Northeast Promoters Fight for Parking Lots

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NRMCA’s Senior Director, National Resources, Doug O’Neill reports that promoters in the Northeast are making headway promoting concrete parking lots. "It’s no secret that the Northeast lags behind other areas of the country in taking advantage of the tremendous benefits associated with concrete parking lots. So it’s really exciting to be able to report that many promoters here are actively and successfully getting the word out," he said.

As an example of "rallying the troops," the team at the Massachusetts Concrete & Aggregate Producers Association (MaCAPA) have been out in force with members and associates actively asking the question, "What about the parking lot?" O'Neill continued. Since just about everything in the Northeast is specified and designed in asphalt, it has been a given that the parking lots will go asphalt, so the team at MaCAPA simply started asking the question, "What about the parking lot?" and "Can we get a shot at the parking lot?" These questions have generated five new projects that will be taking advantage of NRMCA’s Design Assistance Program (DAP) which offers an ACI 330 design along with a joint layout plan to the local specifiers. And as you might suspect, concrete is coming in competitive on first cost with asphalt, a fact that leaves many designers and general contractors (GC) flabbergasted since the assumption has always been that concrete was unaffordable. To learn more about DAP, click here.

In another example of beating the bushes, Lafarge Cement rep Charlie Howard has been relentless in chasing down several Walmart opportunities in Connecticut. One major roadblock he’s encountered is that even when a legitimate concrete bid is offered, many GC’s in the Northeast are so afraid of concrete that they will opt for asphalt regardless of initial costs. So not only do we have to convince the design team to offer a competitive design and the owner to consider concrete, but we also have to convince the GC’s that concrete can be placed, finished and cured reliably and efficiently, O'Neill said.

The promotion teams, which include NRMCA, state ready mix associations, producers, associates and contractors throughout the Northeast are gearing up to hit these GC’s hard over the next few months, hoping to build awareness and change attitudes, O'Neill said. Taking advantage of the resources available is a big part of that effort and NRMCA’s DAP is just one tool being used. NRMCA’s educational Webinars are another way promotion teams are arming themselves with valuable information.

To learn more about the Webinars currently offered at NRMCA, click here or contact Doug O’Neill at doneill@nrmca.org.