seller	7,837
Total fair value of purchase consideration	$ 1,080,815
Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed
Accounts and notes receivable, net	$ 14,955
Inventories	21,679
Other current assets	608
Investments	3,590
Property, plant & equipment	433,606
Other intangible assets
Contractual rights in place	295,482
Liabilities assumed	(3,894)
Net identifiable assets acquired	$ 766,026
Goodwill	$ 27,497
Net Assets Divested Immediately Upon Acquisition	$ 287,292

As a result of the 2017 acquisitions, we recognized $309,112,000 of amortizable intangible assets ($309,012,000 contractual rights in place and $100,000 other intangibles). The contractual rights in place will be amortized against earnings ($73,879,000 – straight-line over a weighted-average 19.3 years and $235,133,000 – units of sales over an estimated 54.7 years) and deductible for income tax purposes over 15 years.

DIVESTITURES AND PENDING DIVESTITURES

In the first quarter of 2018, we sold:

§

ready-mixed concrete operations in Georgia resulting in a pretax gain of $2,929,000 (we retained all real property which is leased to the buyer, and obtained a long-term aggregates supply agreement)

In 2017, we sold:

§

Fourth quarter — swapped ready-mixed concrete operations in Arizona (fair value of $9,900,000 and book value of $1,879,000) for an asphalt mix operation in Arizona resulting in a pretax gain of $8,021,000

§

Fourth quarter — as required by the Department of Justice, we immediately divested certain assets obtained in the Aggregates USA acquisition resulting in no gain

No assets met the criteria for held for sale at June 30, 2018, December 31, 2017 or June 30, 2017.

NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS	6 Months Ended
NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS	Jun. 30, 2018
NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS [Abstract]
NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS	Note 17: New Accounting Standards ACCOUNTING STANDARDS RECENTLY ADOPTED PRESENTATION OF BENEFIT PLAN COSTS During the first quarter of 2018, we adopted Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2017-07, “Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost,” on a retrospective basis as required. This ASU changed the presentation of the net benefit cost in the income statement and limits benefit costs eligible for inventory capitalization to the service cost component (benefit costs capitalized in inventory are immaterial to our financial statements). We continue to present the service cost component of net benefit cost in cost of revenues and selling, administrative and general expenses consistent with employee compensation costs. The other components of net benefit cost (credit) are now included in other nonoperating income. These other components were a net credit for all periods presented resulting in a decrease in operating earnings and an increase in other nonoperating income, as follows: three months ended June 30, 2018 of $4,135,000; three months ended June 30, 2017 of $2,021,000; six months ended June 30, 2018 of $8,269,000; and six months ended June 30, 2017 of $4,041,000. ACCOUNTING STANDARDS PENDING ADOPTION RELEASING STRANDED TAX EFFECTS In February 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued ASU 2018-02, “Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income,” which allows for the reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) to retained earnings of stranded tax effects resulting from the TCJA enacted in December 2017. This ASU also requires entities to disclose their accounting policy for releasing income tax effects from AOCI. ASU 2018-02 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. We expect to early adopt this standard in the fourth quarter of 2018 effective as of the beginning of the year. While we are still evaluating the impact of ASU 2018-02, we do not expect the adoption of this standard to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. CREDIT LOSSES In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, “Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments,” which amends guidance on the impairment of financial instruments. The new guidance estimates credit losses based on expected losses, modifies the impairment model for available-for-sale debt securities and provides for a simplified accounting model for purchased financial assets with credit deterioration. ASU 2016-13 is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim reporting periods within those annual reporting periods. Early adoption is permitted for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018. While we are still evaluating the impact of ASU 2016-13, we do not expect the adoption of this standard to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. LEASE ACCOUNTING In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, “Leases,” which amends existing accounting standards for lease accounting and adds additional disclosures about leasing arrangements. Under the new guidance, lessees are required to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet for all leases (excluding mineral leases) with terms longer than 12 months. Leases will be classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement and presentation of cash flow in the statement of cash flows. This ASU is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim reporting periods within those annual reporting periods. Early adoption is permitted and modified retrospective application is required. We will adopt this standard in the first quarter of 2019. We continue to evaluate the impact of this standard on our consolidated financial statements. The majority of our leases are for real property (land and buildings), which we have determined will be treated as operating leases under this ASU. As a result, we anticipate recording a right-of-use asset and related lease liability for these leases, but we do not expect our expense recognition pattern to change. Therefore, we do not anticipate any significant change to our statements of comprehensive income or cash flows as a result of adopting this standard.

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES [Abstract]

NATURE OF OPERATIONS

Vulcan Materials Company (the “Company,” “Vulcan,” “we,” “our”), a New Jersey corporation, is the nation's largest supplier of construction aggregates (primarily crushed stone, sand and gravel) and a major producer of asphalt mix and ready-mixed concrete.

We operate primarily in the United States and our principal product — aggregates — is used in virtually all types of public and private construction projects and in the production of asphalt mix and ready-mixed concrete. We serve markets in twenty states, Washington D.C., and the local markets surrounding our operations in Mexico and the Bahamas. Our primary focus is serving metropolitan markets in the United States that are expected to experience the most significant growth in population, households and employment. These three demographic factors are significant drivers of demand for aggregates. While aggregates is our focus and primary business, we produce and sell asphalt mix and/or ready-mixed concrete in our Alabama, mid-Atlantic, Southwestern, Tennessee and Western markets.

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Our accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements were prepared in compliance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X and thus do not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete financial statements. We prepared the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements on the same basis as our annual financial statements, except for the adoption of new accounting standards as described in Note 17. Our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2017 was derived from the audited financial statement, but it does not include all disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. In the opinion of our management, the statements reflect all adjustments, including those of a normal recurring nature, necessary to present fairly the results of the reported interim periods. Operating results for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2018. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes included in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Due to the 2005 sale of our Chemicals business as described in Note 2, the results of the Chemicals business are presented as discontinued operations in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

RECLASSIFICATIONS

Certain items previously reported in specific financial statement captions have been reclassified to conform to the 2018 presentation. In the first quarter of 2018, we adopted Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2017-07, “Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Benefit Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost,” resulting in the reclassification of certain benefit costs from operating income to nonoperating income as described in Note 17.

RESTRICTED CASH

Restricted cash consists of cash proceeds from the sale of property held in escrow for the acquisition of replacement property under like-kind exchange agreements and cash reserved by other contractual agreements (such as asset purchase agreements) for a specified purpose and therefore is not available for use for other purposes. The escrow accounts are administered by an intermediary. Cash restricted pursuant to like-kind exchange agreements remains restricted for a maximum of 180 days from the date of the property sale pending the acquisition of replacement property. Restricted cash is included with cash and cash equivalents in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

EARNINGS PER SHARE (EPS)

Earnings per share are computed by dividing net earnings by the weighted-average common shares outstanding (basic EPS) or weighted-average common shares outstanding assuming dilution (diluted EPS), as set forth below:



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Weighted-average common shares
outstanding	132,437	132,413	132,563	132,524
Dilutive effect of
Stock-Only Stock Appreciation Rights	583	1,317	636	1,330
Other stock compensation plans	1,031	1,005	1,081	1,071
Weighted-average common shares
outstanding, assuming dilution	134,051	134,735	134,280	134,925

All dilutive common stock equivalents are reflected in our earnings per share calculations. In periods of loss, shares that otherwise would have been included in our diluted weighted-average common shares outstanding computation would be excluded.

