CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME - USD ($) shares in Millions, $ in Millions		12 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME [Abstract]
Total revenues	[1]	$ 5,552.2	$ 4,856.8	$ 4,929.1
Cost of revenues		4,178.8	3,575.3	3,673.2
Gross profit		1,373.4	1,281.5	1,255.9
Selling, administrative and general expenses		417.6	359.8	370.5
Gain on sale of property, plant & equipment and businesses		120.1	4.0	23.8
Other operating expense, net		(65.1)	(30.0)	(31.7)
Operating earnings		1,010.8	895.7	877.5
Other nonoperating income (expense), net		10.7	(17.5)	9.2
Interest income		1.6	1.6	1.2
Interest expense		149.3	136.0	130.2
Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes		873.8	743.8	757.7
Current		133.5	93.9	58.9
Deferred		66.6	61.9	76.3
Total income tax expense		200.1	155.8	135.2
Earnings from continuing operations		673.7	588.0	622.5
Loss on discontinued operations, net of tax		(3.3)	(3.5)	(4.8)
Net earnings		670.4	584.5	617.7
Loss attributable to noncontrolling interest		0.4	(0.0)	(0.0)
Net earnings attributable to Vulcan		670.8	584.5	617.7
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax
Deferred loss on interest rate derivative		0.0	(14.7)	0.0
Amortization of prior interest rate derivative loss		1.5	1.7	0.2
Adjustment for funded status of benefit plans		13.4	6.4	(26.9)
Amortization of actuarial loss and prior service cost for benefit plans		13.7	23.0	1.2
Other comprehensive income (loss)		28.6	16.4	(25.5)
Comprehensive income		699.0	600.9	592.2
Comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interest		0.4	(0.0)	(0.0)
Comprehensive income attributable to Vulcan		$ 699.4	$ 600.9	$ 592.2
Basic earnings (loss) per share attributable to Vulcan
Continuing operations		$ 5.08	$ 4.44	$ 4.71
Discontinued operations		(0.03)	(0.03)	(0.04)
Net earnings		5.05	4.41	4.67
Diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable to Vulcan
Continuing operations		5.05	4.41	4.67
Discontinued operations		(0.03)	(0.02)	(0.04)
Net earnings		$ 5.02	$ 4.39	$ 4.63
Weighted-average common shares outstanding
Basic		132.8	132.6	132.3
Assuming dilution		133.5	133.2	133.4

[1] ¹ The geographic markets are defined by states 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, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Quintana Roo (Mexico), South Carolina and Texas West market — Arizona, California and New Mexico U.S. Concrete — British Columbia (Canada), California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington D.C.