The technologies behind the concrete pavements used on our nation’s roads and highways have been around for a while, but new developments in equipment and admixtures have opened up the market for some of them, making them the latest trends in concrete paving. These trends include concrete overlays, roller compacted concrete and full-depth reclamation.

Mixer trucks one after another last month brought loads of concrete to the site of the Sacramento (CA) Kings' new downtown arena. The entire phase could run through early March. The first pour put down Friday night involved 220 concrete trucks. The entire phase -- all eight concrete pours -- will total 14,000 cubic yards of concrete.

Tobogganers in Kelowna, British Columbia, last month used the world's most versatile building material for some pretty sweet sleds. The School of Engineering at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus hosted the 2015 Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race (GNCTR) from January 21 to 25. This national engineering competition brought 430 students on 17 university teams to Kelowna, as well as some of the most innovative concrete toboggans in Canada.

The team at the Michigan Concrete Association (MCA) reports that the CMAC Transportation Warehousing Center in Brownstown, MI, recently paved its new facility with concrete. MCA Directors of Engineering Heather Smith and Kerry Sutton helped to convert this project from asphalt to concrete, as was NRMCA’s Design Assistance Program (DAP). "Although the design team ended up not taking all of our recommendations, thanks to Heather and Kerry’s efforts the project still went concrete," noted NRMCA Senior Director, National Resources, Doug O’Neill.

CMAC Transportation is a logistics company headquartered in Brownstown that provides domestic and international warehousing, consolidation, transportation and logistics services for a wide range of automotive and general commodity industries. NRMCA Producer member Superior Materials provided the concrete for this project, which when finally finished should be close to 10,000 cubic yards.

For more information on how you can take advantage of DAP to help convert a project near you, contact Doug O’Neill at doneill@nrmca.org.

Earlier this week, the Nevada transportation officials awarded the Boulder City Bypass Phase 1 for the contract with concrete pavement option. The total bid package is almost $83 million with an expected completion date of early 2018. "This is a huge confirmation of the policy strategies we employed in 2013," said California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA) Executive Director Tom Tietz, who cited a number of officials who "made a huge difference in the course of this project," including:

• A well-coordinated message to the legislature with help of a policy consultant and lobbyist;

Tietz said he will be presenting to the Nevada Senate and Assembly Transportation Committees again on Thursday, February 12, to express his thanks along with encouraging legislators to keep pressing for these policies at the state level and in their districts.

The early bird registration deadline for the 2015 NRMCA Annual Convention is tomorrow, Thursday, February 12. Register before Thursday to save $100 on your registration fee. Additionally, the hotel reservation deadline for the convention is also Thursday, February 12. To make your hotel reservations, please contact the Orlando World Center Marriott at 888-789-3090 and state that you are with the "NRMCA 2015 Annual Convention " to receive the discounted room rate of $225/per night plus applicable taxes (with optional resort fee).

NRMCA makes every attempt to secure a room block that will accommodate all of our registrants, but availability cannot be guaranteed. We strongly recommend that you make your reservations as soon as possible, since reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and rooms may sell out before the block’s cut-off date.

ERMCO, the European Ready-Mixed Concrete Organisation, will hold its 17th Congress and Symposium on June 4, 5 in Istanbul, Turkey. More than 80 technical papers have been submitted from all over the world on the themes of sustainability; contribution of concrete to society; advances in concrete production and use; and marketing and management, topics which should be of general interest to professionals in all sectors of the concrete industry.
 

The Turkish Ready-Mixed Concrete Organisation (TRMCO) is hosting the event which will  include an exhibition of materials, products, and equipment for the production and testing of concrete. TRMCO invites interested people to attend. Istanbul has a great history and has been an Imperial capital for 8,000 years; today it is increasingly recognized as a wonderful center for cultural and scientific events 

Click here for more information from the Congress Web site.

