CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Dec. 27, 2014	Dec. 28, 2013	Dec. 29, 2012
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS
Product sales	$ 2,824,456us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet	$ 2,976,359us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet	$ 2,721,512us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
Services sales	298,687us-gaap_SalesRevenueServicesNet	327,852us-gaap_SalesRevenueServicesNet	308,029us-gaap_SalesRevenueServicesNet
Net sales	3,123,143us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	3,304,211us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	3,029,541us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
Product cost of sales	2,118,687us-gaap_CostOfGoodsSold	2,144,942us-gaap_CostOfGoodsSold	2,032,030us-gaap_CostOfGoodsSold
Services cost of sales	196,339us-gaap_CostOfServices	214,041us-gaap_CostOfServices	195,055us-gaap_CostOfServices
Total cost of sales	2,315,026us-gaap_CostOfRevenue	2,358,983us-gaap_CostOfRevenue	2,227,085us-gaap_CostOfRevenue
Gross profit	808,117us-gaap_GrossProfit	945,228us-gaap_GrossProfit	802,456us-gaap_GrossProfit
Selling, general and administrative expenses	450,401	472,159	420,160
Operating income	357,716us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	473,069us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	382,296us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Other income (expenses):
Interest expense	(36,790)us-gaap_InterestExpense	(32,502)us-gaap_InterestExpense	(31,625)us-gaap_InterestExpense
Interest income	6,046us-gaap_InvestmentIncomeInterest	6,477us-gaap_InvestmentIncomeInterest	8,272us-gaap_InvestmentIncomeInterest
Costs associated with refinancing of debt	(38,705)
Other	(4,084)us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingIncomeExpense	2,373us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingIncomeExpense	347us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingIncomeExpense
Total other income (expenses)	(73,533)us-gaap_NonoperatingIncomeExpense	(23,652)us-gaap_NonoperatingIncomeExpense	(23,006)us-gaap_NonoperatingIncomeExpense
Earnings before income taxes and equity in earnings of nonconsolidated subsidiaries	284,183	449,417	359,290
Income tax expense (benefit):
Current	89,643us-gaap_CurrentIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	167,922us-gaap_CurrentIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	122,782us-gaap_CurrentIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Deferred	5,251us-gaap_DeferredIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	(10,141)us-gaap_DeferredIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	3,720us-gaap_DeferredIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Total income tax expense (benefit)	94,894us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	157,781us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	126,502us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Earnings before equity in earnings of nonconsolidated subsidiaries	189,289	291,636	232,788
Equity in earnings of nonconsolidated subsidiaries	29	835	6,128
Loss from deconsolidation of subsidiary		(12,011)
Net earnings	189,318us-gaap_ProfitLoss	280,460us-gaap_ProfitLoss	238,916us-gaap_ProfitLoss
Less: Earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(5,342)	(1,971)	(4,844)
Net earnings attributable to Valmont Industries, Inc.	$ 183,976	$ 278,489	$ 234,072
Earnings per share:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 7.15us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic	$ 10.45us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic	$ 8.84us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 7.09us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted	$ 10.35us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted	$ 8.75us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted
Cash dividends declared per share (in dollars per share)	$ 1.375	$ 0.975	$ 0.855

Aggregate dividends declared during the period for each share of common stock outstanding.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 04

-Article 3

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 505

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770