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Association & Industry News
While work may have slowed or been delayed in some cases, what you may or may not know is the role NRMCA has played in influencing governors to keep the construction pipeline open. To date, 28 states have officially declared all construction as an essential service; 15 states have not acted on declaring what is an essential service, so construction has been unaffected; six states have limited their scope of what is essential and only one state (Pennsylvania) has shut down construction, but declared ready mixed concretre, cement and aggregate operations essential (it is scheduled to reopen construction on May 1). The estimated ready mixed concrete produced in December 2020 is 25.2 million cubic yards, 7.4% higher than that in January 2019. Ready mixed concrete production is estimated from cement shipments reported by the U.S. Geological Survey. More detail, including production by state for 2019, is available to NRMCA members here. The data on the website will be updated when estimates for February 2020 are available. For more information, contact Colin Lobo at clobo@nrmca.org. 
SEO
NRMCA’s Annual Safety Award acknowledges the significant contribution that safe work practices gives to the growth and success of individual companies and the ready mixed concrete industry as a whole. The NRMCA Annual Safety Award is presented to an individual or company whose actions represent the very highest in the advancement of safety in the ready mixed concrete industry. The award program is generously sponsored by the Truck Mixer Manufacturers Bureau (TMMB). The award may be presented to an individual whose single action or longtime commitment to safety and health in the ready mixed concrete industry exemplifies superior performance in the field of safety. Examples of the award winner could be a ready mixed concrete truck driver whose actions were lifesaving. Other examples could include plant managers, safety managers and company officials who have outstanding longtime dedication to safety and health in the ready mixed concrete industry. Other examples would be an individual’s involvement community safety activities. Criteria for selection of the individual or company may include evidence of the following: • Reduction of accidents/incidents • Demonstration of leadership in safety • Identification, evaluation & control of hazards • Development of safety-conscious policies & procedures • Active promotion of safety in the workplace • Innovation and enthusiasm in marketing safety • Collaborative and proactive work toward improving safety • Placing a high personal value on safety • Mentoring of others in safety Nominations shall be made by submitting a detailed explanation for why an individual or company should be considered for the award. The explanation should focus on highlighting the criteria listed above. Submissions should include necessary supporting documents, a high-resolution electronic image of the nominee (if an individual) or a high resolution company logo and any other relevant images. Entries must be e-mailed to Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org by Friday, June 26. Click here for more information, including staff contact. NRMCA’s Commitment to Environmental Excellence Awards competition offers producers national recognition for outstanding contributions to protecting the environment and maintaining sound management practice in their operations. The program salutes companies that have not only met, but surpassed governmental compliance measures and demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence through plant and staff investment. NRMCA member companies producing ready mixed concrete from a fixed plant location in the U.S., its territories or Canada is eligible to enter. Awards will be determined upon individual plant merits. Winning entrants will be honored at the Awards Luncheon at NRMCA‘s ConcreteWorks this September in Denver. Winners will also be featured in a 2020 edition of NRMCA’s Concrete InFocus magazine and the leading trade publication Concrete Products. Entries and photos must be e-mailed to Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org by Friday, July 24. Click here for more information, to download the entry form and staff contact. 
Buildings
The COVID-19 global pandemic is challenging federal, state and local government officials to consider alternate care facilities to help alleviate the strain on existing hospitals and health care facilities. The identification and use of alternate care sites and facilities vary by jurisdiction and may include temporary changes in occupancy and use for inpatient and outpatient medical facilities. Newly released rules permit, subject to state and local requirements, non-hospital buildings to be used for patient care and quarantine sites to increase medical surge capacity. “During the COVID-19 pandemic public health response there is an unprecedented need for the adaptive reuse of buildings to serve a variety of functions,” says environmental health scientist Dr. Molly Scalon, FAIA, FACHA. While there has been a significant use of temporary structures such as tents or membrane structures for immediate needs, existing underutilized concrete structures are ideal for more permanent adaptive reuse. Repurposing space is an increasingly popular facility strategy for hospital and schools systems expanding or shifting services away from their flagship buildings because it often requires less capital and can be made operational more quickly than new construction. • The Vanderbilt Health/One Hundred Oaks Mall facility in Nashville, TN, designed by Gresham Smith was honored for its adaptive reuse of space in 2010. • Louisiana-based Willis-Knighton Health System has over 20 extensive adaptive reuse projects, including the 2017 WK Rehabilitation Institute in Shreveport. • The Joplin High School in Joplin, MO, designed in 2012 by DLR Group and Corner Green & Associates took only 55 days to construct after an EF5 tornado destroyed the city. Obviously, the type of existing building chosen will have a large impact on the cost to renovate that building into a health care use. With U.S. retailers including Sears, Macy’s, and J.C. Penney announcing the closing of more than 6,000 stores in 2019 alone, there is an inventory of concrete malls built originally for retail use that can be reused. These spaces often have many advantages that healthcare organizations desire: single floor at grade, large, open floor plates; ample floor-to-floor height, abundant parking, watertight envelope, inert finishes that do not off-gas and, most importantly, passive fire resistance for a vulnerable population already built in. Build With Strength, a coalition lead by NRMCA that promotes concrete building systems through communications, project promotion, education and advocacy, can help leverage design expertise to place more concrete. For more information contact Tien Peng at tpeng@nrmca.org or 206-913-8535. Build With Strength, along with NRMCA, are now offering their popular webinar series on-demand, so you can learn when it’s convenient for you. These are the same highly attended live webinars we offer but in a recorded format so you can take them at your pace, on your schedule. The webinars are free and offer AIA-CES Learning Units for architects and Professional Development Hours (PDH) for engineers. Topics include resilience, sustainability and zero energy school design. Click on the titles below to register: • Specifying Sustainable Concrete (On-Demand) • Pathway to Resilience (On-Demand) • Zero Energy Schools (On-Demand) New on-demand courses will be added every week. Check out www.buildwithstrength.com/education to register for on-demand classes along with dozens of live webinars. For more information, contact Lionel Lemay at LLemay@nrmca.org.
