ACQUISITIONS AND DIVESTITURES (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended					9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013 Aggregates	Jun. 30, 2013 Aggregates property	Mar. 31, 2013 Aggregates	Sep. 30, 2013 Concrete	Jun. 30, 2013 Concrete property	Sep. 30, 2014 Cement And Concrete [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Cement And Concrete [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Contractual Rights	Mar. 31, 2014 Previously mined and subsequently reclaimed tract of land [Member] Aggregates	Jan. 31, 2014 Unimproved land previously containing a sales yard [Member] Aggregates	Mar. 31, 2014 Unimproved land previously containing a sales yard [Member] Aggregates	Sep. 30, 2014 Aggregates production facilities [Member] CALIFORNIA property	Sep. 30, 2014 Aggregates production facilities [Member] Aggregates Arizona And New Mexico [Member] property	Sep. 30, 2014 Aggregates production facilities [Member] Aggregates DELAWARE property	Dec. 31, 2013 Land containing 136 million tons of aggregates reserves [Member] T	Mar. 31, 2013 Two aggregates production facilities [Member] property
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Number of facilities acquired											4							4	5	2		2
Payment for acquisition of businesses				$ 268,604,000	$ 89,951,000						$ 29,983,000											$ 59,968,000
Amortizable intangible assets recognized											5,425,000			41,576,000								3,620,000
Estimated weighted-average amortization period of intangible assets											50 years			20 years								20 years
Intangible assets amortization period, tax purposes											15 years			15 years								15 years
Cash proceeds from divestiture				719,089,000	51,604,000			34,743,000	5,133,000
Gain on sale of properties and businesses	1,002,000		9,350,000	238,527,000	36,869,000			21,183,000	2,802,000	9,027,000		227,910,000			168,000	5,790,000
Supply agreement period				20 years
Aggregates reserves acquired																					136,000,000
Purchases of property, plant & equipment				169,220,000	117,310,000																117,000,000
Property, plant & equipment	6,608,342,000		6,792,470,000	6,608,342,000	6,792,470,000	6,933,602,000
Proceeds from sale of property, plant & equipment				21,320,000	14,974,000					11,261,000					10,727,000		5,820,000
Gross proceeds from sale of future production							154,000,000
Transaction costs							905,000
Number of facilities divested								4
Capital gains with deferred income taxes	145,000,000			145,000,000
Common stock issued in connection with business acquisitions	698,108	16,896
Total consideration													721,359,000
Goodwill of dispositions								$ 4,521,000	$ 674,000