NRMCA's celebration of the 100th anniversary of ready mixed concrete in the U.S. concludes its submissions for 2013 with one of the Association's newest Producer members and along with an Associate member which also is part of the Concrete Plant Manufacturers Bureau. NRMCA thanks all its members that have submitted brief histories of themselves. If you care to comment on the past year's submissions, please contact NRMCA's Kathleen Carr-Smith at kcarrsmith@nrmca.org.

Brannan Ready Mix - Founded in 1906, the Brannan Sand & Gravel Company has played an integral role in the growth and development of Colorado’s Front Range. Originally a sand and gravel supplier, the company introduced asphalt in 1943 and unveiled its ready mixed concrete division in 1995 to support the increasing demand of rigid pavement. Not far behind, 2003 ushered in the formation of the Brannan Construction Company, specializing in pipeline and tunneling operations. Today, the Brannan Companies provide a wide range of aggregates, asphalt paving and maintenance services, ready mixed concrete and specialized construction services. Read more.

An NRMCA Producer member since 2013

C&W Manufacturing - C&W Manufacturing began as a small company that offered shaker central dust collectors to batch plants. Origins of the company began in the early 1970's with a resurfacing in 1978 as C&W Manufacturing. In 1992, C&W had nine employees and 8,600 square feet of operating space when Deryl Beakley purchased the company. Under his leadership, C&W's sales have grown 30 fold. In 1997, C&W relocated to a new facility in Alvarado, TX, just south of Fort Worth. This new facility increased operations space to 14,400 sq. ft, which was then expanded to 34,400 sq. ft. in 2002, and yet another expansion in 2006 to increase office space and give overall operational space just under 40,000 sq. ft. Currently, C&W has 41 employees and is continuing to grow in size and sales due to an increasingly high production demand. Read more.

An NRMCA Associate member since 1987

In a December 21 transportation roundup article, a reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal takes a crack (no pun intended...) at the asphalt vs. concrete roads issue. A Transportation Department spokesman said the choice is usually based on cost, and that colors are indicative of ingredients — a reddish road means volcanic rock is mixed in, and a bluish or white-tinted road means granite is mixed in. Read more.

Leon Rudek loved his newspaper job so much that he constructed a sidewalk in front of his house out of front pages. Pedestrians walking along La Prada Street in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Highland Park step back in time as they pass by concrete "editions" of newspapers reporting the news that "Yankees KO Dodgers, Again," or "Argentina Invades Falklands" and "How Carter Saved Summit." And those who take a closer look may notice that dozens of the front pages cover the bottom of the slope behind his house, and hundreds more serve as roofing shingles on the garage-workshop. The world's most versatile building material indeed.

The Cantina Laredo restaurant in Springfield, MO, was the site of recent luncheon seminar on concrete overlays and new concrete parking lots. It was a fitting location since Cantina Laredo used both applications during the remodel, expansion and conversion of an outdated Italian restaurant into an upscale location of fine Mexican cuisine. The luncheon was sponsored by the Concrete Promotion Council of the Ozarks (CPCOZ) and the invited guests represented a cross section of architects, engineers, facilities managers and contractors, reports NRMCA Vice President, National Resources, Jon Hansen. Of the 29 attendees, 15 requested more information about the application. One facilities manager who’s responsible for the maintenance of 20 parking lots for his company requested a site visit and Design Assistance Program (DAP) work up before leaving the luncheon.

"The Cantina Laredo project was the first NRMCA DAP in the nation that incorporated both an overlay of an existing asphalt parking lot and an expansion that was new parking lot," Hansen said. "The goal of the DAP process was to make it look seamless and the contractor perfected the design. The CPCOZ is now capitalizing on the success of this project to bring broad awareness to the right people in the area. It is a perfect example of timely promotion."