One of the examples highlighted in the presentation was the recently-completed I-91 Brattleboro bridge project. This is Vermont’s first cast-in-place segmental concrete bridge, a 1,000-foot plus span that carries Interstate 91 over Vermont Route 30 and the West River. As the largest bridge in Vermont’s history, it is made of over 18,000 yards of concrete, utilizing ternary concrete mixtures containing slag cement, portland cement and micro-silica to increase strength and durability along with providing a significantly lower carbon footprint than conventional mixes. This project was honored by the New England Chapter of ACI, the Northern New England Concrete Association, the Slag Cement Assoc and won first place in the infrastructure category at the 2019 ACI Excellence in Construction Awards, a national honor. The team of Kuell and O’Neill were joined by NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Donn Thompson, who acted as moderator during the session. “We had some great interaction after Doug’s talk and the group agreed that we opened their eyes on how RMC contributes to a more sustainable, resilient built environment,” Kuell said. According to one attendee, the timing was perfect, as he's working on a largescale project that could use some assistance in helping to transform the current concrete mixes into more sustainable, lower carbon footprint mixes. For more information on concrete innovation presentations, contact Doug O’Neill at doneill@nrmca.org, Donn Thompson at dthompson@nrmca.org or Lionel Lemay at llemay@nrmca.org.
June 2, Free Promotion Webinars June 3, Build With Strength Webinar June 4, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series June 10, Build With Strength Webinar June 11, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series June 16 – 18, Nashville, TN – Sponsored by Tennessee Concrete Association June 17, Build With Strength Webinar June 18, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series June 24, Build With Strength Webinar July 14 – 16, Nashville, TN – Sponsored by TCA 
Pavement
The fourth installment of NRMCA’s Concrete Pavement Education Series was another huge success with around 500 attending the Concrete Pavement Jointing and Details webinar with Don Clem and Amanda Hult. These weekly webinars focus on topics related to design, construction, maintenance and rehabilitation of concrete pavements. The next program in the series, Materials and Construction Specifications for Concrete Pavement, is scheduled for Thursday, April 30, at 2 p.m. Eastern time; it promises to be another sold out session. The webinar will be led by Pave Ahead team members Luke McHugh and Don Clem. Register now to secure your place for this next informative webinar from the NRMCA Pave Ahead series. The webinars provide American Institute of Architects (AIA) Elective Learning Units and/or Professional Development Hours (PDH) for continuing education requirements. For more information, contact Brian Killingsworth at bkillingsworth@nrmca.org, Jon Hansen at jhansen@nrmca.org, Phil Kresge at pkresge@nrmca.org, Don Clem at dclem@nrmca.org, Amanda Hult at ahult@nrmca.org, Ken Justice at kjustice@nrmca.org or Luke McHugh at lmchugh@nrmca.org. 
September 25 – 29, Denver October 8, Nashville, TN October 20 – 22, Mendota Heights, MN November 10 - 12, New Orleans November 17 – 19, Glendora, CA December 15, Charlotte, NC December 15 – 18, Phoenix Calendar
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. April 30, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series May 1, Free Webinar May 5, Free Promotion Webinars May 6, Build With Strength Webinar May 7, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series May 12, Concrete Paving Promotion Webinar Series May 13, Build With Strength Webinar May 13 – 15, Glendora, CA *Postponed May 14, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series May 19, Concrete Paving Promotion Webinar Series May 20, Build With Strength Webinar May 21, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series May 26, Concrete Paving Promotion Webinar Series May 27, Build With Strength Webinar May 28, Concrete Pavement Webinar Series 
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The Sustainable Energy Outreach Network (SEON), an economic development group in Southeastern Vermont with the goal of becoming one of the foremost centers of sustainable energy and resiliency in rural America, recently sat in on a webinar given by NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Doug O’Neill on the advances in concrete technologies that have created innovative concretes designed to meet our current sustainability, resilience and economic demands. Jon Kuell, executive director with the Northern New England Concrete Association, had originally scheduled this event as an in-person seminar, but given the recent Covid-19 situation, the team of O’Neill and Kuell decided to move forward using an online interactive session.
