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Pavement
NRMCA Vice President, Local Paving, Don A. Clem recently trained the Denver Regional Transportation District’s (RTD) Capital Programs engineering staff on concrete overlays over asphalt parking lots as well as an outline of the NRMCA Design Assistance Program. The lunchtime program was attended by the RTD chief engineer as well as 12 staff engineers. RTD provides public transportation to eight counties in the Denver metro region, serving 2.92 million people with an annual budget of $478 million. NRMCA will be assisting RTD with the development of several concrete pavement projects this year.
For more information, contact Don Clem at dclem@nrmca.org.
NRMCA Senior Director of Local Paving, Ken Justice recently had a breakfast meeting in Springfield, MO, with Concrete Promotion Council of the Ozarks Executive Director Amy Allen and 20 council members.
The Transportation Research Board (TRB) will conduct a Webinar on Thursday, March 9, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Eastern time on permeable concrete pavements, specifically information in Technical Brief FHWA-HIF-16-004*. Presenters will discuss two types of permeable concrete pavements and their use in structural and hydrological design.
On a recent trip to Southern Missouri, NRMCA Senior Vice President, Local Paving, Jon Hansen went to check on the performance of a 2013 project that incorporated an overlay of the existing asphalt along with a new parking lot section
Two Concrete Parking Lots Design and Construction Workshops were delivered in late February in conjunction with NRMCA Producer member Consumers Builders Supply Company headquartered in Lorain, OH, reports NRMCA Senior Vice President, Local Paving, Julie Buffenbarger.
Association & Industry News
It’s not too late to register for NRMCA’s 2017 Annual Convention taking place March 4-6 at the Encore Las Vegas hotel. NRMCA's Annual Convention is held in conjunction with the CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2017 Show and the NSSGA 2017 Annual Convention and is the venue to explore industry trends and network with your peers. Click here to access event registration. Don’t forget to register for the Spouse/Guest events taking place at this year’s convention. Some of the activities include off-site tours to Red Rock Canyon, Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon West Rim. Details for each tour can be found under the Spouse/Guest Activities tab. There are still seats available but we encourage you to sign up now to ensure your spot. To register for these tours, please log back into your Convention Registration Profile on the Event Registration Web site and add these tours to your existing registration record (there is no fax-back sign up form this year and registration can only occur online).
For more information, contact Senior Director of Meetings Jessica Walgenbach at jwalgenbach@nrmca.org or call: 240-485-1152.
Government Affairs
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 20 - 24, 2017, please click here.
If you would like to receive this weekly updated link in a separate e-mail, or if you have questions or comments about the roundup, contact NRMCA’s Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org.
NRMCA last week joined a broad coalition in supporting the confirmation of Alex Acosta to Secretary of Labor, a position that will have a great impact on the ready mixed concrete industry. Over the past eight years, labor rules like the overtime rule, the blacklisting rule and National Labor Relations Board decisions like the joint-employer and micro-union decisions have had a negative impact on the ready mixed concrete industry. Mr. Acosta’s reputation of being an independent and fair advocate for applying the law will serve to rein in onerous regulations and justly enforcing existing rules. In addition, President Trump will fill two vacancies to the NLRB during his first term. Whoever serves as Labor Secretary will advise President Trump on these appointments.
On Saturday, March 4, at the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, the NRMCA Government Affairs team will present its 2017 legislative agenda at the Government Affairs Committee meeting. During this presentation, we will recap 2016, look at the current situation in Washington and lay out the areas in which NRMCA will be active in 2017. During the presentation, we will be awarding two Members of Congress, Rep. Duncan Hunter and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, the inaugural NRMCA Congressional Concrete Champion Awards, recognizing their support for the ready mixed concrete industry.
The committee meeting will take place between 10 am and noon local time in the Chopin 3&4 Rooms at the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas.
For more information, contact Kerri Leininger at kleininger@nrmca.org.
Buildings
Last week, the Maryland State Senate committee on Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs heard testimony on Senate Bill 722, a bill introduced by Committee Chairwoman Joan Carter Conway of Baltimore City, which seeks to limit dangerous lightweight combustible wood construction in low- to mid-rise residential buildings throughout the state.
The past two months have seen construction starts on two new ICF multifamily projects on the East Coast, reports NRMCA Vice President, Building Innovations, Gregg Lewis. EYC Companies of Charleston, SC, is building a 220-unit apartment complex called 17 South using ICF construction for its exterior walls. NRMCA members can stay apprised of the latest work on this project from the EYC Web site where it regularly updates with new drone footage of the construction site.