Registration is now open for the Concrete Pavement’s Jointing Plan Webinar to be offered on Tuesday, January 14, from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern time. NRMCA’s Amanda Hult will discuss how achieving a properly designed and constructed concrete pavement does not stop at a thickness design. Jointing concrete pavements correctly is a crucial element that is often overlooked. Attendees will gain the necessary knowledge to prepare a well designed jointing plan. 

Some of the topics that will be discussed are:

• Why joint concrete pavements? 

• Types of joints

• Jointing guidelines

• Sealing and reinforcing

This Webinar is intended for civil engineers, architects, landscape architects, public works officials and others who design and review concrete pavement details. Contractors, product suppliers and land developers will also benefit from this seminar.  

NRMCA is now accepting entries for its 2014 Kids Art Contest. In rounding out the 100th Anniversary of Ready Mixed Concrete, the theme for the contest is "The Evolution of the Ready Mixed Concrete Truck." The contest is open to kids up to grade 12 who have a relationship to an NRMCA member.

• All entrants must be related to or sponsored by an NRMCA member.

• Contestants are limited to one entry each.

• Artwork should be 100% produced by the entrant and be original.

• Entries may be in a medium of the artist's choice (oil, water color, pastels, pencil, pen and ink, charcoal, crayon, etc.). Entries can be a drawing, collage, painting or other two-dimensional work.

• All entries must incorporate a ready mixed concrete truck in some manner – but should not be limited to a picture of a ready mixed concrete truck.

• Entries must be on 11" x 14" flat paper. We encourage artwork to be on good quality bond or drawing paper, or illustration board. Entries should not be framed or matted.

• For contact purposes, please include artist’s name, address, phone number, age and grade, and the name of the NRMCA member and his/her relationship to the artist on the back of their artwork.

• Entries must be postmarked no later than Wednesday, January 15.

Entries will be divided into the following grade categories: pre-K, K-2, 3-5 and 6-12. First, Second and Third place winners will be selected from each grade category. Entries will be judged only against others in their respective grade category. They will be judged on originality, effort, creativity, composition and interpretation of the theme.

Winners in each category will be announced at NRMCA’s Annual Convention, March 1-3, 2014 in Las Vegas. Winning entries will be auctioned off at the CONCRETEPAC Dinner & Auction to help raise money for NRMCA’s Political Action Committee. Images of the winning entries will be used later in the year to create a 2015 NRMCA calendar; winners and the sponsoring members will receive a free copy of the calendar.

All entries will be displayed at NRMCA’s Annual Convention and CONEXPO – CON/AGG, and entries will be on display at NRMCA’s headquarters in Silver Spring for the remainder of 2014. NRMCA reserves the right to copy and modify any entry for reproduction. Entries will not be returned and may be used for future promotional opportunities. 

Entries must be post marked no later than Wednesday, January 15 and should be mailed or delivered to:

Kerri Leininger

NRMCA 

900 Spring Street

Silver Spring, MD 20910 

The November/December 2013 issue of the Concrete Bridge Views newsletter is now online and contains the following articles: 

Landmark in the Works: Novel Use of Post-Tensioning in a Highly Curved Bridge - Paul Claudio Osses, PE, SE; Buckland and Taylor, Huanzi Wang, PhD, PE; AECOM, Richard Patterson, PE, SE; Buckland and Taylor. The Mountlake Triangle Project (MTP) Bridge is a highly-curved 400-foot long cast-in-place (CIP) post-tensioned pedestrian bridge spanning over Mountlake Boulevard between the Seattle Sound Transit light rail station and the University of Washington (UW) campus in Seattle. Construction of the bridge is scheduled to finish in early 2014. It is anticipated that this daring bridge will become a landmark for both the UW and the City of Seattle. Full Article

Evaluation of Common Design Policies for Precast Prestressed I-Girder Bridges - Richard Brice, Bijan Khaleghi, Washington State DOT, and Stephen J. Seguirant, Concrete Technology Corp, Tacoma, Washington. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Load Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Bridge Design Specifications, hereinafter referred to as the AASHTO LRFD Specifications, prescribes the minimum design requirements for safe highway bridges. However, many bridge owners have adopted more stringent policies for the design of precast-prestressed girder bridges. These policies specify design requirements for section properties, allowable tensile stress, and continuity. Full Article