Antidilutive common stock equivalents are not included in our earnings per share calculations. The number of antidilutive common stock equivalents for which the exercise price exceeds the weighted-average market price is as follows:



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Antidilutive common stock equivalents	157	79	155	79

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES [Abstract]

Weighted-Average Common Shares Outstanding Assuming Dilution



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Weighted-average common shares
outstanding	132,437	132,413	132,563	132,524
Dilutive effect of
Stock-Only Stock Appreciation Rights	583	1,317	636	1,330
Other stock compensation plans	1,031	1,005	1,081	1,071
Weighted-average common shares
outstanding, assuming dilution	134,051	134,735	134,280	134,925

Antidilutive Common Stock Equivalents



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Antidilutive common stock equivalents	157	79	155	79

DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS [Abstract]

Results from Discontinued Operations



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Discontinued Operations
Pretax earnings (loss)	$ (883)	$ 12,804	$ (1,449)	$ 14,896
Income tax (expense) benefit	233	(4,414)	383	(5,108)
Earnings (loss) on discontinued operations,
net of tax	$ (650)	$ 8,390	$ (1,066)	$ 9,788

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of information related to a disposal group. Includes, but is not limited to, a discontinued operation, disposal classified as held-for-sale or disposed of by means other than sale or disposal of an individually significant component.

+ References

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+ Details

REVENUES (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

REVENUES [Abstract]

Revenues by Geographic Market

Our segment total revenues by geographic market for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 are disaggregated as follows:



	Three Months Ended June 30, 2018
in thousands	Aggregates	Asphalt	Concrete	Calcium	Total
Total Revenues by Geographic Market 1
East	$ 313,245	$ 49,339	$ 69,605	$ 0	$ 432,189
Gulf Coast	493,696	38,845	18,354	2,282	553,177
West	149,324	123,644	18,764	0	291,732
Segment sales	$ 956,265	$ 211,828	$ 106,723	$ 2,282	$ 1,277,098
Intersegment sales	(76,947)	0	0	0	(76,947)
Total revenues	$ 879,318	$ 211,828	$ 106,723	$ 2,282	$ 1,200,151



	Three Months Ended June 30, 2017
in thousands	Aggregates	Asphalt	Concrete	Calcium	Total
Total Revenues by Geographic Market 1
East	$ 281,304	$ 29,775	$ 59,647	$ 0	$ 370,726
Gulf Coast	384,793	24,444	25,501	1,971	436,709
West	151,489	121,539	20,065	0	293,093
Segment sales	$ 817,586	$ 175,758	$ 105,213	$ 1,971	$ 1,100,528
Intersegment sales	(69,765)	0	0	0	(69,765)
Total revenues	$ 747,821	$ 175,758	$ 105,213	$ 1,971	$ 1,030,763



	Six Months Ended June 30, 2018
in thousands	Aggregates	Asphalt	Concrete	Calcium	Total
Total Revenues by Geographic Market 1
East	$ 496,459	$ 61,068	$ 131,175	$ 0	$ 688,702
Gulf Coast	888,271	53,488	43,554	4,224	989,537
West	271,192	201,107	32,956	0	505,255
Segment sales	$ 1,655,922	$ 315,663	$ 207,685	$ 4,224	$ 2,183,494
Intersegment sales	(128,869)	0	0	0	(128,869)
Total revenues	$ 1,527,053	$ 315,663	$ 207,685	$ 4,224	$ 2,054,625



	Six Months Ended June 30, 2017
in thousands	Aggregates	Asphalt	Concrete	Calcium	Total
Total Revenues by Geographic Market 1
East	$ 463,762	$ 39,154	$ 113,897	$ 0	$ 616,813
Gulf Coast	752,006	42,480	51,807	3,857	850,150
West	252,118	189,900	28,259	0	470,277
Segment sales	$ 1,467,886	$ 271,534	$ 193,963	$ 3,857	$ 1,937,240
Intersegment sales	(119,149)	0	0	0	(119,149)
Total revenues	$ 1,348,737	$ 271,534	$ 193,963	$ 3,857	$ 1,818,091

1

The geographic markets are defined by states/countries as follows:

East market — Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington D.C.

Gulf Coast market — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mexico, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and the Bahamas

West market — Arizona, California and New Mexico

Reconciliation of Deferred Revenue Balances



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Deferred Revenue
Balance at beginning of period	$ 198,201	$ 204,819	$ 199,556	$ 206,468
Revenue recognized from deferred revenue	(1,905)	(1,719)	(3,260)	(3,368)
Balance at end of period	$ 196,296	$ 203,100	$ 196,296	$ 203,100

FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS [Abstract]

Fair Value Measurement on Recurring Basis



	Level 1 Fair Value
	June 30	December 31	June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2017
Fair Value Recurring
Rabbi Trust
Mutual funds	$ 20,698	$ 20,348	$ 5,348
Equities	0	0	11,785
Total	$ 20,698	$ 20,348	$ 17,133



	Level 2 Fair Value
	June 30	December 31	June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2017
Fair Value Recurring
Rabbi Trust
Money market mutual fund	$ 1,754	$ 1,203	$ 2,338
Total	$ 1,754	$ 1,203	$ 2,338

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS [Abstract]

Effects of Changes in Fair Values of Derivatives Designated as Cash Flow Hedges



		Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	Location on	June 30		June 30
in thousands	Statement	2018	2017	2018	2017
Interest Rate Hedges
Loss reclassified from AOCI	Interest
(effective portion)	expense	$ (71)	$ (539)	$ (160)	$ (1,067)

DEBT (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

DEBT [Abstract]

Debt



	Effective	June 30	December 31	June 30
in thousands	Interest Rates	2018	2017	2017
Short-term Debt
Bank line of credit expires 2021 1	1.25%	$ 360,000	$ 0	$ 0
Total short-term debt		$ 360,000	$ 0	$ 0
Long-term Debt
Bank line of credit expires 2021 1		$ 0	$ 250,000	$ 0
Term loan due 2018 2		0	350,000	0
7.00% notes due 2018		0	0	272,512
10.375% notes due 2018		0	0	250,000
Floating-rate notes due 2020	3.00%	250,000	250,000	250,000
Floating-rate notes due 2021	2.93%	500,000	0	0
7.50% notes due 2021		0	35,111	600,000
8.85% notes due 2021	8.88%	6,000	6,000	6,000
Term loan due 2021 2		0	250,000	250,000
4.50% notes due 2025	4.65%	400,000	400,000	400,000
3.90% notes due 2027	4.00%	400,000	400,000	400,000
7.15% notes due 2037	8.05%	129,239	240,188	240,188
4.50% notes due 2047	4.59%	700,000	700,000	700,000
4.70% notes due 2048	5.42%	460,949	0	0
Other notes 2	6.46%	219	230	358
Total long-term debt - face value		$ 2,846,407	$ 2,881,529	$ 3,369,058
Unamortized discounts and debt issuance costs		(69,478)	(26,664)	(33,989)
Total long-term debt - book value		$ 2,776,929	$ 2,854,865	$ 3,335,069
Less current maturities		23	41,383	525,776
Total long-term debt - reported value		$ 2,776,906	$ 2,813,482	$ 2,809,293
Estimated fair value of long-term debt		$ 2,782,543	$ 2,983,419	$ 3,077,069


1	Borrowings on the bank line of credit are classified as short-term debt if we intend to repay within twelve months and as long-term debt otherwise.
2	This short-term loan was refinanced on a long-term basis in February 2018 as discussed below. Thus, it was classified as long-term debt as of December 31, 2017.