Housing starts will be on the increase in 2015, according to the Portland Cement Association (PCA). During the 2015 International Builders' Show, PCA Chief Economist and Group Vice President Edward J. Sullivan announced that housing starts will increase 20 percent to 1.2 million units in 2015. This is up from roughly 950,000 units in 2014 and strong gains are also expected for 2016. Multifamily units in particular should see a significant increase in starts compared to previous years with a 12 percent jump from 2014 levels. Nearly 400,000 multifamily starts are expected in 2015 in addition to 800,000 new units in the single-family market. The trend in multifamily construction is expected to persist throughout the forecast horizon as high student debt keeps the Millenniums out of the new home market and Baby Boomers leaving the market.

"The forecast is based on sustained strength in the labor markets with more than 3 million net new jobs created in both 2015 and 2016," Sullivan said. "In addition, wage gains in the context of sub-6 percent unemployment are expected to reinforce labor market fundamentals."

Source: February 2 edition of Portland Cement Association's Executive Report e-newsletter.

NRMCA is offering its information packed one-day course, Handling Concrete Specifications, Low Strength Problems and Mixture Submittals, intended for concrete producers, contractors, engineers and testing labs. on Tuesday, April 28, in Orlando, FL. This one-day course will get into code and specification requirements (ACI 318, 301, ASTM C94) governing ready mixed concrete. This course will address many topics, including answering the following questions:

• What are the durability exposure classes in ACI 318?
• What are the changes in the new ACI 318-14 that are related to ready mixed concrete?
• What are some specification revisions that can provide all around benefits in performance and cost?
• What are the causes for low strength problems and who is responsible?
• What should be on a concrete test report?
• Non-destructive testing, coring – when and how?
• How to do a proper mixture submittal?

Course instructors are Luke Snell, P.E., FACI, FASCE, Western Technologies and Karthik Obla, Ph.D., P.E., vice president, technical services, at NRMCA. Producers, contractors, engineers and testing labs will find the discussions on investigating low strength problems and specifications very helpful to address issues that impact partnering, project cost and schedule. 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.

The next NRMCA Concrete Durability Course is scheduled for June 2-4 at the Aloft Nashville West End in Nashville, TN. The Tennessee Concrete Association is a co-sponsor. The course is taught by Michael Thomas of the University of New Brunswick, Kevin Folliard, University of Texas at Austin and NRMCA Engineering Department Staff. The course provides a fundamental understanding of the nature of cement and concrete as they relate to durability of concrete. Topics will cover cracking, alkali aggregate reactions, sulfate attack, corrosion of reinforcing steel, freeze-thaw durability and other aspects. A group exercise will be facilitated to walk attendees through NRMCA ConcreteWorks' software that can be used to develop concrete mixtures for durability and to evaluate the potential for temperature-related cracking.

The course also discusses the durability provisions in the Building Code - ACI 318-14 and how specifications can be structured to address durability. Comprehensive reference material is provided as course notes; an excellent resource to concrete producers and associated technical personnel. The course concludes with a comprehensive exam on the subject matter covered. Those with NRMCA Level 3 Certification can obtain the NRMCA Concrete Technologist Level 4 Certification when passing this exam. However, it is not essential to have attended the NRMCA Technical Short Course to attend the Durability Course. The course provides required learning units toward the technical track of the NRMCA STEPS certification program. Please register early if you wish to attend.

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

The NRMCA Operations, Environment and Safety (OES) Department conducted a targeted survey of NRMCA members in late 2014 to gauge regulatory enforcement activity in the industry. NRMCA will use this information to better tailor its actions to address and/or combat such issues, and to keep a finger on the pulse of when, where, how and why regulatory agencies are targeting and/or levying enforcement actions against the industry. This year’s survey shows some interesting trends among the amount of new regulations versus their direct and indirect impact on the industry through enforcement and compliance.

Registration continues for next month’s NRMCA Safety Course to be held 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.

On Wednesday, February 25, at 2 p.m. Eastern time, NRMCA will offer a free Webinar on how to conduct your own, local mixer driver championship. Hear how to  plan for an oversight committee, budget, trucks, insurance, challenge course layout and set up, point system, judges' responsibilities, written exam, types of questions, reference material, visual inspection, truck defects, security and fairness, awards and much more.

