ACQUISITIONS AND DIVESTITURES (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013 Aggregates	Jun. 30, 2013 Aggregates property	Mar. 31, 2013 Aggregates	Mar. 31, 2013 Aggregates Previous Appraisal Value [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Concrete	Jun. 30, 2013 Concrete property	Mar. 31, 2013 Concrete property	Mar. 31, 2014 Cement And Concrete [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Previously mined and subsequently reclaimed tract of land [Member] Aggregates	Mar. 31, 2014 Unimproved land previously containing a sales yard [Member] Aggregates	Dec. 31, 2013 Land containing 236 million tons of aggregates reserves [Member] T	Mar. 31, 2013 Two aggregates production facilities [Member] property	Dec. 31, 2013 Mitigation credits [Member]
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Cash proceeds from divestiture	$ 720,056,000	$ 18,164,000			$ 34,743,000	$ 5,133,000
Gain on sale of properties and businesses	236,364,000	4,110,000			21,183,000	2,802,000		9,027,000		457,000	230,061,000	168,000	5,790,000			1,377,000
Supply agreement period	20 years
Aggregates reserves acquired														136,000,000
Purchases of property, plant & equipment	46,006,000	26,851,000												117,000,000
Payment for acquisition of businesses	0	60,212,000							29,983,000						59,968,000
Number of facilities acquired									4						2
Amortizable intangible assets recognized						3,620,000	800,000
Property, plant & equipment	6,340,034,000	6,675,569,000	6,933,602,000			52,583,000	45,888,000
Proceeds from sale of property, plant & equipment	17,785,000	1,623,000						11,261,000		622,000		10,727,000	5,820,000			1,463,000
Gross proceeds from sale of future production				154,000,000
Transaction costs				905,000
Number of facilities divested					4					2
Goodwill recognized in business acquisition						0	9,759,000
Goodwill of dispositions					$ 4,521,000	$ 674,000