Standby Letters of Credit



in thousands
Standby Letters of Credit
Risk management insurance	$ 38,111
Reclamation/restoration requirements	6,956
Total	$ 45,067

ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS [Abstract]

Asset Retirement Obligations Operating Costs



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
ARO Operating Costs
Accretion	$ 2,668	$ 2,881	$ 5,352	$ 5,763
Depreciation	1,343	1,615	2,680	3,247
Total	$ 4,011	$ 4,496	$ 8,032	$ 9,010

Reconciliations of Asset Retirement Obligations



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Asset Retirement Obligations
Balance at beginning of period	$ 214,709	$ 226,012	$ 218,117	$ 223,872
Liabilities incurred	0	335	0	335
Liabilities settled	(1,805)	(5,610)	(7,826)	(10,475)
Accretion expense	2,668	2,881	5,352	5,763
Revisions, net	(151)	335	(222)	4,458
Balance at end of period	$ 215,421	$ 223,953	$ 215,421	$ 223,953

BENEFIT PLANS (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Pension Benefits [Member]

Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]

Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost



PENSION BENEFITS	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost
Service cost	$ 1,429	$ 1,654	$ 2,858	$ 3,308
Interest cost	8,875	9,058	17,751	18,115
Expected return on plan assets	(14,797)	(12,096)	(29,594)	(24,192)
Amortization of prior service cost	335	335	670	670
Amortization of actuarial loss	2,456	1,823	4,913	3,647
Net periodic pension benefit cost (credit)	$ (1,702)	$ 774	$ (3,402)	$ 1,548
Pretax reclassifications from AOCI included in
net periodic pension benefit cost	$ 2,791	$ 2,158	$ 5,583	$ 4,317

Postretirement Benefits [Member]

Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]

Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost



OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFITS	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost
Service cost	$ 340	$ 291	$ 679	$ 583
Interest cost	310	315	620	630
Amortization of prior service credit	(990)	(1,059)	(1,981)	(2,118)
Amortization of actuarial gain	(325)	(396)	(649)	(793)
Net periodic postretirement benefit credit	$ (665)	$ (849)	$ (1,331)	$ (1,698)
Pretax reclassifications from AOCI included in
net periodic postretirement benefit credit	$ (1,315)	$ (1,455)	$ (2,630)	$ (2,911)

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME [Abstract]

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, Net of Tax



	June 30	December 31	June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2017
AOCI
Interest rate hedges	$ (8,824)	$ (11,438)	$ (12,653)
Pension and postretirement plans	(135,845)	(138,028)	(125,221)
Total	$ (144,669)	$ (149,466)	$ (137,874)

Changes in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, Net of Tax



		Pension and
	Interest Rate	Postretirement
in thousands	Hedges	Benefit Plans	Total
AOCI
Balance as of December 31, 2017	$ (11,438)	$ (138,028)	$ (149,466)
Other comprehensive income
before reclassifications	2,496	0	2,496
Amounts reclassified from AOCI	118	2,183	2,301
Net current period OCI changes	2,614	2,183	4,797
Balance as of June 30, 2018	$ (8,824)	$ (135,845)	$ (144,669)

Amounts Reclassified from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income to Earnings



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Amortization of Interest Rate Hedge Losses
Interest expense	$ 71	$ 539	$ 160	$ 1,067
Benefit from income taxes	(19)	(211)	(42)	(420)
Total	$ 52	$ 328	$ 118	$ 647
Amortization of Pension and Postretirement
Plan Actuarial Loss and Prior Service Cost
Other nonoperating income	$ 1,477	$ 703	$ 2,953	$ 1,406
Benefit from income taxes	(385)	(276)	(770)	(551)
Total	$ 1,092	$ 427	$ 2,183	$ 855
Total reclassifications from AOCI to earnings	$ 1,144	$ 755	$ 2,301	$ 1,502

EQUITY (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

EQUITY [Abstract]

Shares Purchased And Retired



	June 30	December 31	June 30
in thousands, except average price	2018	2017	2017
Shares Purchased and Retired
Number	643	510	510
Total purchase price	$ 74,921	$ 60,303	$ 60,303
Average price per share	$ 116.49	$ 118.18	$ 118.18

Changes in Total Equity



	Six Months Ended
	June 30
in thousands	2018	2017
Total Equity
Balance at beginning of year	$ 4,968,893	$ 4,572,476
Net earnings	212,631	165,060
Common stock issued
Share-based compensation plans, net of shares withheld for taxes	(31,337)	(24,108)
Purchase and retirement of common stock	(74,921)	(60,303)
Share-based compensation expense	14,763	13,671
Cash dividends on common stock ($0.56/$0.50 per share)	(74,196)	(66,194)
Other comprehensive income	4,797	1,502
Balance at end of period	$ 5,020,630	$ 4,602,104

SEGMENT REPORTING (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

SEGMENT REPORTING [Abstract]

Segment Financial Disclosure



	Three Months Ended		Six Months Ended
	June 30		June 30
in thousands	2018	2017	2018	2017
Total Revenues
Aggregates 1	$ 956,265	$ 817,586	$ 1,655,922	$ 1,467,886
Asphalt	211,828	175,758	315,663	271,534
Concrete	106,723	105,213	207,685	193,963
Calcium	2,282	1,971	4,224	3,857
Segment sales	$ 1,277,098	$ 1,100,528	$ 2,183,494	$ 1,937,240
Aggregates intersegment sales	(76,947)	(69,765)	(128,869)	(119,149)
Total revenues	$ 1,200,151	$ 1,030,763	$ 2,054,625	$ 1,818,091
Gross Profit
Aggregates 2	$ 283,476	$ 251,419	$ 431,697	$ 390,210
Asphalt 2	25,750	28,760	25,996	37,242
Concrete 2	13,191	9,253	23,511	19,478
Calcium	767	585	1,315	1,308
Total	$ 323,184	$ 290,017	$ 482,519	$ 448,238
Depreciation, Depletion, Accretion
and Amortization (DDA&A)
Aggregates	$ 69,738	$ 60,832	$ 135,691	$ 118,488
Asphalt	7,298	6,615	14,300	12,347
Concrete	3,049	3,672	6,463	6,695
Calcium	70	192	139	387
Other	5,478	5,464	10,479	10,422
Total	$ 85,633	$ 76,775	$ 167,072	$ 148,339
Identifiable Assets 3
Aggregates			$ 8,751,186	$ 7,931,603
Asphalt			625,985	358,801
Concrete			276,743	233,355
Calcium			4,258	3,939
Total identifiable assets			$ 9,658,172	$ 8,527,698
General corporate assets			125,497	212,446
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash			61,115	1,129,799
Total			$ 9,844,784	$ 9,869,943


1	Includes product sales, as well as freight & delivery costs that we pass along to our customers, and service revenues related to aggregates.
2	The 2017 amounts have been revised as a result of our adoption of ASU 2017-07 as described in Note 17.
3	Certain temporarily idled assets are included within a segment's Identifiable Assets but the associated DDA&A is shown within Other in the DDA&A section above as the related DDA&A is excluded from segment gross profit.

SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION [Abstract]

Supplemental Information Referable to Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows



	Six Months Ended
	June 30
in thousands	2018	2017
Cash Payments (Refunds)
Interest (exclusive of amount capitalized)	$ 62,021	$ 67,849
Income taxes	(102,711)	117,204
Noncash Investing and Financing Activities
Accrued liabilities for purchases of property, plant & equipment	$ 21,257	$ 17,924
Amounts referable to business acquisitions
Liabilities assumed	4,040	1,935
Consideration payable to seller	4,500	0

GOODWILL (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

GOODWILL [Abstract]

Changes in Carrying Amount of Goodwill by Reportable Segment



in thousands	Aggregates	Asphalt	Concrete	Calcium	Total
Goodwill
Total as of December 31, 2017	$ 3,030,688	$ 91,633	$ 0	$ 0	$ 3,122,321
Goodwill of acquired businesses 1	41,633	0	0	0	41,633
Total as of June 30, 2018	$ 3,072,321	$ 91,633	$ 0	$ 0	$ 3,163,954


1	See Note 16 for a summary of acquisitions.

ACQUISITIONS AND DIVESTITURES (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Acquisitions 2018 [Member]

Significant Acquisitions And Disposals [Line Items]

Schedule Of Business Acquisitions



	June 30
in thousands	2018
Fair Value of Purchase Consideration
Cash	$ 212,940
Payable to seller	4,500
Total fair value of purchase consideration	$ 217,440
Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed
Accounts and notes receivable, net	$ 14,218
Inventories	12,110
Other current assets	826
Property, plant & equipment	105,613
Other intangible assets
Contractual rights in place	90,803
Deferred income taxes, net	(36,172)
Liabilities assumed	(10,599)
Net identifiable assets acquired	$ 176,799
Goodwill	$ 40,641

Acquisitions 2017 [Member]

Significant Acquisitions And Disposals [Line Items]

Schedule Of Business Acquisitions



	December 31
in thousands	2017
Fair Value of Purchase Consideration
Cash	$ 1,072,978
Payable to seller	7,837
Total fair value of purchase consideration	$ 1,080,815
Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed
Accounts and notes receivable, net	$ 14,955
Inventories	21,679
Other current assets	608
Investments	3,590
Property, plant & equipment	433,606
Other intangible assets
Contractual rights in place	295,482
Liabilities assumed	(3,894)
Net identifiable assets acquired	$ 766,026
Goodwill	$ 27,497
Net Assets Divested Immediately Upon Acquisition	$ 287,292

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Narrative) (Details)	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018 state factor
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES [Abstract]
State of incorporation	New Jersey
Number of states \| state	20
Number of demographic factors \| factor	3

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Weighted-Average Common Shares Outstanding Assuming Dilution) (Details) - shares shares in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES [Abstract]
Weighted-average common shares outstanding	132,437	132,413	132,563	132,524
Dilutive effect of Stock-Only Stock Appreciation Rights	583	1,317	636	1,330
Dilutive effect of Other stock compensation plans	1,031	1,005	1,081	1,071
Weighted-average common shares outstanding, assuming dilution	134,051	134,735	134,280	134,925

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Antidilutive Common Stock Equivalents) (Details) - shares shares in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES [Abstract]
Antidilutive common stock equivalents	157	79	155	79

DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS [Abstract]
Revenues from discontinued operations	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0

DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS (Results from Discontinued Operations) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS [Abstract]
Pretax earnings (loss)	$ (883)	$ 12,804	$ (1,449)	$ 14,896
Income tax (expense) benefit	233	(4,414)	383	(5,108)
Earnings (loss) on discontinued operations, net of tax	$ (650)	$ 8,390	$ (1,066)	$ 9,788

- Definition

Amount before tax of income (loss) from a discontinued operation. Includes, but is not limited to, the income (loss) from operations during the phase-out period, gain (loss) on disposal, gain (loss) for reversal of write-down (write-down) to fair value, less cost to sell, and adjustments to a prior period gain (loss) on disposal.

+ References + Details

- Definition

Amount of tax expense (benefit) related to a discontinued operation. Includes, but is not limited to, tax expense (benefit) related to income (loss) from operations during the phase-out period, tax expense (benefit) related to gain (loss) on disposal, tax expense (benefit) related to gain (loss) for reversal of write-down (write-down) to fair value, less cost to sell, and tax expense (benefit) related to adjustments of a prior period gain (loss) on disposal.

+ References + Details

- Definition

Amount after tax of income (loss) from a discontinued operation attributable to the parent. Includes, but is not limited to, the income (loss) from operations during the phase-out period, gain (loss) on disposal, gain (loss) for reversal of write-down (write-down) to fair value, less cost to sell, and adjustments to a prior period gain (loss) on disposal.

+ References + Details

INCOME TAXES (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
INCOME TAXES (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
U.S. federal corporate income tax rate			21.00%		35.00%
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, percent of immediate deductibility of certain capital investments			100.00%
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, incomplete accounting, provisional expense, deferred tax assets, executive compensation					$ 1,403,000
Income tax expense	$ 40,046,000	$ 45,652,000	$ 35,143,000	$ 42,477,000
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, incomplete accounting, provisional transition tax, foreign repatriation					$ 12,301,000
Income tax benefit recognition threshold more likely than not			50.00%
Forecast [Member]
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
State net operating loss carryforwards						$ 71,812,000
Net operating loss carryforwards, valuation allowance						29,695,000
Alabama [Member] \| State [Member] \| Earliest Tax Year [Member]
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Net operating loss carryforwards expiration date			Dec. 31, 2023
Alabama [Member] \| State [Member] \| Latest Tax Year [Member]
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Net operating loss carryforwards expiration date			Dec. 31, 2033
Alabama [Member] \| Forecast [Member]
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
State net operating loss carryforwards						67,611,000
Net operating loss carryforwards, valuation allowance						$ 29,182,000

REVENUES (Narrative) (Details)	6 Months Ended	24 Months Ended
REVENUES (Narrative) (Details)	Jun. 30, 2018 item	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)
Deferred Revenue Arrangement [Line Items]
Number of quarries \| item	8
Proceeds from sale of production		$ 226,926,000
Term of the VPPs	25 years
Minimum [Member]
Deferred Revenue Arrangement [Line Items]
Coverage of warranty provisions	9 months
Maximum [Member]
Deferred Revenue Arrangement [Line Items]
Coverage of warranty provisions	1 year
Maximum [Member] \| Construction Paving [Member]
Deferred Revenue Arrangement [Line Items]
Costs for paving contracts expense, expected amortization period	1 year
Forecast [Member]
Deferred Revenue Arrangement [Line Items]
Estimated deferred revenue to be recognized in the next 12 months			$ 7,470,000
Asphalt [Member] \| Maximum [Member] \| Construction Paving [Member]
Deferred Revenue Arrangement [Line Items]
Percent of segment's revenue	10.00%
Aggregates [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Deferred Revenue Arrangement [Line Items]
Percent of shipments used for publicly funded construction	45.00%
Aggregates [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Deferred Revenue Arrangement [Line Items]
Percent of shipments used for publicly funded construction	55.00%
Aggregates [Member] \| Maximum [Member] \| Services [Member]
Deferred Revenue Arrangement [Line Items]
Percent of segment's revenue	2.00%

REVENUES (Revenues by Geographic Market) (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Thousands

3 Months Ended

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Jun. 30, 2017

Jun. 30, 2018

Jun. 30, 2017

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

$ 1,200,151

$ 1,030,763

$ 2,054,625

$ 1,818,091

Operating Segments [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

1,277,098

1,100,528

2,183,494

1,937,240

Intersegment Sales [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

(76,947)

(69,765)

(128,869)

(119,149)

East [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

432,189

370,726

688,702

616,813

Gulf Coast [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

553,177

436,709

989,537

850,150

West [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

291,732

293,093

505,255

470,277

Aggregates [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

879,318

747,821

1,527,053

1,348,737

Aggregates [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

^[1]

956,265

817,586

1,655,922

1,467,886

Aggregates [Member] | Intersegment Sales [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

(76,947)

(69,765)

(128,869)

(119,149)

Aggregates [Member] | East [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

313,245

281,304

496,459

463,762

Aggregates [Member] | Gulf Coast [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

493,696

384,793

888,271

752,006

Aggregates [Member] | West [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

149,324

151,489

271,192

252,118

Asphalt [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

211,828

175,758

315,663

271,534

Asphalt [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

211,828

175,758

315,663

271,534

Asphalt [Member] | Intersegment Sales [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

