UNAUDITED SUPPLEMENTARY DATA (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended													12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016		Sep. 30, 2016		Jun. 30, 2016		Mar. 31, 2016		Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Total revenues	$ 872,974		$ 1,008,140		$ 956,825		$ 754,728		$ 857,285	$ 1,038,460	$ 895,143	$ 631,293		$ 3,592,667	$ 3,422,181	$ 2,994,169
Gross profit	239,706		304,209		292,184		164,718		253,929	291,290	234,449	77,865		1,000,817	857,533	587,582
Operating earnings	173,799		227,076		213,786		64,921		173,037	212,206	153,776	10,759		679,582	549,778	538,138
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations	108,063	[1]	145,137	[1]	127,241	[1]	41,965	[1]	93,560	126,202	49,819	(36,667)		422,406	232,914	207,146
Net loss	$ 112,600	[1]	$ 142,024	[1]	$ 124,709	[1]	$ 40,158	[1]	$ 88,888	$ 123,805	$ 48,162	$ (39,678)		$ 419,491	$ 221,177	$ 204,923
Basic earnings (loss) per share from continuing operations	$ 0.82	[1]	$ 1.09	[1]	$ 0.95	[1]	$ 0.31	[1]	$ 0.70	$ 0.95	$ 0.37	$ (0.28)		$ 3.17	$ 1.75	$ 1.58
Diluted earnings (loss) per share from continuing operations	0.80	[1]	1.07	[1]	0.93	[1]	0.31	[1]	0.69	0.93	0.37	(0.28)		3.11	1.72	1.56
Basic net earnings (loss) per share	0.85	[1]	1.07	[1]	0.93	[1]	0.30	[1]	0.67	0.93	0.36	(0.30)		3.15	1.66	1.56
Diluted net earnings (loss) per share	$ 0.83	[1]	$ 1.05	[1]	$ 0.92	[1]	$ 0.30	[1]	$ 0.65	$ 0.91	$ 0.36	$ (0.30)		$ 3.09	$ 1.64	$ 1.54
Gain on sale of properties and businesses														$ 15,431	$ 9,927	$ 244,222
Cement And Concrete [Member]
Gain on sale of properties and businesses													$ 227,910

[1] 1Amounts are revised to reflect the early adoption of ASU 2016-09 (See Note 1, caption Accounting Standards Recently Adopted) in the fourth quarter of 2016 and presented as adopted as of the beginning of the year. Earnings from continuing operations and Net earnings were increased, as follows: March 31 - $21,234,000 ($0.16 per share); June 30 - $959,000 ($0.01 in diluted net earnings per share only); and September 30 - $2,259,000 ($0.02 per share basic and $0.01 per share diluted).