Add another use to the world's most versatile building material. Workers are planning to dump 18,000 tons of concrete into the Gulf of Mexico - for a good reason. Hurricanes and changing currents have destroyed the reef system in Gulf waters around Florida's Collier County, according to the Community Foundation of Collier County, so the county, along with the cities of Marco and Naples, came up with a plan: The concrete will be placed on the Gulf floor to form what workers say will be the biggest artificial reef in the Western Hemisphere, the Houston Chronicle reports.

The Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science in Miami will have an innovative aquarium when it opens in 2016, due in no small part to an "epic" concrete pour needed to create the tank. The engineering firm Skanska uploaded a time lapse of the pour, an exquisitely timed project that entailed 150 people, 131 concrete trucks, 25 hours of straight pouring, three days of fire drills to prepare for potential catastrophic failures and, ultimately, 1,200 cubic yards of concrete.

NRMCA Producer member Central Pre-Mix of Spokane, WA, was recently the subject of a feature story in a local newspaper. The company, now a part of Oldcastle Materials, was formed in the 1920s when William Murphy had an idea for a business while running a steam shovel on Snoqualmie Pass in the 1920s. He and partner M.J. Burke perched a mixer on the side of a rocky outcrop in Spokane so gravity would feed the machinery. Rail cars rolled above the mixer and dumped gravel, cement and sand. The first year, there were two tub trucks and three men. Only 915 yards of concrete were sold in 1933. But business picked up in 1935, and the company bought its first two mixer trucks. The rest, as they say, is history.

NRMCA has released a newly revised Pervious Concrete Pavement Maintenance and Operations Guide. The 8-page guide replaces the Pervious Concrete Pavement Maintenance Guidelines publication which was originally distributed in 2006. The new guide is a culmination of the collaborative efforts of the NRMCA’s Pervious Concrete Promotion Subcommittee.

"I want to thank all the members of the subcommittee who made valuable contributions to the guide," said Subcommittee Chairman Dave Frentress, of NRMCA Producer member CalPortland. "The members recognized the urgent need and made it a priority to produce this. Additionally, I appreciate Bruce Cody and the Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association for providing the base template for us to build on to produce this version."

"This is neither a promotional brochure nor a design guide," added NRMCA Senior Director, National Resources, Phil Kresge. "Rather, it is intended to provide direction for owners and property managers whose sites include pervious concrete as an integral part of their stormwater management." According to Kresge, the guide explains the role that proper maintenance plays with regard to pervious concrete’s effectiveness and its durability. It then identifies the owner’s responsibilities to provide that maintenance. "Every pervious concrete contractor should consider providing this guide to each of his or her customers," Kresge said.

The Pervious Concrete Pavement Maintenance and Operations Guide can be found at NRMCA’s www.PerviousPavement.org Web site by clicking on the Inspection and Maintenance tab. Individual pdf copies may be downloaded at no charge. Multiple printed copies are available at a minimal charge by contacting Jacques Jenkins at jjenkins@nrmca.org.

Tim Latham, manager at NRMCA Producer member Kingston Red-T-Mix and one of the New England region's most experienced pervious professionals, reports that the Castleton Banquet and Function Hall project in Windham, NH, (pictured below) that was submitted to NRMCA’s Design Assistance Program has not only chosen pervious concrete, but has also won the Northern New England Concrete Promotion Association’s (NNECPA) Pervious Award for 2014.


The award, presented by Executive Director Phil Nunley at the NNECPA’s December Awards banquet, went to the most deserving pervious concrete project completed in 2014. The Castleton project used approximately 700 yards of pervious concrete and was considered by the owner because of its significant stormwater issues, said NRMCA Senior Director, National Resources, Doug O'Neill.

"Having the DAP report from NRMCA helped give the owner another level of confidence that this project was not only designed properly, but that we had the expertise to construct it properly" Latham said.

In 2013, the Kentucky Ready-Mixed Concrete Association (KRMCA) was invited to bring in a speaker to the University of Kentucky’s pavement class which is a part of the university's Civil Engineering program. Because it was a success, the invitation was extended again for Fall 2014. NRMCA Vice President, National Resources, Amy Miller spoke at both the 2013 and 2014 classes on light-duty concrete pavements. The class was also broadcast to Western Kentucky University. During the same visit to Kentucky, Miller and KRMCA’s Greg Smith were able to meet with several engineering firms along with the UK Transportation Center.