0

Asphalt [Member] | East [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

49,339

29,775

61,068

39,154

Asphalt [Member] | Gulf Coast [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

38,845

24,444

53,488

42,480

Asphalt [Member] | West [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

123,644

121,539

201,107

189,900

Concrete [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

106,723

105,213

207,685

193,963

Concrete [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

106,723

105,213

207,685

193,963

Concrete [Member] | Intersegment Sales [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

0

Concrete [Member] | East [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

69,605

59,647

131,175

113,897

Concrete [Member] | Gulf Coast [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

18,354

25,501

43,554

51,807

Concrete [Member] | West [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

18,764

20,065

32,956

28,259

Calcium [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

2,282

1,971

4,224

3,857

Calcium [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

2,282

1,971

4,224

3,857

Calcium [Member] | Intersegment Sales [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

0

Calcium [Member] | East [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

0

Calcium [Member] | Gulf Coast [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

2,282

1,971

4,224

3,857

Calcium [Member] | West [Member]

Segment Reporting, Revenue Reconciling Item [Line Items]

Total revenues

$ 0

[1]	Includes product sales, as well as freight & delivery costs that we pass along to our customers, and service revenues related to aggregates.

REVENUES (Reconciliation of Deferred Revenue Balances) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
REVENUES [Abstract]
Balance at beginning of period	$ 198,201	$ 204,819	$ 199,556	$ 206,468
Revenue recognized from deferred revenue	(1,905)	(1,719)	(3,260)	(3,368)
Balance at end of period	$ 196,296	$ 203,100	$ 196,296	$ 203,100

FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (Narrative) (Details)	6 Months Ended
FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (Narrative) (Details)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) item	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)
FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS [Abstract]
Number of Rabbi Trusts established \| item	2
Net gains (losses) of the Rabbi Trust investments	$ (428,000)	$ 848,000
Unrealized net gains (losses) of the Rabbi Trust investments	$ (430,000)	$ 413,000

FAIR VALUE MEASURMENTS (Fair Value Measurement on Recurring Basis) (Details) - Recurring [Member] - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017
Level 1 [Member]
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Assets fair value, recurring	$ 20,698	$ 20,348	$ 17,133
Level 1 [Member] \| Mutual Funds [Member]
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Assets fair value, recurring	20,698	20,348	5,348
Level 1 [Member] \| Equities [Member]
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Assets fair value, recurring	0	0	11,785
Level 2 [Member]
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Assets fair value, recurring	1,754	1,203	2,338
Level 2 [Member] \| Money Market Mutual Fund [Member]
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Assets fair value, recurring	$ 1,754	$ 1,203	$ 2,338

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS (Narrative) (Details)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($)
Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] \| Cash Flow Hedges [Member] \| Interest Rate Swap [Member]
Derivative [Line Items]
Estimated amount of pretax loss in AOCI reclassified to earnings for the next 12-month period	$ 297,000

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS (Effects of Changes in Fair Values of Derivatives Designated as Cash Flow Hedges) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Interest Rate Swap [Member] \| Cash Flow Hedges [Member] \| Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member]
Reclassification Adjustment out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income on Derivatives [Line Items]
Loss reclassified from AOCI (effective portion)	$ (71)	$ (539)	$ (160)	$ (1,067)

DEBT (Narrative) (Details)

1 Months Ended

3 Months Ended

6 Months Ended

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2018

USD ($)

Feb. 28, 2018

USD ($)

Jan. 31, 2018

USD ($)

Dec. 31, 2017

USD ($)

Jul. 31, 2017

USD ($)

Jun. 30, 2017

USD ($)

Mar. 31, 2017

USD ($)

Mar. 31, 2018

USD ($)

Jun. 30, 2018

USD ($)

item

Jun. 30, 2017

USD ($)

Dec. 31, 2017

USD ($)

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Discounts and debt issuance costs

$ 2,698,000

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 2,881,529,000

$ 3,369,058,000

2,846,407,000

$ 3,369,058,000

$ 2,881,529,000

Repayments of long term debt

$ 565,560,000

892,044,000

235,007,000

Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt

850,000,000

1,600,000,000

Net proceeds

$ 846,029,000

Net noncash expense

3,029,000

$ 466,000

7,257,000

Premium for repayments of debt

43,020,000

5,608,000

139,187,000

Transaction costs for repayments of debt

$ 28,000

1,314,000

1,586,000

Combined charge, component of interest expense

7,388,000

148,030,000

Total short-term debt

0

$ 360,000,000

0

Investment-Grade Type Covenants Governed [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Number of indentures with customary investment-grade type covenants | item

3

Bank Line of Credit [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Maximum borrowing capacity

$ 750,000,000

Commitment fee

0.15%

Available borrowing capacity

$ 344,933,000

Borrowings

$ 360,000,000

Bank Line of Credit [Member] | LIBOR [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Applicable margin on borrowing rate

1.25%

Bank Line of Credit [Member] | Base Rate [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Applicable margin on borrowing rate

0.25%

Bank Line of Credit [Member] | Maximum, Upon Certain Acquisitions [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Debt to EBITDA ratio

3.75

Standby Letters of Credit [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Outstanding standby letters of credit

$ 45,067,000

Period of standby letters of credit

1 year

Standby Letters of Credit [Member] | LIBOR [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Applicable margin on borrowing rate

0.175%

Minimum [Member] | Bank Line of Credit [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

EBITDA to net cash interest expense ratio

3.0

Commitment fee

0.10%

Minimum [Member] | Bank Line of Credit [Member] | LIBOR [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Applicable margin on borrowing rate

1.00%

Minimum [Member] | Bank Line of Credit [Member] | Base Rate [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Applicable margin on borrowing rate

0.00%

Maximum [Member] | Bank Line of Credit [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Debt to EBITDA ratio

3.5

Commitment fee

0.25%

Maximum [Member] | Bank Line of Credit [Member] | LIBOR [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Applicable margin on borrowing rate

1.75%

Maximum [Member] | Bank Line of Credit [Member] | Base Rate [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Applicable margin on borrowing rate

0.75%

Term Loan Due 2018 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

^[1]

350,000,000

0

$ 0

0

350,000,000

Maturity year

2018

Debt issued, term

6 months

Notes [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Face value

1,000,000,000

Net proceeds

989,512,000

Notes [Member] | 3.90% notes due 2027 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

400,000,000

$ 400,000,000

400,000,000

2027

$ 400,000,000

3.90%

$ 345,450,000

Notes [Member] | 3.90% notes due 2027 [Member] | June 2017 Issuance [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Face value

$ 50,000,000

Notes [Member] | 3.90% notes due 2027 [Member] | March 2017 Issuance [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Face value

350,000,000

Notes [Member] | Term loan due 2021 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

^[1]

250,000,000

$ 0

250,000,000

Maturity year

2021

Notes [Member] | Investment-Grade Type Covenants Governed [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 2,846,188,000

Notes [Member] | 4.50% notes due 2047 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

700,000,000

$ 700,000,000

700,000,000

Maturity year

2047

Face value

$ 700,000,000

Interest rate

4.50%

Notes [Member] | 4.50% notes due 2025 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

400,000,000

$ 400,000,000

400,000,000

Maturity year

2025

Interest rate

4.50%

Notes [Member] | Floating-Rate Notes Due 2020 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

250,000,000

$ 250,000,000

250,000,000

Maturity year

2020

Face value

250,000,000

Notes [Member] | 10.375% notes due 2018 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

0

250,000,000

$ 0

250,000,000

0

Maturity year

2018

Interest rate

10.375%

Notes [Member] | 7.00% notes due 2018 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

