More than 80 construction industry personnel attend a luncheon held last week in Chattanooga, TN, to hear about overlaying asphalt parking lot with concrete, reports NRMCA Senior Vice President, Local Paving, Jon Hansen. The presentation was at the monthly meeting of the Associated General Contractors (AGC), Construction Specification Institute (CSI), and the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE). Frank Lennox, CSI, manager of technical services and promotion with NRMCA member Buzzi Unicem USA, arranged for Hansen to speak at the event. Lennox reported that audience feedback after the luncheon included a contractor who seeks Lennox's input on two potential overlay projects; the president of an engineering firm who wants both printed and electronic copies of the Guide to Concrete Overlays of Asphalt Parking Lots and a large concrete contractor who requested guides for his entire company to read. Additionally, a geotechnical firm requested more information and two ready mix producers provided positive feedback.

"I am excited about the prospect of using concrete overlays on old worn out asphalt parking lots in the Chattanooga and East Tennessee area," said Lennox.

The promotion team of Jon Kuell, executive director of the Northern New England Concrete Promotion Association and NRMCA Senior Director, Local Paving, Doug O’Neill recently met with Maine transportation officials to discuss paving opportunities. "The concept of Alternate Design/Alternate Bid is new to them," Kuell said. "But as they are faced with limited funds to fix their roads, they seem to be more willing to listen to our message."

Kuell and O'Neill explained what industry resources are available and opened the door to future discussions, especially for intersections. They were also given a project to consider: a five-acre industrial complex that could use RCC as the solution. A follow-up meeting is scheduled for early December, said O'Neill who noted that NRMCA’s Karthik Obla recently spoke on performance-based specifications to a group of DOT officials at the Annual Conference of the North Eastern States’ Materials Engineers Association.

In 1974, when the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) built the J.A. Cochran Bypass in an undeveloped area around Chester, minimal traffic used the route. Today, the bypass serves as a major truck route shortcut between two interstates. The original asphalt pavement was never designed for this loading and has been overlaid multiple times to the point that the curb was nearly covered. Despite the extra thickness, the pavement cracked through and became a maintenance issue for the local SCDOT office.

To solve this problem economically and with minimum disruption, the SCDOT turned to roller-compacted concrete (RCC). RCC provided the deep strength necessary to handle future traffic and allowed SCDOT to uncover the filled-in curb and restore its water-carrying capability. The five-lane, 1,800-foot long project was completed in approximately two weeks. The RCC portion required three days and the asphalt/other miscellaneous work took five days.

During the last seven years, SCDOT has performed more than 600,000 square yards of RCC on more than 20 projects throughout the state.

Source: Portland Cement Association. For more information, contact Roger Faulkner at rfaulkner@cement.org.

Please join the RMC Research & Education Foundation on Wednesday, December 2, at 11 a.m. Eastern time for a free informational Webinar featuring an update on the work the Foundation is co-funding at the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) and how it is being implemented. Please click here to register. For those who may be interested in the update but who will be unable to participate, the Webinar will be recorded and linked to the Foundation’s Web site. 

NRMCA has scheduled a free Webinar titled Performance–Based Specifications – State of the Industry and Way Forward for January 27, 2016. It will discuss the efforts in encouraging the adoption of performance-based specifications for ready mixed concrete, the obstacles faced and the resources developed to address them. A review of the state of prescription in a sampling of project specifications will also be discussed. The more significant items that deviate from industry standards were developed as informational Specification in Practice (SIP) topics. Each SIP identifies the commonly found prescriptive requirement, discusses the real or perceived basis for the requirement, describes adverse implications of the requirement, suggests alternative performance criteria and Illuminates the benefits of using performance-based alternatives in place of prescriptive requirements.

The attendee learning objectives are:

1. Relate the requirements in your specifications to industry standards;

2. Understand the benefits of performance-based alternatives that support improved fresh and hardened concrete performance;

3. Evolve design office specifications to reduced prescription with alternative performance-based requirements; and

4. Recognize the synergy between performance-based specifications and quality, sustainability and cost.

This webinar is approved by AIA and attendees can get 1 LU hour upon request.

Click here to register and here for more information about performance-based specifications.

Last week, the White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) published its updated Fall 2015 Unified Agenda. The Unified Agenda is the clearinghouse for public access to federal regulatory agencies’ respective regulatory actions, covering 60 departments, agencies and commissions, including EPA, OSHA, FMCSA and the IRS. Some of the actions covered include, but are not limited to, CMV Speed Limiters, Sleep Apnea, ELDs, Silica, and Electronic Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses.

