NRMCA's celebration of the 100th anniversary of ready mixed concrete in the U.S. continues in E-NEWS in April with the histories of another Producer and Associate member. See below for the two companies we've selected to begin this month, along with a link to that company's respective Web site for more information. This week's industry milestone? In 1967, the first concrete domed sports arena, known as Assembly Hall, was built at the University of Illinois.

Breckenridge Material Company - Was originally founded in 1926 as a dry goods company and started production of concrete in 1946 during the post- WWII years. Since then, Breckenridge has remained a family-owned company and has become one of the largest concrete suppliers in Missouri as well as one of the largest privately held concrete producers in the Midwest. During this prolonged construction recession, Breckenridge has made at least one acquisition per year, growing its ready mixed concrete footprint and expanding its aggregate holdings throughout Missouri and Illinois. Read more.

An NRMCA Producer member since 1951

Monarch Cement - The Monarch Portland Cement Company was founded in 1908 and reorganized in 1913 as The Monarch Cement Company. H.F.G. Wulf was appointed receiver of the company in 1913. Together with August C. Kreitzer, Wulf reorganized the defunct company, incorporated The Monarch Cement Company, and turned the plant into a thriving business. Read more.

An NRMCA Associate Member since 1949

A new form of concrete, stronger and with a lower carbon footprint, has been created by researchers utilizing some of the waste products of biofuel production. Concrete has a rather significant carbon footprint, accounting for between 3-8% of global carbon dioxide emissions. The development of a concrete with a much lower carbon footprint could be significant, researchers say. In order to cut back on the carbon footprint of concrete, the researchers from Kansas State University have been looking for environmentally-friendly materials to replace the portland cement.

The Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program has released its 2011 - 2012 Annual Report. Compiled by the National Steering Committee (NSC), the report was distributed in February at the World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas. Highlights of the 2011 - 2012 CIM Annual Report include:

• Reports from all committees (Education, Marketing/Public Relations, Auction, Finance and Long Range  Planning)
• Institutional reports from all CIM programs
• Industry Patron profiles
• Profiles of CIM Graduates
• Executive Board member profiles

For more information about the CIM program and to download a copy of the annual report and executive summary, go to www.concretedegree.com.

Hey, who you calling ugly? Despite strong criticism of some of the buildings on the campus of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, to at least one observer much of the criticism is unwarranted. "It looks nothing like the college of your dreams — and that’s exactly why we should learn to love the state’s flagship campus," writes Max Page, professor of architecture and history at the school.

You can add horses to the list of beneficiaries of pervious concrete. Any owner who has ever bathed a horse while standing on a conventional concrete surface knows the soapy runoff can quickly turn that surface into a slick hazard for both animal and human. Stephen Higgins, PhD, director of environmental compliance for the Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, says horse owners and barn operators can install pervious concrete material in bathing and other water-retaining areas to reduce injury risk and protect precious water resources.

It has been just over two months since the Maryland Ready Mix Concrete Association (MRMCA) hosted its Concrete Promotion Boot Camp at NRMCA’s training center in Silver Spring, MD. MRMCA Executive Director Tom Evans reports that some of the attendees heard the message loud and clear. According to Evans, two ready mix producers partnered to make a call on a county public works director last week about local streets and roads.

"The county official was asked if he would consider including a concrete pavement specification in the county roads manual and he said ‘YES’, " reported Evans. "They also asked if he had any paving projects coming up where we might be able to submit a concrete alternate and, again, he said, ‘YES.’ In fact, he said there are two projects ready to be let for bid and he welcomed an alternate concrete design on both projects."

            

The intent of the Boot Camp was to encourage attendees to focus more on pavement promotion (parking lots and streets & local roads) in order to increase their production and become less dependent on the residential construction market. NRMCA Senior Director of National Resources Phil Kresge served as the "drill sergeant" for the Boot Camp, introducing the "recruits" to the many NRMCA resources available. Particular focus was given to the Design Assistance Program (DAP). "It would appear that someone was listening," said Kresge. "It just goes to show what can happen when you step outside your comfort zone. I believe this is just what Tom had in mind when he planned the event."

            

Evans is reaching out to other Boot Camp graduates to report on their progress since the event. "Please let me know if you have had any similar experiences with a county official, with a parking lot owner/designer, or with a local street or road project," Evans asked. He adds that MRMCA and NRMCA assistance is available on request.

What a difference a few years make: recently, Jim Langlois with the Connecticut Concrete Promotion Council and NRMCA Senior Director, National Resources Doug O’Neill teamed up to present in front of the state chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects at its Permeable Pavement Conference. In early 2011, O’Neill and Langlois gave an introduction to pervious at a similar event for the architect group which went well, but lacked a significant number of projects in Connecticut that the team could point to as "in their backyard".