0

272,512,000

$ 0

272,512,000

0

Maturity year

2018

Interest rate

7.00%

Notes [Member] | 7.50% notes due 2021 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

35,111,000

600,000,000

$ 0

600,000,000

35,111,000

Maturity year

2021

Face value

$ 35,111,000

564,889,000

Interest rate

7.50%

Net noncash expense

263,000

4,228,000

Repayments of debt

40,719,000

662,613,000

Premium for repayments of debt

$ 5,608,000

96,167,000

Transaction costs for repayments of debt

1,558,000

Notes [Member] | 4.70% notes due 2048 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

0

$ 460,949,000

0

Maturity year

2048

Face value

$ 460,949,000

$ 350,000,000

$ 460,949,000

Interest rate

4.70%

Net noncash expense

$ 203,000

Premium for repayments of debt

38,164,000

Notes [Member] | Floating-Rate Notes Due 2021 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

0

$ 500,000,000

0

Maturity year

2021

Face value

$ 500,000,000

Notes [Member] | 7.15% notes due 2037 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 240,188,000

240,188,000

$ 129,239,000

240,188,000

$ 240,188,000

Maturity year

2037

Repayments of long term debt

110,949,000

Interest rate

7.15%

Transaction costs for repayments of debt

$ 1,314,000

Bank Line of Credit [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Maturity date

Dec. 31, 2021

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 250,000,000

^[2]

$ 0

^[2]

$ 235,000,000

$ 0

^[2]

$ 0

^[2]

$ 250,000,000

^[2]

[1]	This short-term loan was refinanced on a long-term basis in February 2018 as discussed below. Thus, it was classified as long-term debt as of December 31, 2017
[2]	Borrowings on the bank line of credit are classified as short-term debt if we intend to repay within twelve months and as long-term debt otherwise.

DEBT (Debt) (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Thousands

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Feb. 28, 2018

Dec. 31, 2017

Jun. 30, 2017

Mar. 31, 2017

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total short-term debt

$ 360,000

$ 0

Total long-term debt - face value

2,846,407

2,881,529

3,369,058

Unamortized discounts and debt issuance costs

(69,478)

(26,664)

(33,989)

Total long-term debt - book value

2,776,929

2,854,865

3,335,069

Less current maturities

23

41,383

525,776

Total long-term debt - reported value

2,776,906

2,813,482

2,809,293

Estimated fair value of long-term debt

2,782,543

2,983,419

3,077,069

Bank Line of Credit [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total short-term debt

^[1]

$ 360,000

0

Maturity date

Dec. 31, 2021

Effective interest rate

^[1]

1.25%

Bank Line of Credit [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 0

^[1]

250,000

^[1]

0

^[1]

$ 235,000

Maturity date

Dec. 31, 2021

Term Loan Due 2018 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

^[2]

$ 0

350,000

0

Maturity year

2018

Notes [Member] | 7.00% notes due 2018 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 0

0

272,512

Interest rate

7.00%

Maturity year

2018

Notes [Member] | 10.375% notes due 2018 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 0

0

250,000

Interest rate

10.375%

Maturity year

2018

Notes [Member] | Floating-Rate Notes Due 2020 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 250,000

250,000

Maturity year

2020

Effective interest rate

3.00%

Notes [Member] | Floating-Rate Notes Due 2021 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 500,000

0

Maturity year

2021

Effective interest rate

2.93%

Notes [Member] | 7.50% notes due 2021 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 0

35,111

600,000

Interest rate

7.50%

Maturity year

2021

Notes [Member] | 8.85% notes due 2021 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 6,000

6,000

Interest rate

8.85%

Maturity year

2021

Effective interest rate

8.88%

Notes [Member] | Term loan due 2021 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

^[2]

$ 0

250,000

Maturity year

2021

Notes [Member] | 4.50% notes due 2025 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 400,000

400,000

Interest rate

4.50%

Maturity year

2025

Effective interest rate

4.65%

Notes [Member] | 3.90% notes due 2027 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 400,000

400,000

$ 400,000

Interest rate

3.90%

Maturity year

2027

Effective interest rate

4.00%

Notes [Member] | 7.15% notes due 2037 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 129,239

$ 240,188

Interest rate

7.15%

Maturity year

2037

Effective interest rate

8.05%

Notes [Member] | 4.50% notes due 2047 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 700,000

Interest rate

4.50%

Maturity year

2047

Effective interest rate

4.59%

Notes [Member] | 4.70% notes due 2048 [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

$ 460,949

0

$ 0

Interest rate

4.70%

Maturity year

2048

Effective interest rate

5.42%

Other Notes [Member]

Debt Instrument [Line Items]

Total long-term debt - face value

^[2]

$ 219

$ 230

$ 358

Effective interest rate

^[2]

6.46%

[1]	Borrowings on the bank line of credit are classified as short-term debt if we intend to repay within twelve months and as long-term debt otherwise.
[2]	This short-term loan was refinanced on a long-term basis in February 2018 as discussed below. Thus, it was classified as long-term debt as of December 31, 2017

DEBT (Standby Letters of Credit) (Details) - USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Reclamation/restoration requirements	$ 215,421,000	$ 214,709,000	$ 218,117,000	$ 223,953,000	$ 226,012,000	$ 223,872,000
Standby Letters of Credit [Member]
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Risk management insurance	38,111,000
Reclamation/restoration requirements	6,956,000
Total	$ 45,067,000

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Narrative) (Details)	1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Narrative) (Details)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 item	Mar. 31, 2016 mi	May 31, 2007 entity mi	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Asset Retirement Obligation	$ 218,117,000				$ 223,953,000	$ 215,421,000	$ 218,117,000	$ 214,709,000	$ 226,012,000	$ 223,872,000
Number of groundwater extraction wells \| item		2
Parent Company [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Judge ruled allocation of fault among defendants, percentage	15.00%
Cooperating Parties Group [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of other companies to perform a Remedial Investigation/ Feasibility Study related to the Lower Passaic River Clean-Up lawsuit \| entity				70
Number of miles of the River used in the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study \| mi				17
Number of miles for bank-to-bank dredging remedy \| mi			8
Occidental Chemical Co [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Judge ruled allocation of fault among defendants, percentage	50.00%
Texas Brine [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Judge ruled allocation of fault among defendants, percentage	35.00%
Maximum [Member] \| EPA [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Estimated implementation costs						1,380,000,000
Standby Letters of Credit [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Outstanding standby letters of credit						$ 45,067,000
Hewitt Landfill Matter [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Increase in accrual of liability for claims and litigation					$ 14,216,000		$ 15,239,000

ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) a property	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)
Reclamation activities	$ 1,805	$ 5,610	$ 7,826	$ 10,475
California [Member]
Reclamation activities			$ 5,158	$ 5,017
Adjacent aggregates sites \| property			2
Property, acres \| a			90

ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS (Asset Retirement Obligations Operating Costs) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS [Abstract]
Accretion	$ 2,668	$ 2,881	$ 5,352	$ 5,763
Depreciation	1,343	1,615	2,680	3,247
Total	$ 4,011	$ 4,496	$ 8,032	$ 9,010

ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS (Reconciliations of Asset Retirement Obligations) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS [Abstract]
Balance at beginning of period	$ 214,709	$ 226,012	$ 218,117	$ 223,872
Liabilities incurred	0	335	0	335
Liabilities settled	(1,805)	(5,610)	(7,826)	(10,475)
Accretion expense	2,668	2,881	5,352	5,763
Revisions, net	(151)	335	(222)	4,458
Balance at end of period	$ 215,421	$ 223,953	$ 215,421	$ 223,953

