Western New York Producer Promotes RCC to Municipalities

Wayne Stephen, president of NRMCA Producer member The Wayne Companies, recently invited NRMCA Senior Director, National Resources, Doug O’Neill to help convince officials in a Southwestern New York State town to use roller compacted concrete (RCC) for a section of street that was closed because of deteriorated asphalt.

"This winter has been tough on many towns in the Northeast that have experienced significant deterioration of local streets and need long-term fixes that can meet their ever-tightening budgets," O’Neill explained. "Over the years, Wayne and his team have developed relationships with many town highway superintendents and continue to advocate for giving the concrete industry an opportunity, but it always comes down to initial cost. Now that they’ve had proven success with RCC, they can offer towns a third pavement option that most often can be placed at less cost than conventional asphalt."

"Change is hard to adopt for many communities, so having the presence of NRMCA and its Design Assistance Program, not to mention having Doug attend this town hall meeting to explain the concrete industry’s commitment to proper design and construction means a great deal," Stephen added. O'Neill noted that Stephen also often relies heavily on Greg Novitzki with the New York Concrete Promotion Council who has attended other similar meetings in the past.

This potential project could have considerable implications; several other streets in the town are scheduled to be repaired or replaced. Stephen plans to invite several of the surrounding town’s highway superintendents to visit during placement to help educate them as well. After the meeting, Stephen was approached by a local citizen who said, "I’ve got several parking lots, let’s get together and discuss this". It turns out this individual owns the majority of the lots in and around this town. This shows just another reason why ready mixed concrete producers should always be engaged with their local communities, O'Neill said.

For more information, contact Doug O’Neill at doneill@nrmca.org.