Media articles on Congress, transportation infrastructure, regulation, taxes and other subjects, each of which relate to the ready mixed concrete industry, are updated each week by NRMCA's Government Affairs staff. To access the most recent compilation of articles for February 2 - 6, 2015, please click here.

Earlier this month, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a rare, joint hearing on EPA’s rulemaking concerning its jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. The hearing was focused on the impacts of the rule to state and local governments that represented the second panel of witnesses. Witnesses, US Army Corps of Engineers Secretary Jo-Ellen Darcy and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy both insisted that ditches, small ponds and irrigated farmlands would not be subject to federal regulation unless their flow into navigable waters is "significant," but failed to define that term. The proposed rule allows agency discretion to determine if there is a significant effect by looking at the aggregate effect of similar features over a large area. McCarthy and Darcy appealed to science (hydrology) and the need for the federal government to have clearer and more efficient definitions, but senators and representatives from both sides expressed skepticism that the rule would ultimately do that. Administrator McCarthy stuck to the current deadline of Spring 2015 for issuance, dismissed allowing the public to review and comment on the proposed changes before they go into effect and did not elaborate on what changes were being made.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt testified that "the EPA has been generally dismissive of these concerns brought by states, local governments and individual citizens, with their primary tactic being an ineffective public relations campaign to sway opinions in rural America. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has been documented as dismissing many concerns wholesale — calling them ‘ludicrous’ and ‘silly’ — while also asserting that the proposed rule is all about "protecting waters" and providing clarification." Other state and local government witnesses also expressed concerns about their lack of involvement in the development of the rule and their concerns over the complexity of implementation."

On Thursday, February 5, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing titled Who’s the Boss? The "Joint Employer" Standard and Business Ownership. The hearing focused on recent decisions from NLRB General Counsel Robert Griffin’s assertions in July that the joint employer standard should be changed to a much broader definition and his decision to hold McDonald's Corporation as a joint employer with dozens of franchise owners across the country for labor law violations. Watch the hearing here.

While the current NLRB actions and the hearing were focused on how this would change the relationship between franchisers and franchisees, the implications for other industries, such as construction, are huge. If the NLRB uses a new joint employer standard in its decision in the Browning-Ferris case it is expected to decide shortly, this could have a dramatic impact on what it means to be an employer and an employee. Browning-Ferris involves a subcontractor/contractor relationship at a recycling facility. A new joint employer standard could mean that many contracting companies could find themselves designated as joint employers of their sub-contractors' employees. Watch the hearing .

Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has vowed to exercise oversight of the NLRB. He, along with House Chairman John Kline, have announced their intent to use the Congressional Review Act to try and stop the NLRB’s new Ambush Election rule. NRMCA is a member of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and the US Chamber of Commerce which have each recently filed suit against this rule.

It’s that  time of year to show your support for one of NRMCA’s most important programs – CONCRETEPAC. Registration is now open for corporate sponsorship of CONCRETEPAC events being held during the 2015 NRMCA Annual Convention at the Marriott World Center Resort, Orlando, FL, from March 1-3. These are CONCRETEPAC's  largest events of the year; we hope you will consider supporting the concrete industry’s premier Political Action Committee through corporate sponsorship. This year’s events include a golf tournament and the CONCRETEPAC "Back the PAC" Appreciation Reception & Dinner with live and silent auctions, followed by the most coveted event of the year, a door prize drawing for a 2015 Ford Mustang V6 Convertible or $30,000.

As you know, supporting CONCRETEPAC is an excellent way for your company to advertise in front of the industry’s top executives. More than 400 of the ready mixed concrete and cement industry’s top executives will attend. In addition, registering as a corporate sponsor of CONCRETEPAC helps NRMCA to underwrite the costs associated with hosting fundraisers. Remember, corporate funds may be used to sponsor CONCRETEPAC events.