BENEFIT PLANS (Narrative) (Details)	6 Months Ended
BENEFIT PLANS (Narrative) (Details)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) entity
BENEFIT PLANS [Abstract]
Number of funded, noncontributory defined benefit pension plans	3
Number of unfunded, nonqualified pension plans	3
Discretionary qualified plan contribution \| $	$ 100,000,000
Normal retirement age	65 years

BENEFIT PLANS (Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost- Pension Benefits) (Details) - Pension Benefits [Member] - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost
Service cost	$ 1,429	$ 1,654	$ 2,858	$ 3,308
Interest cost	8,875	9,058	17,751	18,115
Expected return on plan assets	(14,797)	(12,096)	(29,594)	(24,192)
Amortization of prior service cost	335	335	670	670
Amortization of actuarial loss	2,456	1,823	4,913	3,647
Net periodic benefit cost (credit)	(1,702)	774	(3,402)	1,548
Pretax reclassification from AOCI included in net periodic pension/postretirement benefit cost (credit)	$ 2,791	$ 2,158	$ 5,583	$ 4,317

BENEFIT PLANS (Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost- Other Postretirement Benefits) (Details) - Postretirement Benefits [Member] - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost
Service cost	$ 340	$ 291	$ 679	$ 583
Interest cost	310	315	620	630
Amortization of prior service credit	(990)	(1,059)	(1,981)	(2,118)
Amortization of actuarial gain	(325)	(396)	(649)	(793)
Net periodic benefit cost (credit)	(665)	(849)	(1,331)	(1,698)
Pretax reclassification from AOCI included in net periodic pension/postretirement benefit cost (credit)	$ (1,315)	$ (1,455)	$ (2,630)	$ (2,911)

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, Net of Tax) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017
OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME [Abstract]
Interest rate hedges	$ (8,824)	$ (11,438)	$ (12,653)
Pension and postretirement plans	(135,845)	(138,028)	(125,221)
Total	$ (144,669)	$ (149,466)	$ (137,874)

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (Changes in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, Net of Tax) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
AOCI, Beginning balance			$ (149,466)
Other comprehensive income before reclassifications			2,496
Amounts reclassified from AOCI			2,301
Other comprehensive income	$ 1,144	$ 755	4,797	$ 1,502
AOCI, Ending balance	(144,669)	$ (137,874)	(144,669)	$ (137,874)
Interest Rate Hedge Losses [Member]
AOCI, Beginning balance			(11,438)
Other comprehensive income before reclassifications			2,496
Amounts reclassified from AOCI			118
Other comprehensive income			2,614
AOCI, Ending balance	(8,824)		(8,824)
Pension and Postretirement Plan Actuarial Loss and Prior Service Cost [Member]
AOCI, Beginning balance			(138,028)
Other comprehensive income before reclassifications			0
Amounts reclassified from AOCI			2,183
Other comprehensive income			2,183
AOCI, Ending balance	$ (135,845)		$ (135,845)

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (Amounts Reclassified from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income to Earnings) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Reclassification Adjustment out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Interest expense	$ (33,244)	$ (38,455)	$ (71,018)	$ (72,531)
Other nonoperating income	3,339	3,890	8,421	7,934
Benefit from income taxes	40,046	45,652	35,143	42,477
Total	159,652	120,139	212,631	165,060
Reclassification From AOCI [Member]
Reclassification Adjustment out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Total	1,144	755	2,301	1,502
Interest Rate Hedge Losses [Member] \| Reclassification From AOCI [Member]
Reclassification Adjustment out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Interest expense	71	539	160	1,067
Benefit from income taxes	(19)	(211)	(42)	(420)
Total	52	328	118	647
Pension and Postretirement Plan Actuarial Loss and Prior Service Cost [Member] \| Reclassification From AOCI [Member]
Reclassification Adjustment out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Line Items]
Other nonoperating income	1,477	703	2,953	1,406
Benefit from income taxes	(385)	(276)	(770)	(551)
Total	$ 1,092	$ 427	$ 2,183	$ 855

EQUITY (Narrative) (Details)	6 Months Ended
EQUITY (Narrative) (Details)	Jun. 30, 2018 item $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2017 $ / shares shares	Jun. 30, 2017 $ / shares shares
EQUITY [Abstract]
Common stock, par value \| $ / shares	$ 1	$ 1	$ 1
Number of votes per common stock \| item	1
Preferred stock, shares authorized	5,000,000
Preferred stock issued	0
Number of shares held in treasury	0	0	0
Shares remaining under the current authorization repurchase program	8,846,570

EQUITY (Shares Purchased And Retired) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2017
EQUITY [Abstract]
Shares Purchased and Retired, Number	643	510	510
Shares Purchased and Retired, Total purchase price	$ 74,921	$ 60,303	$ 60,303
Shares Purchased and Retired, Average price per share	$ 116.49	$ 118.18	$ 118.18

EQUITY (Changes in Total Equity) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
EQUITY [Abstract]
Balance at beginning of year			$ 4,968,893	$ 4,572,476
Net earnings	$ 159,652	$ 120,139	212,631	165,060
Share-based compensation plans, net of shares withheld for taxes			(31,337)	(24,108)
Purchase and retirement of common stock			(74,921)	(60,303)
Share-based compensation expense			14,763	13,671
Cash dividends on common stock ($0.56/$0.50 per share)			(74,196)	(66,194)
Other comprehensive income	1,144	755	4,797	1,502
Balance at end of period	$ 5,020,630	$ 4,602,104	$ 5,020,630	$ 4,602,104
Cash dividend on common stock, per share	$ 0.28	$ 0.25	$ 0.56	$ 0.50

SEGMENT REPORTING (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
SEGMENT REPORTING (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) segment	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)
Number of operating segments \| segment			4
Number of reportable segments \| segment			4
Revenues	$ 1,200,151	$ 1,030,763	$ 2,054,625	$ 1,818,091
Aggregates [Member]
Revenues	879,318	747,821	1,527,053	1,348,737
Asphalt [Member]
Revenues	211,828	175,758	315,663	271,534
Concrete [Member]
Revenues	$ 106,723	$ 105,213	$ 207,685	$ 193,963

SEGMENT REPORTING (Segment Financial Disclosure) (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Thousands

3 Months Ended

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Jun. 30, 2017

Jun. 30, 2018

Jun. 30, 2017

Dec. 31, 2017

Dec. 31, 2016

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

$ 1,200,151

$ 1,030,763

$ 2,054,625

$ 1,818,091

Gross profit

323,184

290,017

482,519

448,238

Depreciation, depletion, accretion and amortization

85,633

76,775

167,072

148,339

Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash

61,115

1,129,799

61,115

1,129,799

$ 146,646

$ 268,019

Total assets

9,844,784

9,869,943

9,844,784

9,869,943

$ 9,504,891

Operating Segments [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

1,277,098

1,100,528

2,183,494

1,937,240

Total assets

^[1]

9,658,172

8,527,698

9,658,172

8,527,698

Intersegment Sales [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

(76,947)

(69,765)

(128,869)

(119,149)

Aggregates [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

879,318

747,821

1,527,053

1,348,737

Aggregates [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

^[2]

956,265

817,586

1,655,922

1,467,886

Gross profit

^[3]

283,476

251,419

431,697

390,210

Depreciation, depletion, accretion and amortization

69,738

60,832

135,691

118,488

Total assets

^[1]

8,751,186

7,931,603

8,751,186

7,931,603

Aggregates [Member] | Intersegment Sales [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

(76,947)

(69,765)

(128,869)

(119,149)

Asphalt [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

211,828

175,758

315,663

271,534

Asphalt [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

211,828

175,758

315,663

271,534

Gross profit

^[3]

