SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Narrative) (Details) (USD $) Share data in Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 item T	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012 T	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013 item segment T	Dec. 31, 2012 T	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2014 Minimum Scenario, Forecast [Member]	Dec. 31, 2014 Maximum Scenario, Forecast [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Machinery and Equipment [Member] Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Machinery and Equipment [Member] Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Building [Member] Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Building [Member] Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Land Improvements [Member] Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Land Improvements [Member] Maximum
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Restructuring charges	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 1,509,000	$ 539,000	$ 3,056,000	$ 4,551,000	$ 1,411,000	$ 1,509,000	$ 9,557,000	$ 12,971,000
Legal, professional and other costs incurred in response to unsolicited tender offer					49,000	1,206,000	32,060,000	10,065,000	0	43,380,000	2,227,000
Legal, professional and other costs incurred in response to unsolicited tender offer, paid to date	43,107,000								43,107,000
Bad debt expense									602,000	2,505,000	1,644,000
Write-offs of accounts receivables									1,946,000	2,805,000	2,651,000
Financing receivables	7,720,000				8,609,000				7,720,000	8,609,000
Related party receivable amount due in 2014	1,550,000								1,550,000
Capitalized software costs	10,321,000				10,855,000				10,321,000	10,855,000
Capitalized software costs during the year									1,695,000	408,000	3,746,000
Depreciated capitalized software costs									2,230,000	2,463,000	2,520,000
Estimated service life														3 years	30 years	10 years	20 years	7 years	20 years
Number of Rabbi Trust estabished	2								2
Total gain (losses) of the Rabbi Trust investment									4,398,000	8,564,000	(3,292,000)
Gains (losses) related to investments still held by Rabbi Trust									4,234,000	9,012,000	(3,370,000)
Goodwill	3,081,521,000				3,086,716,000				3,081,521,000	3,086,716,000	3,086,716,000
Percentage of goodwill in total assets	37.00%				38.00%				37.00%	38.00%
Number of reporting units									17
Number of reporting units with goodwill									9
Number Of Operating Segments									4
Percentage of net property, plant & equipment in total assets	40.00%								40.00%
Percentage of other intangible assets, net in total assets	8.00%								8.00%
Loss on impairment of long-lived assets										2,034,000
Number of volumetric production payment transactions									2
Number of facilities									8
Owned quarries									7
Leased quarries									1
Proceeds frrom sale of future production									153,095,000	73,644,000
Estimated deferred revenue to be recognized in the next 12 months												4,500,000	5,500,000
Tons subject to volumetric production payment	250,800,000				143,200,000				250,800,000	143,200,000
Volumetric production payment estimated percentage sold	11.50%				10.50%				11.50%	10.50%
Volumetric production payment estimated tons to be delivered	29,000,000				15,000,000				29,000,000	15,000,000
Stripping costs	41,716,000				37,875,000				41,716,000	37,875,000	40,049,000
Pre-production stripping costs capitalized	24,026,000				18,887,000				24,026,000	18,887,000
Research and development costs									0	0	1,109,000
Excess tax benefits from share-based compensation									161,000	267,000	121,000
Carrying value of reclamation obligations	228,234,000				150,072,000				228,234,000	150,072,000	153,979,000
Spread between the amount accrued and the maximum environmental loss	$ 3,944,000								$ 3,944,000
Maximum self-insurance coverage per occurrence for losses related to workers' compensation									2,000,000
Maximum self-insurance coverage per occurrence for automotive and general/product liability									3,000,000
Accounting Standards Codification Topic Seven Hundred And Forty Income Taxes Recognition Threshold For Uncertain Tax Positions									50.00%
Antidilutive common stock equivalents										617	304