Click here to become a corporate sponsor. Thank you for your consideration of these important CONCRETEPAC sponsorship offerings -- your continued support is essential in helping to further the ready mixed concrete industry's legislative agenda. CONCRETEPAC thanks those who have already registered to sponsor our events:

• Landmark Level - CEMEX, Concrete Supply Co., Grace Construction Products and U.S. Concrete. Inc.
• Red Level - Irving Materials, Inc., Lehigh Hanson, Oldcastle Materials, Inc. and Sioux Corporation
• White Level - CalPortland, Essroc Ready-Mix Corporation, GCC Mid-Continent Concrete Company and Titan America
• Blue Level - Greenhill Concrete, Inc.
  
  For more information, contact NRMCA’s Kerri Leininger at 1-888-846-7622, ext. 1159 or kleininger@nrmca.org or Heather Houck at 1-888-846-7622, ext. 1153 or hhouck@nrmca.org.

On Wednesday, March 18, 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. Because STEPS® (Seminars, Training, & Education, Programs) continues to play an important role in the ready mixed concrete industry as its premier certification program, this short, FREE Webinar will discuss what the program is and how to enroll. Learn how STEPS® encourages industry employees to participate in a broad range of technical, operations, sales and sustainability classes through NRMCA, state associations and through their respective companies. The program also builds industry-wide standards for consistent performance that not only enhances business outcomes but also illustrates to employees that they have a device to plan long-term ready mixed concrete careers.

Educational Activities Committee (EAC) Chairwoman Vicki Tyminski extends a warm invitation to all attendees at NRMCA's 2015 Annual Convention to join the Spring EAC Meeting, Sunday, March 1, from 4 - 6 p.m. at the Orlando World Center Marriott, Orlando. As the industry recovers, more producers are evaluating what industry-based training would best serve their staff and companies. Hear about new mixer driver training materials, industry career planning support.

Please join us for a frank discussion about what your company could use to keep employees performing at a national standard. That includes foreseeable publications, classes, Webinars and out-of-box ideas: creative input is most welcome.

The NRMCA February Internet Spotlight, good through Tuesday, March 10, is the ASTM Standards for Concrete Technician Certification Guide. This publication includes 12 ASTM practices and test methods related to testing fresh and  hardened concrete, including those  required for ACI grade 1 field-testing and strength testing technician certification.

Only NRMCA members can purchase this guide. Order online today and receive 15% off the already low NRMCA member price and ASTM prices. Regular member price is $42, Internet Special $38.70, plus shipping. Use Discount Code: ISFEB15.

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 9, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Team Building & Situation Analysis

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

March 9-11, Nashville, TN (Presented by Tennessee Concrete Association)

CCSP Module III: General Business Knowledge

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

 

March 10, Webinar

Roller Compacted Concrete: Another Choice for Pavement

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

 

March 11, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Promotion for DOTs, Counties & Municipalities

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

March 13, Free Webinar

Winning Initial Streets & Roads Projects in Counties & Municipalities

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

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 23, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Elected-Official Advocacy

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

March 24-27, Salt Lake City *Sold Out

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

 

April 6, Free Webinar

Roller-Compacted Concrete for Streets & Roads

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

April 6-8, Nashville, TN (Presented by Tennessee Concrete Association)

CCSP Module IV: Professional Sales Skills

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

 

April 7, Webinar

Introduction to Concrete Pavement Analyst Program

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

 

April 7, Webinar (Part I) (Part II is April 14)

Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete

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

 

April 21, Webinar

Roller Compacted Concrete: Another Choice for Pavement

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

 

April, 28, Orlando, FL

Handling Concrete Specifications

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

 

May 11-13, Miami

International Concrete Sustainability Conference

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

June 2-3, Nashville, TN

Concrete Durability Course

Email: Karen Bean, 240-485-1168

 

July 13, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Team Building & Situation Analysis

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

July 20, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Promotion for DOTs, Counties & Municipalities

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

 

November 2-6, Silver Spring, MD

Annual Concrete Technologist Training and Certification Course "Short Course"

Email: Karen Bean, 240-485-1168

 

December 1-3, Orlando, FL

Environmental Course

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