"Teaching that concrete is a viable, economical solution to light-duty applications needs to start in college," Miller said. "Often students will graduate and work for firms with design habits that don’t often incorporate the best design techniques and the best solution for owners."

For more information, contact Amy Miller at amiller@nrmca.org.

The Manufacturers, Products & Services (MPS) Division of NRMCA has extended the deadline for applications for the 2015 Concrete Cares Award for producer member companies producing fewer than 250,000 cyds annually to Friday, January 16, 2015. In 2015, the MPS Division decided to recognize two Producer members with the Concrete Cares Award in order to recognize the full scope of ready mixed concrete producers’ community service. The Concrete Cares Awards will be presented during the Annual Award Breakfast at NRMCA’s 2015 Annual Convention in Orlando, March 1-3.

With ready mixed concrete plants in almost every community in America, NRMCA member companies are making a real difference. From Earth Day celebrations, to organized volunteering for Boys & Girls Clubs, local schools and recreation departments, to raising awareness for breast cancer screenings, ready mixed producers are at work every day in their communities. The Concrete Cares Award aims to recognize these efforts and shine a national spotlight on the positive impact ready mixed concrete companies have in hometowns across the nation. A donation in the name of the selected honorees will be made to the charity of their choice.

 

The Concrete Sustainability Hub at MIT recently released the research brief "Mapping of Excess Fuel Consumption" that illustrates a way to calculate what sections of a highway network have the highest level of fuel consumption.

NRMCA is presenting the one-day course, Improving Concrete Quality, intended for concrete producers, ingredient material suppliers, engineers, testing labs and contractors, on Wednesday, February 25, in Atlanta. Improving Concrete Quality, a new book authored by one of the instructors, and other NRMCA resources provide the basic content for the course. Improved concrete quality can benefit all stakeholders in a concrete construction project. This course will answer some of the following questions:

• How do you know if you have good quality? What should be your quality metric?
• How to become more profitable through better quality?
• What are all the key statistical calculations you need to know in concrete?
• How to control the mixing water content in concrete?
• How to deal with temperature and delivery time variations?
• What is the most effective way to ensure that your materials ingredients are of good quality? 
• How to improve batching accuracy, mixing uniformity?
• How to identify non standard testing and curing? How to improve testing quality?
• Tests a producer should do, internal audits and many more.

Course instructors are Kevin MacDonald, Ph.D., FACI, Beton Consulting Engineers LLC, and Karthik Obla, Ph.D., P.E. at NRMCA. 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.

Click here for more information, registration links and staff contact.

Registration for NRMCA's next Safety Course is now open. It will take place March 16-18 in West Palm Beach, FL. This 2.5 day course teaches participants about OSHA safety compliance, beginning with why safety is so important and detailing the reasons why an effective safety program actually saves money through loss prevention and control. Participants learn about electrical safety, machine guarding, fall protection, hazard communication, confined spaces, personal protective equipment, fire fighting and evacuation, maintenance shop safety, chute handling, fleet safety, pre-trip inspection and more.

The course will take place at the Embassy Suites West Palm Beach. NRMCA has contracted for a small block of sleeping rooms at the hotel. Attendees should make their own hotel reservations by contacting the hotel directly. Reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, and rooms may sell out before the block’s cut-off date.

In mid-September, OSHA published a final rule updating the injury and illness recordkeeping requirements to expand the list of severe injuries and illnesses that employers must report to OSHA. According to OSHA, "The final rule will allow OSHA to focus its efforts more effectively to prevent fatalities and severe work-related injuries and illnesses."

Beginning January 1, 2015, all employers (facilities) with 11 or more employees must report:

• All work-related fatalities within 8 hours; and

• Within 24 hours, all work-related inpatient hospitalizations, all amputations and all losses of an eye.

You can report to OSHA by:

• Calling OSHA’s free and confidential number: 1-800-321-6742

• Calling your closest OSHA area office during normal business hours

• Using the new online form that will soon be available, found here.

• Only fatalities occurring within 30 days of the work-related incident must be reported to OSHA. For an inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye, these incidents must be reported to OSHA only if they occur within 24 hours of the work-related incident.
• Establishments located in states under Federal OSHA jurisdiction must begin to comply with the new requirements on January 1, 2015. Establishments located in states that operate their own safety and health programs should check with their state plan for the implementation date of the new requirements.