25,750

28,760

25,996

37,242

Depreciation, depletion, accretion and amortization

7,298

6,615

14,300

12,347

Total assets

^[1]

625,985

358,801

625,985

358,801

Asphalt [Member] | Intersegment Sales [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

0

Concrete [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

106,723

105,213

207,685

193,963

Concrete [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

106,723

105,213

207,685

193,963

Gross profit

^[3]

13,191

9,253

23,511

19,478

Depreciation, depletion, accretion and amortization

3,049

3,672

6,463

6,695

Total assets

^[1]

276,743

233,355

276,743

233,355

Concrete [Member] | Intersegment Sales [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

0

Calcium [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

2,282

1,971

4,224

3,857

Calcium [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

2,282

1,971

4,224

3,857

Gross profit

767

585

1,315

1,308

Depreciation, depletion, accretion and amortization

70

192

139

387

Total assets

^[1]

4,258

3,939

4,258

3,939

Calcium [Member] | Intersegment Sales [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total revenues

0

Other Segments [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Depreciation, depletion, accretion and amortization

5,478

5,464

10,479

10,422

Corporate [Member]

Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]

Total assets

$ 125,497

$ 212,446

$ 125,497

$ 212,446

[1]	Certain temporarily idled assets are included within a segment's Identifiable Assets but the associated DDA&A is shown within Other in the DDA&A section above as the related DDA&A is excluded from segment gross profit.
[2]	Includes product sales, as well as freight & delivery costs that we pass along to our customers, and service revenues related to aggregates.
[3]	The 2017 amounts have been revised as a result of our adoption of ASU 2017-07 as described in Note 17

SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION [Abstract]
Interest (exclusive of amount capitalized)	$ 62,021	$ 67,849
Income taxes	(102,711)	117,204
Accrued liabilities for purchases of property, plant & equipment	21,257	17,924
Amounts referable to business acquisitions Liabilities assumed	4,040	1,935
Amounts referable to business acquisitions Consideration payable to seller	$ 4,500	$ 0

GOODWILL (Narrative) (Details)	6 Months Ended
GOODWILL (Narrative) (Details)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) segment	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill impairment charges	$ 0	$ 0
Number of Reportable Segments \| segment	4
Calcium [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Goodwill, accumulated impairment losses	$ 252,664,000

GOODWILL (Changes in Carrying Amount of Goodwill by Reportable Segment) (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Thousands

6 Months Ended

12 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Dec. 31, 2017

Goodwill [Line Items]

Goodwill, Beginning balance

$ 3,122,321

Goodwill of acquired businesses

41,633

^[1]

$ 27,497

Goodwill, Ending balance

3,163,954

3,122,321

Aggregates [Member]

Goodwill [Line Items]

Goodwill, Beginning balance

3,030,688

Goodwill of acquired businesses

^[1]

41,633

Goodwill, Ending balance

3,072,321

3,030,688

Asphalt [Member]

Goodwill [Line Items]

Goodwill, Beginning balance

91,633

Goodwill of acquired businesses

^[1]

0

Goodwill, Ending balance

91,633

Concrete [Member]

Goodwill [Line Items]

Goodwill, Beginning balance

0

Goodwill of acquired businesses

^[1]

0

Goodwill, Ending balance

0

Calcium [Member]

Goodwill [Line Items]

Goodwill, Beginning balance

0

Goodwill of acquired businesses

^[1]

0

Goodwill, Ending balance

$ 0

[1]	See Note 16 for a summary of acquisitions.

ACQUISITIONS AND DIVESTITURES (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($)

3 Months Ended

6 Months Ended

12 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Mar. 31, 2018

Dec. 31, 2017

Jun. 30, 2017

Jun. 30, 2018

Jun. 30, 2017

Dec. 31, 2017

Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]

Consideration transferred, net of assets divested

$ 842,013,000

Total consideration

$ 217,440,000

1,080,815,000

Cash consideration

218,996,000

$ 210,562,000

822,432,000

Consideration payable amount

9,681,000

Assets acquired

$ 9,900,000

9,900,000

Goodwill

41,633,000

^[1]

27,497,000

Deferred income taxes, net

$ 36,172,000

36,172,000

Proceeds from sale of property, plant & equipment

8,523,000

8,530,000

Gain on sale of property, plant & equipment and businesses

2,106,000

$ 2,773,000

6,270,000

3,142,000

Assets held for sale

0

$ 0

0

$ 0

0

Aggregates USA [Member]

Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]

Amount of assets divested

287,292,000

Gain on sale of property, plant & equipment and businesses

0

Acquisitions 2018 [Member]

Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]

Amortizable intangible assets recognized

$ 90,803,000

Intangible assets amortization period, tax purposes

15 years

Goodwill

$ 40,641,000

Intangible assets, deductible for income tax purposes

4,720,000

Goodwill, deductible for income tax purposes

$ 0

Acquisitions 2017 [Member]

Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]

Amortizable intangible assets recognized

309,112,000

Intangible assets amortization period, tax purposes

15 years

Goodwill

$ 992,000

Arizona [Member]

Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]

Gain on sale of property, plant & equipment and businesses

8,021,000

Assets divested, fair value

9,900,000

Assets held for sale

$ 1,879,000

1,879,000

Georgia [Member]

Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]

Gain on sale of property, plant & equipment and businesses

$ 2,929,000

Contractual Rights In Place [Member] | Acquisitions 2017 [Member]

Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]

Amortizable intangible assets recognized

309,012,000

Contractual Rights In Place - Straight-Line Method [Member] | Acquisitions 2018 [Member]

Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]

Amortizable intangible assets recognized

$ 89,723,000

Estimated weighted-average amortization period of intangible assets

20 years

Contractual Rights In Place - Straight-Line Method [Member] | Acquisitions 2017 [Member]

Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]

Amortizable intangible assets recognized

73,879,000

Estimated weighted-average amortization period of intangible assets

19 years 3 months 18 days

Contractual Rights In Place - Units Of Sales [Member] | Acquisitions 2018 [Member]

Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]

Amortizable intangible assets recognized

$ 1,080,000

Estimated weighted-average amortization period of intangible assets

20 years

Contractual Rights In Place - Units Of Sales [Member] | Acquisitions 2017 [Member]

Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]

Amortizable intangible assets recognized

235,133,000

Estimated weighted-average amortization period of intangible assets

54 years 8 months 12 days

Other Intangibles [Member] | Acquisitions 2017 [Member]

Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]

Amortizable intangible assets recognized

$ 100,000

[1]	See Note 16 for a summary of acquisitions.

ACQUISITIONS AND DIVESTITURES (Schedule Of Business Acquisitions) (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Thousands

6 Months Ended

12 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Dec. 31, 2017

Significant Acquisitions And Disposals [Line Items]

Cash

$ 212,940

$ 1,072,978

Payable to seller

4,500

7,837

Total fair value of purchase consideration

217,440

1,080,815

Accounts and notes receivable, net

14,218

14,955

Inventories

12,110

21,679

Other current assets

826

608

Investments

3,590

Property, plant & equipment

105,613

433,606

Contractual rights in place

90,803

295,482

Deferred income taxes, net

(36,172)

Liabilities assumed

(10,599)

(3,894)

Net identifiable assets acquired

176,799

766,026

Goodwill

41,633

^[1]

27,497

Net Assets Divested Immediately Upon Acquisition

$ 287,292

Acquisitions 2018 [Member]

Significant Acquisitions And Disposals [Line Items]

Goodwill

$ 40,641

[1]	See Note 16 for a summary of acquisitions.

NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
ASU 2017-07 [Member]
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]
All other components	$ 4,135	$ 2,021	$ 8,269	$ 4,041