NRMCA's celebration of the 100th anniversary of ready mixed concrete in the U.S. continues its June offerings with the histories of two more valued members - a Louisiana-based Producer member and a multinational Associate member - see below for their respective Web site links. This week's industry milestone: In 1961, passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act secured funding for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways with much of the system being concrete pavement.

Angelle Concrete Group - Angelle Concrete Group, LLC (ACG) is a leading vertically-integrated supplier of cement and ready mixed concrete serving the Louisiana market. Founded in Jennings, LA, in 1947, ACG has grown through acquisitions to establish a network of 28 ready mix facilities in both large and mid-sized cities, and rural areas in contiguous markets in southern and central Louisiana. Through these operations, ACG produces a balanced mix of residential, commercial and highway/infrastructure applications. Utilizing its scale and strategic location at the base of the Mississippi River, the company began to vertically integrate in 2000 with the construction of its first cement terminal. Today, ACG operates cement terminals in Baton Rouge, Lake Charles and LaPlace. Read more.

An NRMCA producer member since 1998

Chryso Inc. - Chryso evolved from a small French company to a multinational group in the space of 70 years. It was founded in 1942 as the Chrysoleum company, specializing in manufacturing technical lubricants. In 1962, Chrysoleum became Chryso SA and created what it called the first delayed mould-release agent. In 1982 the company was integrated into the Lafarge group as part of the Speciality Materials (LMS) branch. Read more.

An NRMCA Associate Member since 2004

The efficiency of using pervious pavement as an alternative to the usual road surface is the subject of a project of the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Among the expected benefits of pervious roads include better mitigation of water runoff and less "splash and spray" that can hamper visibility, said Bernard Izevbekhai, an MDOT concrete research engineer.

Cities, states and businesses are banning a common pavement sealant linked to higher cancer risks and contaminated soil. These sealants, used mostly in the eastern half of the U.S. to beautify pavement and extend its life, contain up to 35% coal tar pitch, which the National Toxicology Program considers a human carcinogen. Officials are acting to limit the cost of removing and disposing of contaminated sediment in waterways. They've passed bans in recent years in dozens of cities and counties in Minnesota, Washington, DC, Illinois, Texas, New York, Maryland and Washington state.

At the University of Salerno in southern Italy, scientists working on the European research project EnCoRe (Environmentally-friendly solutions for Concrete with Recycled and natural components) are mixing what looks like ordinary concrete. But there is one added ingredient: the standard recipe including water, cement and aggregates has been improved by adding recycled industrial fibers to produce a greener, more sustainable concrete.

Companies producing ready mixed concrete on sites in Dubai will need to go through a new process of registering and gaining conformity certificates for batch plants. Dubai Municipality's acting director of buildings said that it had decided to begin monitoring concrete producers both at source and at on-site mixing plants to ensure the safety and quality of work.

Recently, several Florida Chick-fil-A projects have been designed with concrete parking lots, reports NRMCA Senior Director, National Resources Amy Miller. The fast-food chain opened an outlet on June 13 in Lake City that featured a large concrete parking area, she said. Interplan, LLC, was the civil engineering firm that designed the project. The concrete thickness is 6" throughout the entire site and was kept consistent because the restaurant is so close to I-75 (there was concern about the amount of highway traffic on this oversized parking lot, Miller said.)

Other factors also contributed to the decision to use concrete. "The site contained numerous underground storm chambers and a high water table. We felt it would be best to go with an all concrete parking lot to help protect the chambers," said Interplan Senior Project Manager Rick Krietemeyer. Interplan also included reference to the American Concrete Institute Specification 330.1-94 as well as ACI 330R-08 Guide to Design and Construction of Concrete Parking Lots in its concrete notes and specifications.

"Not that Chick-fil-A needs help drawing patrons, but this parking lot stands out on US Highway 90, especially among the asphalt parking lots surrounding it. The reflectivity of the concrete at night made this establishment a beacon, " said Miller who visited the site a few days after its grand opening.

For more information, contact Amy Miller at amiller@nrmca.org.

"Jay Taft with (NRMCA Associate member) Monarch Cement never misses an NRMCA seminar in his area," NRMCA Senior Director, National Resources Jon Hansen said recently. "Jay not only attends, he takes the information and puts it into practice where he works and lives in Southwestern Missouri."