Last month’s NRMCA Environmental Course in Phoenix was a success, according to participants who were educated on industry-specific environmental issues that affect ready mixed concrete production. For this class, 20 attendees passed the NRMCA Environmental Certification Exam, with the "Smartest-Girl-In-The-Room" honor going to Fawn Kibria, GCC Mid-Continent Concrete CO., Inc., Tulsa, OK, with a score of 100%.

Course instructors included NRMCA professionals along with industry expert Doug Ruhlin of Resource Management Associates, Forked River, NJ. Finally, a huge thanks also goes to CEMEX for providing an active ready mixed concrete plant for the course’s final day field exercise where course attendees conducted a mock environmental audit based on compliance issues covered in the course.

Click here for information on NRMCA’s next Environmental Course to be held in December in Orlando, FL, or contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.

Last month, NRMCA held the first of three fiscal year 2015 Plant Manager Courses. The course was held in Phoenix; attendees were educated on product knowledge, plant safety, environmental regulations, plant operations and ready mixed concrete industry business principles. December’s course saw 28 attendees pass the NRMCA Plant Manager Certification Exam, with the "Smartest-Boy-In-The-Room" honor going to Mike Rivecca, Sonag Ready Mix, Menomonee, WI, with a score of 98.3%.

NRMCA will offer a 1/3 discount through January 31, 2015 for each title in its Online Safety Series library. These 20-minute lessons are shot at ready mixed concrete plants and onsite pours with actual producers’ employees. Viewers watch their peers perform safety tasks properly so theoretical concepts become immediately applicable. Additionally, all lessons are streamed 24 hours a day, seven days a week and may be viewed an unlimited number of times within the purchased time frame. Finally, every lesson includes a self-paced quiz, NRMCA proof of training certificates and supervisors’ logs to satisfy insurance carriers and OSHA recordkeeping requirements. Use January’s downtime wisely and save substantially at the same time!

On Wednesday, January 14, from noon to 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, NRMCA will host a free Webinar titled, STEPS™  A Long Term Career Tool for the RMC Industry. Learn how STEPS®  encourages your employees to use industry-specific professional development opportunities. Through a broad range of technical, operations, sales and sustainability classes through NRMCA, state associations and through their respective companies, the program not only builds industry-wide standards for consistent performance but also illustrates to employees that they have a device to plan long-term ready mixed concrete careers.

Because STEPS® (Seminars, Training, & Education, Programs) continues to play an important recruitment and retention role in the ready mixed concrete industry,  this short, FREE Webinar will discuss what the program is and how to enroll.

January 14, Free Webinar

STEPS - A Long Term Career Tool for the RMC Industry

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

January 15, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Elected Official Advocacy

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

January 16, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Promotion & Advocacy Overview

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

January 20-23, Des Moines, IA Sold Out

Plant Manager Certification Course

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

January 22, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Team Building & Situation Analysis

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

January 29, Free Webinar

Roller-Compacted Concrete for Streets & Roads

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

February 9-13, Seattle

Regional Concrete Technologist Training and Certification Course "Short Course"

Email: Karen Bean, 240-485-1168

 

February 10-13, Centennial, CO (metropolitan Denver)

CCSP Module I: Introduction to Concrete Fundamentals (Concrete 101)

Email: Stacy Ehrlick, (303) 290-0303

 

February 17-19, Silver Spring, MD

Dispatcher Training Forum

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

February 24-26, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module III: Business Skills Basics for Profit - General Business Knowledge

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

February 25, Atlanta

Improving Concrete Quality

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

March 1-3, Orlando, FL

NRMCA Annual Convention

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

March 16-18, West Palm Beach, FL

Safety Course

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

March 18, Free Webinar

STEPS - A Long Term Career Tool for the RMC Industry

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

March 24-27, Salt Lake City

Plant Manager Certification Course

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

March 31-April 2, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module IV: Professional Sales Skills Workshop - 24 hours

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

May 11-13, Miami

International Concrete Sustainability Conference

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

May, Location TBA

Concrete Durability Course

Email: Karen Bean, 240-485-1168

 

December 1-3, Orlando, FL

Environmental Course

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152