Fast forward to last week’s conference and there was a totally different atmosphere surrounding pervious concrete and the acceptance of it as a viable solution to stormwater management. The concrete industry pros were able to point to specific projects within Connecticut that were placed over the past two years and which many of the attendees were already familiar. The number of questions and comments raised during the presentation were very detailed and showed a level of understanding and acceptance that were absent a mere 24 months earlier, O'Neill said. The team was also given high marks for their presentation from the group of 85 landscape architects.

 

"It really proves just how effective the promotion effort in Connecticut has been when it comes to pervious. The designers understand it, have accepted it and are looking to use it more in the future," O’Neill said.

NRMCA's national resource directors have scheduled one of their most popular and informative Webinars for this month. Effectively Communicating Sustainability is an hour-long program that takes what we already know about concrete’s sustainability along with the recently released MIT research results and incorporates that information with a Communications 101 course, geared toward helping attendees understand what it takes to improve our communication skills. See the link below for more information and to register.

• Friday, April 19 - Effectively Communicating Sustainability

The Spring 2013 edition of NRMCA's quarterly magazine, Concrete InFocus, has a number of timely and informative articles available only online, including this article on transferring MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub research into practice. Next week, E-NEWS will highlight Part 13 of NRMCA’s Concrete Quality Series: Impact of Specifications on Concrete Quality.

Click here to access the entire Spring issue along with links to past issues from NRMCA's Web site.

On Tuesday, October 1, Concrete Cares is asking you to share in supporting cancer awareness by placing a pink ribbon on your company and/or personal vehicle. Its goal is to have concrete associations, contractors, supply companies and individuals nationwide to identify a project and then to place decorative or colored concrete to promote cancer awareness and early detection. By pulling together as an industry, we can donate materials and labor/talent to create a concrete show piece for the cause. Concrete Cares' ultimate goal is 50 pours in 50 states in 2013 and every year after until a cure is found.

While the effort has been in place for a while, ASTM Subcommittee C09.40, responsible for standards for ready mixed concrete including ASTM C94 and C685, has developed a preliminary specification to address reuse of returned fresh (plastic) concrete. The proposed standard, ASTM WK39876, Specification for Returned Fresh Concrete for Use in a New Batch of Ready-Mixed Concrete, will be issued as a subcommittee ballot to begin the standardization process.

"Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world," says Eric Koehler, vice president, Verifi LLC, and chairman of the task group developing ASTM WK39876. "The proposed standard will help ready mixed concrete manufacturers reduce waste material and disposal requirements. Purchasers and specifiers of concrete can obtain concrete with greater recycled content while ensuring the concrete is of high quality."

Koehler notes that technology available to facilitate the reuse of returned fresh concrete includes hydration stabilizing admixtures that can be used to extend the setting time of concrete and ensure that concrete can be used in a new batch. In addition, truck-mounted equipment can be used to measure, manage and record concrete slump, water content, temperature and load size throughout the delivery cycle to reduce the need for manual testing.

After the first ballot is issued, resolution to the comments will be addressed by the task group and the subcommittee at the next ASTM meeting of Committee C09 on Concrete and Aggregates, June 9-12 in Indianapolis.

NRMCA will offer the Concrete Durability Course on June 3 - 5 at the office of CTL Group in Skokie, IL (Chicago). The course is taught by Michael Thomas, University of New Brunswick; Kevin Folliard, University of Texas at Austin and NRMCA Engineering 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 ConcreteWorks software that can be used to develop concrete mixtures for durability.

The course also discusses the new provisions for durability in ACI 318-11 and how specifications can be structured to address durability. Attendees at previous courses have given this program rave reviews. This course also offers those with the NRMCA Level 3 certification to obtain the NRMCA Concrete Technologist Level 4 certification. It also provides required learning units toward the technical track of the NRMCA STEPS certification program. Please register early if you wish to attend.

The recent NRMCA Technical Short Course in Sacramento, CA, was well attended with 60 attendees. NRMCA recognizes the individuals who attended the course and to those who obtained certifications: 22 obtained ACI Grade I Field Testing Technicians; 18 with ACI Flatwork Technician; 40 with NRMCA Concrete Technologist Level 2 and 31 with NRMCA Concrete Technologist Level 3. NRMCA thanks Teichert Materials for the use of its laboratory facility and CalCIMA for its support in holding the course in Sacramento.

ASTM International has agreed to co-sponsor NRMCA’s 2013 International Concrete Sustainability Conference. The 8th annual conference, scheduled for May 6-8 in San Francisco at the Hotel Sofitel San Francisco Bay (Redwood City, CA), will provide learning and networking opportunities on the latest advances, technical knowledge, continuing research, tools and solutions for sustainable concrete manufacturing and construction. In addition, ASTM International has committed to reviewing papers submitted for the conference. Authors will be contacted by ASTM and considered for publication in the ASTM journal titled Advances in Civil Engineering Materials.