Click here to view the updated agenda. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.

NRMCA's OES Department is accepting registrations for four 2016 face-to-face classes. With a clear understanding that operations people multitask, these classes collectively focus on giving participants immediate skills to juggle compliance parameters along with efficiency and competency processes. A registration fee discount is extended to those member companies that send three or more people to one class. The upcoming schedule follows:

• Dispatcher Training Forum – Orlando, FL, January 13-15. *The class runs just once a year – this is it! 
• Plant Manager Certification – Omaha, NE, January 26-29
• Plant Manager Certification – Honolulu, February 23-25
• Plant Manager Certification – Birmingham, AL, April 5-8.

Last week, NRMCA conducted its annual Safety Course in Charlotte, NC. The course, attended by nearly 40 industry professionals, focused on OSHA safety compliance and industry best management practices. Specifically, attendees learned, in part, 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 much more.

NRMCA’s Lionel Lemay presented and participated on a panel during the Materials & Human Health Summit at GreenBuild 2015 in Washington, DC, on November 17. The special session, titled Taking Transformation to Scale: Trade Associations and Leadership discussed how trade associations are uniquely poised to deliver high quality training and education for their members in order to catalyze market activity in the area of product transparency, including environmental product declarations, responsible sourcing and product ingredient disclosure. About 100 green building professionals participated in the session that articulated the value proposition for transparency documentation. The session focused on best practices for incorporating life cycle assessment and other methodologies into continuous improvement initiatives.

For more information, contact Lionel Lemay at LLemay@nrmca.org or 847-918-7101.

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 November 16 - 20, 2015, please click here.

The NRMCA November Internet Spotlight, which will be good through Tuesday, December 1, feature two of NRMCA’s best selling publications:

Updated in 2015, the ASTM Standards for Ready-Mixed Concrete, 6th Edition has 38 current ASTM standards and includes 20 newly updated standards. This compilation is relevant to other methods of producing concrete, such as precast and site mixed concrete. It represents the latest information in the industry and is a valuable resource and essential reference for users of C94 and C685, specifiers, engineers, architects, contractors, builders, testing laboratories, concrete material suppliers, concrete producers and students. 260 pages; published in 2015.

By special arrangement with ASTM International, this publication is available only to NRMCA members at a considerable discount from the ASTM list price. Member price for up to 9 copies is $120; 10 or more are $110, plus shipping.

Now bigger and better, the Mixer Truck Driver's Manual educates truck mixer drivers about concrete and customer relations. It also highlights driver duties, safety precautions, equipment inspection and maintenance procedures, and what the driver should do in case of an accident. This 74-page manual is easy to understand and contains common sense information every driver should know.

Order online today and receive 15% off. Regular member price is $16, Internet Special is $13.60, plus shipping. Use discount code: ISNOV15.

*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site.

December 1 - 3, Orlando, FL

Environmental Course

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

 

December 1 - 3, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module II: Customer Business Knowledge

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

 

December 2, Webinar (RMC Research & Education Foundation)

MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub Research and Implementation Progress Update

Email: Jennifer LeFevre, 240-485-1151

 

December 4, Nashville, TN

Pervious Concrete Contractor Certification Course (Tennessee Concrete Association)

Email: Mrs. Darla Sparkman

 

December 8 - 11, Orlando, FL *Sold Out

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

December 15, Milwaukee

Improving Concrete Quality

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

 

December 15, Webinar

Sales Management: Sales Performance Assessments and Reviews

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

 

 

January 13 - 15, Orlando, FL

Dispatcher Training Forum

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

 

January 26 - 29, Omaha, NE

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

January 27, Free Webinar

Performance–Based Specifications

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

 

February 8 - 12, Des Moines, IA

Regional Concrete Technologist Training and Certification Course "Short Course"

Email: Karen Bean, 240-485-1168

 

February 23 - 25, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module III: General Business Knowledge

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

 

February 23 - 26, Honolulu

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

February 24, Atlanta

Handling Concrete Specifications

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

 

March 13 - 15, San Diego

NRMCA's Annual Convention

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

March 22 - 24, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module IV: Professional Sales Skills

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

 

April 5 - 8, Birmingham, AL

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

May 15 - 18, Washington, DC

International Concrete Sustainability & Self-Compacting Concrete Conference

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101