The most recent success for Taft is the new Woods Supermarket in Sunrise Beach (seen here) which consists of approximately 105,000 square feet of concrete parking lot. And if the success of this Full Loop Promotion effort isn’t enough good news, Taft told Hansen and other local promoters that the supermarket's concrete placement took place even after some asphalt had been installed. Taft said the general contractor and owner "were not happy with the asphalt and decided to switch the parking lot to concrete," proving it's never too late to switch a project to concrete. 

NRMCA's remaining promotion-focused Webinar for June is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, June 27: Effectively Communicating Sustainability is an hour-long program that takes what you already know about concrete’s sustainability along with 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.

The preliminary estimate of ready mixed concrete produced in the U.S. in April 2013 is 24.5 million cubic yards, 0.4% lower than April 2012. The estimated production through April is estimated at 81 million cubic yards, 0.3% higher than that during the same period in 2012.

The Summer 2013 edition of NRMCA's quarterly magazine, Concrete InFocus, has a number of timely and informative articles available only online, including the latest installment of the long-running and popular Concrete Quality Series. Part 14, Impact of Concrete Quality on Sustainability can be accessed here along with the rest of the magazine's summer issue.

The June 30 deadline for submitting applications for the NRMCA Excellence in Quality Awards contest is fast approaching. A company must be an NRMCA producer member in good standing to participate. Companies can enter as a company or a division. Applicants are asked to respond to a multiple-choice type application form that generates their scores. Companies or divisions that achieve a score of 75% or greater will be recognized at NRMCA's ConcreteWorks, scheduled for September 22-24 in Las Vegas. The deadline for receiving completed award applications is June 30.

There are several advantages to participating in this award program:

1. It provides recognition to the companies that maintain high quality standards.

2. The award criteria can serve as an excellent quality improvement tool for companies.

3. Companies have used the award criteria for conducting internal quality audits.

Specific to the ready mixed concrete industry, NRMCA has published the NRMCA Drivers’ Hours of Service Regulations Compliance Guide 2013. The guide contains background information on what HOS regulations are, why they exist, who oversees their enforcement, what parts of the regulations specifically affect the ready mixed concrete industry, what changes to the HOS rules are scheduled for July 1 (including the much debated 30-minute break rule) and how to comply.

To obtain a copy of your compliance guide please click here. For more information please contact either NRMCA's Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org  or Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.

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 June 17 - 21, please click here.

NRMCA's June Internet Spotlight, good through Tuesday, July 2, is the Concrete In Practice (CIP) Package Set (contains 20 sets of each CIP 1 thru 42). Concrete In Practice is a series of 42 one-page information sheets on important technical topics, written in a non-technical "What, Why and How?" format. Give them to contractors and they'll know that you deliver quality and value, and make them a part  of your promotion and education program.

June 27, Webinar

Effectively Communicating Sustainability

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

 

July 3, Webinar 

Behind the Wood First Initiatives 

Email: Tien Peng, 206-913-8535

 

July 8-11, Online Course

Design of Concrete Pavements

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

 

July 15–19, Skokie, IL

2013 Professors Workshop: Teaching Buildings, Bridges, Materials, and Pavements

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

July 18, Free Webinar

Urban Physics: City Texture Matters

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

July 18, Webinar

Effectively Communicating Sustainability

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

 

July 30, Webinar

Behind the Wood First Initiatives 

Email: Tien Peng, 206-913-8535

 

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 12-15 Online Course

Pervious Concrete: A Stormwater Solution

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

 

August 13-16, Silver Spring, MD 

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

August 15, Free Webinar

Quasi-Steady-State Equilibrium Estimation of Concrete Pavement CO2 Sequestration

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

August 22, Webinar

Effectively Communicating Sustainability

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

 

August 27, Webinar 

Concrete Pavement Jointing Plans

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

 

August 27-29, San Jose, CA

Concrete Durability Course

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

 

August 30, Webinar

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

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

 

September 12, Webinar

Effectively Communicating Sustainability

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

 

September 19, Free Webinar

Coal Ash Material Safety—A Health Risk-Based Evaluation of USGS Coal Ash Data from Five US Power Plants

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

September 22-24, Las Vegas

ConcreteWorks & Board of Directors' Meeting

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

 

October 1-4, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP I: Introduction to Concrete Fundamentals—Concrete 101

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

 

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 3-5, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP II: Customer Business Knowledge

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