OES
NRMCA's Concrete Delivery Professional Certification (CDP) Program, the industry’s premier mixer driver-specific training program, strives to help your drivers gain industry-specific knowledge and customer service strategies to make them the best-of-the-best. For ease, the program is delivered online and is totally self-directed. It consists of approximately 10 hours of curriculum divided into 20 minute lessons in five broad areas: concrete, safety, environmental considerations, customer service and mixer truck operations. It is led by a voice-over instructor with subtitles that support drivers with reading or hearing difficulties. For even more learning support, CDP-Online directly coordinates with an optional textbook. The succinct learning modules can fit between loads or can be spontaneously accessed from any computer, 24/7. Lessons also have a stop/start feature, making CDP participation adaptable to a driver’s ever-changing work schedule. Exams are online as well, so the need for third-party proctors has been eliminated, saving your company time and money. Finally, group discounts pricing starts with 10+ drivers.
Click here for more information and staff contact.
Last Friday, flanked by U.S. business representatives, President Trump signed an executive order requiring each federal regulatory agency to create, within 60 days, individual regulatory reform task forces to either repeal or simplify regulations that are burdensome and harmful to economic growth and job creation. President Trump stated during the order signing that, "Every regulation should have to pass a simple test: Does it make life better or safer for American workers or consumers? If the answer is no, we will be getting rid of it and getting rid of it quickly."
Specifically, the task forces for each agency will have 90 days to determine which regulations will either need to be corrected or eliminated. NRMCA has already identified the numerous regulations damaging to the ready mixed concrete industry and looks forward to working with each agency task force to see these regulations remedied.
Click here to view the executive order. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.
Following his confirmation as the new Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Scott Pruitt has announced his first potential significant change at EPA. Last week, Administrator Pruitt stated that he intends to end EPA’s previous capitulation to the practice known as "sue and settle." The practice is whereby advocacy groups initiate litigation against EPA to force EPA into promulgating certain new rulemakings, knowing EPA would settle on the litigation to make it go away and then start with new a rulemaking. This process over the last eight years has led to a number of detrimental regulations, not to mention states and companies being forced to comply with onerous requirements by groups that never had to prove that any harm or injury had occurred, thus calling into question the necessity of such regulations and requirements.
NRMCA welcomes this latest development from Administrator Pruitt, encourages the agency’s follow through on this practice and we look forward to working with the EPA on this any many other issues in our industry’s pursuit for a balanced regulatory environment and its equitable enforcement.
For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.
Engineering
NRMCA has released version 2 of the Quality Certification program. Based on review by the RES Committee, some of the certification criteria and submission requirements have been simplified and streamlined. To encourage participation a substantial discount is being provided to companies that apply prior to Friday, March 31.
The Concrete Pavement Tech Center at Iowa State University has developed a concise guide to prevention and restoration of early joint deterioration in concrete pavements. The guide provides background information on the causes for premature joint deterioration and include specification guidelines. A tech transfer summary is also provided that outlines the more relevant concepts.
Through a concerted effort of the Concrete Pavement Tech Center and research partners, AASHTO has approved a provisional specification PP 84 on performance-engineered mixtures for concrete pavements. Agencies and industry will join in a 5-year FHWA pooled fund program to implement concepts in this standard.
Education & Training
NRMCA's Sales Skills, CCSP IV, is scheduled for March 21 – March 23, in Silver Spring, MD (metropolitan Washington, DC). Registration continues for interested parties. This innovative three-day course provides a sales framework and toolkit that can immediately adapt to your organization’s strategies to drive revenue. Master the most up-to-date, industry-related, sales fundamentals through ready mix-specific simulations, role plays and case study analyses that include the challenges of selling concrete's sustainability attributes as well as applying tools for pervious and parking lot sales. Get results now: This course is recommended for professionals of all levels, so whether you deal with internal or external customers, these skills will make an immediate impact on your work:
• Volume and Value: Sell both for short and long term results;
• Secrets to Good Relationships: Solve problems and win loyalty;
• Who Calls the Shots?: Find and communicate with decision-makers;
• Role-playing is Serious Business: Learn how practice makes perfect; and
• Close Calls: Overcome obstacles and close the sale.
Click here for more information, registration options and staff contact.
Calendar
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site.
March 4 - 6, Las Vegas, NV
Annual Convention
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
March 20 - 22, Atlanta
NRMCA Safety Course
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
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NRMCA Pavement Engineer Amanda Hult recently partnered with the Mississippi Concrete Industries Association and presented Concrete’s Contribution to Sustainable and Resilient Construction & Concrete Overlays: Another Way to Pave to an audience of engineers at Waggoner Engineering, Inc. in Jackson
