NRMCA is set to introduce a new one-day course, Improving Concrete Quality, intended for concrete producers, ingredient material suppliers, engineers, testing labs and contractors. The course will be offered on Wednesday, October 15, in Silver Spring, MD. Improving Concrete Quality, a new book authored by one of the instructors, and other NRMCA resources provide the basic content for the course.

All stakeholders in concrete construction benefit from improved concrete quality. This course will delve into quantifying tangible and intangible benefits due to improved quality. It will discuss variability associated with concrete ingredient materials, manufacturing and testing – means to measure and thereby improve concrete quality. Basic statistical concepts will be presented to measure and monitor quality and to recognize when action is needed. Other key topics include recognizing abnormal material variation, tracking and improving batching accuracy, including mixing water, internal testing, identifying non standard testing and initial curing, essential elements of a quality management system, internal audits and tests a concrete producer should do.

Course instructors are Kevin MacDonald, Ph.D., FACI, Beton Consulting Engineers LLC, NRMCA's Karthik Obla, Ph.D., P.E., and Colin Lobo, Ph.D., P.E. Producers will learn readily implementable steps to manage variability and attain a more consistent product; ingredient suppliers will learn how material variation affects concrete variation; engineers will learn the opportunity for improving quality through specifications and testing lab professionals will learn to measure and improve testing quality. Upon successful completion of the course, attendees will earn 8 professional development hours, a certificate of completion and credits toward NRMCA’s STEPS program.

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