Financial Information Related to Operations by Segment (Detail) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($) kT	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($) kT	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($) kT
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 284,713	$ 359,371	$ 376,315	$ 366,121	$ 278,663	$ 302,395	$ 332,658	$ 297,504	$ 1,386,520	$ 1,211,220	$ 1,143,492
Less: Joint Venture Revenue									(105,884)	(105,916)	(107,458)
Operating Earnings									382,175	354,431	270,700
Corporate General and Administrative Expense									(41,205)	(33,940)	(37,193)
Legal Settlements									45,098
Other Non-Operating Income									3,728	2,139	2,328
Acquisition and Litigation Expense										5,480
Earnings Before Interest and Income Taxes									299,600	317,150	235,835
Interest Expense, Net									(27,638)	(22,631)	(16,583)
Earnings before Income Taxes	48,725	$ 51,388	$ 92,319	$ 79,530	54,181	$ 83,689	$ 89,373	$ 67,276	271,962	294,519	219,252
Capital Expenditures									131,957	56,938	89,563
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization									114,015	91,791	97,105
Identifiable Assets	2,368,003				2,247,124				2,368,003	2,247,124	1,883,635
Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									1,580,528	1,396,252	1,324,812
Intersegment Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									(88,124)	(79,116)	(73,862)
Other [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating Earnings									284
Capital Expenditures									461	697
Identifiable Assets	104,367				22,018				104,367	22,018	27,616
Cement [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									$ 651,750	$ 566,321	$ 528,499
Cement Sales Volume | kT									5,365	4,871	4,778
Operating Earnings									$ 179,151	$ 153,525	$ 137,854
Capital Expenditures									45,088	32,790	20,262
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization									50,891	36,727	33,400
Identifiable Assets	1,247,504				1,234,617				$ 1,247,504	$ 1,234,617	$ 819,994
Cement [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Wholly-Owned [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Cement Sales Volume | kT									4,453	3,934	3,903
Operating Earnings									$ 135,732	$ 111,139	$ 98,771
Cement [Member] | Operating Segments [Member] | Joint Venture [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Cement Sales Volume | kT									912	937	875
Operating Earnings									$ 43,419	$ 42,386	$ 39,083
Cement [Member] | Intersegment Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									(16,442)	(15,781)	(13,939)
Concrete and Aggregates [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									157,013	154,592	128,073
Operating Earnings									17,854	18,072	9,807
Capital Expenditures									4,977	6,528	18,783
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization									7,931	7,931	6,260
Identifiable Assets	104,851				110,413				104,851	110,413	106,634
Concrete and Aggregates [Member] | Intersegment Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									(1,335)	(1,262)	(922)
Gypsum Wallboard [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									491,779	473,651	461,457
Operating Earnings									158,551	159,866	159,352
Capital Expenditures									19,382	11,393	4,832
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization									18,179	18,728	19,988
Identifiable Assets	386,041				379,414				386,041	379,414	392,523
Paperboard [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									181,742	167,065	149,192
Operating Earnings									32,758	37,601	32,153
Capital Expenditures									5,177	3,996	5,542
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization									8,694	8,425	8,312
Identifiable Assets	123,819				124,356				123,819	124,356	127,371
Paperboard [Member] | Intersegment Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									(70,347)	(62,073)	(59,001)
Oil and Gas Proppants [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									85,496	34,623	57,591
Operating Earnings									(6,423)	(14,633)	(68,466)
Capital Expenditures									56,872	1,534	40,144
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization									25,687	18,255	27,227
Identifiable Assets	$ 401,421				$ 376,306				401,421	376,306	409,497
Other [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenue									12,748
Corporate and Other [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization									$ 2,633	$ 1,725	$ 1,918