This year’s conference is being conducted in cooperation with the Stanford University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the RMC Research & Education Foundation along with over 30 additional co-sponsors. Researchers, academics, students, engineers, architects, contractors, concrete producers, public works officials, material suppliers and concrete industry professionals are invited to present and attend the conference. Over 60 world renowned experts will present the latest developments related to design, specifying, manufacturing, testing, construction, maintenance and research of concrete as they relate to sustainability. Topics include:

• Life Cycle Assessment

• Low Impact Development

• Green Concrete

• New Concrete Technology

• Sustainability Initiatives

• Functional Resilience 

Concrete specifiers are demanding more efficient and environmentally-friendly projects and products. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is increasingly being used to evaluate structures and building products for environmental performance. Next week, from April 8 - 11 noon-1:30 p.m. Eastern time, NRMCA will present its Life Cycle Assessment of Concrete Structures online course. This course provides detailed instruction on how LCA can be used to assess the environmental performance of concrete structures, including buildings and pavements. A review of new and existing research comparing the environmental life cycle performance of concrete and competing building materials will be presented. The course will also cover how the concrete industry is beginning to use LCA to evaluate and improve the concrete production process.

This seminar will provide attendees with state-of-the-art strategies, technologies and methodologies for utilizing LCA to maximize the environmental performance of their project or manufacturing process. At the end of this course attendees will be able to:

• Recognize the benefits and limitations of LCA 
 

• Understand the definitions and terms used in performing LCA
 

• Utilize LCA in the building codes and LEED
 

• Understand the role of LCA in designing sustainable concrete buildings and pavements
 

• Use the NRMCA carbon and energy calculator
 

• Select which LCA model is best for a given application
 

• Understand the research results from the Concrete Sustainability Hub at MIT

 

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 the Week of March 25 - 29, please click here.

The April 2013 issue of Concrete Capitol Connection is now available online, with updates on legislation, regulation and case law from the previous month. If you would like to receive this monthly newsletter in a separate e-mail, or if you have questions or comments, please contact NRMCA’s Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.

NRMCA's April Internet Spotlight, good through Tuesday, April 30, is the Technology In Practice (TIP) Single Set (topics 1 - 8). The TIPs are modeled on the popular Concrete in Practice (CIP) series and also written in a "What? Why? and How?" scheme. The TIP series is intended for industry personnel to enhance internal education on general quality control and technical topics. To view each topic, please click here.

Order online today receive $5 off. Regular member price is $15, Internet Special $10, plus shipping. Discount Code: ISAPRIL13.

April 4, Baton Rouge, LA

Handling Concrete Specifications, Low Strength Problems & Mixture Submittals

Email: Karen Bean, 888-84-NRMCA, x1168

 

April 8-11, Online Course

LCA of Concrete Structures

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

 

April 8, Webinar (Part I)

Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete

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

 

April 15, Webinar (Part II)

Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete

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

 

April 19, Webinar

Effectively Communicating Sustainability

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 888-84-NRMCA, x1165

 

April 23, Webinar

Using a Sales Customer Relationship Management System

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

 

April 24, Webinar

Sustainable Concrete-The Role of Performance-based Specifications

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

May 6-8, San Francisco

International Concrete Sustainability Conference

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

May 12-15, Chicago

Fifth North American Conference on Design and Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete

 

May 13, Webinar

Introduction to Concrete Pavement Analyst Program

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

 

May 13, Webinar

The Quantifiable Advantages of Concrete Parking Lots

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

 

May 20, Webinar

Roller Compacted Concrete: Your Third Choice for Pavement

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

 

May 20-23 Online Course

Pervious Concrete: A Stormwater Solution

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

 

May 31, Webinar

ACI 330 R-08 – The Gold Standard of Concrete Parking Lot Design

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

 

June 3-5, Chicago

Concrete Durability Course

Email: Karen Bean, 888-84-NRMCA, x1168

 

June 3, Webinar (Part I)

Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete

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

 

June 10, Webinar (Part II)

Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete

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

 

June 11, Webinar

Concrete Overlays for Streets and Local Roads and Parking Lots

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

 

June 25, Webinar

Controlling Moisture in Concrete Slabs

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

 

August 11-15, Montreal

ISARC 2013: 30th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, Mining & Petroleum Industries

Email: Chantal Murphy, 514-939-2710, ext. 1309

 

August 13-16, Silver Spring, MD 

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

August 27, Webinar 

Concrete Pavement Jointing Plans

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

 

August 30, Webinar

ACI 330 R-08 – The Gold Standard of Concrete Parking Lot Design

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

 

September 22-24, Las Vegas

Concrete Works & Board of Directors' Meeting

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

 

November 8, Webinar

ACI 330 R-08 – The Gold Standard of Concrete Parking Lot Design

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

 

November 19-21, Silver Spring, MD

The Effective RMC Supervisor Course

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

 

December 4-6, Orlando, FL

Environmental Professional Certification Course

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

 

December 10-13, Orlando, FL 

Plant Manager Certification Course

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