Welded Wire Reinforcement Utilized as Shear Reinforcement in Concrete Bridge Girders - Todd R. Hawkinson, PE, Wire Reinforcement Institute. Welded Wire Reinforcement (WWR) is seeing an increased use as shear reinforcement in bridge girders, such as AASHTO Type II, III and IV-4, Bulb-Tee Girders and U-Girder Sections, due to its available increased strength and the reduction in time or labor cost to install the material in the precast beds. State departments of transportation (DOT) allow the use of welded wire shear and confinement reinforcement in girders and many have developed standards for its use. Full Article

Concrete Bridge Views is published jointly by the Federal Highway Administration and the National Concrete Bridge Council.

Following the early August U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling vacating the Hours of Service (HOS) 30-minute break for short-haulers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued guidance on exactly to whom the 30-minute break rule did NOT apply. FMCSA’s guidance stated that commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers who are able to take advantage of the 100 air-mile logging exemption do not need to take the 30-minute break. This guidance applies to concrete mixer drivers, provided the drivers meet the exemption criteria, which in part, include not driving beyond 100 air-miles from the ready mixed concrete plant that a driver starts and stops at each day, and that the driver is released from duty by, at most, 12 hours after first coming on duty.

While this was great news for the industry, it also inadvertently created a compliance gray area. Specifically, a very real and common scenario includes a driver who starts the work day intending on utilizing the 100 air-mile logging exemption, but due to unforeseen and uncontrollable issues, has to work beyond that 12-hour threshold. This scenario immediately puts that driver out of compliance with both the 30-minute break and also entire 100 air-mile logging exemption. While there is guidance on how to rectify this issue to be compliant outside of the 100 air-mile logging exemption, there is not any guidance on the 30-minute break compliance.

NRMCA back in August and again in November, met with FMCSA officials to highlight this inconsistency. In response, FMCSA has issued guidance on how to treat such instances. Specifically, FMCSA states:

"To address this issue, FMCSA advises that in such situations, the driver should not be considered to be in violation of the break rule. The driver should annotate the RODS [Record of Duty Status] to indicate why the required rest break was not taken earlier, and should take the break at the earliest safe opportunity. Ideally, this would be prior to preparing the RODS or immediately following the preparation of the RODS. Under FMCSA’s existing HOS requirements and guidance, drivers would begin preparing the RODS as soon as they determine they are no longer eligible for the RODS exemption."

While NRMCA had suggested alternative guidance better suited to short-haul operations, NRMCA is pleased with FMCSA’s acknowledgement of the issue and the necessity for issuing guidance. We now have guidance that lets us decide when it is "safe" to take a 30-minute break when working more than 12 hours. In some cases it will probably be pretty easy for a driver to retroactively log and then find some time during the day when he/she took a 30-minute break while other drivers can finish delivering loads, return to the plant and still be in compliance.

Finally, despite the overall success on pushing back the required 30-minute break for short-haulers, NRMCA’s HOS work is not finished. In early November, NRMCA met with FMCSA to further discuss the industry’s 30-minute break exemption request. At the November meeting, NRMCA agreed to submit to FMCSA more information on the industry and how safety will not be compromised. Following the submittal of this information, FMCSA scheduled an internal meeting to discuss the industry exemption request and indicated it would make a decision early in 2014.

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

January 3, New Mexico

50th Quality Concrete School

New Mexico Ready Mix Association and New Mexico State University

Email: Dr. Craig Newtson, Newtson@nmsu.edu

 

January 6, Webinar

Introduction to Concrete Pavement Analyst Program

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

 

January 9, Free Webinar

Streets & Roads Promotion for DOTs, Counties & Municipalities

Email: Glenn Ochsenreiter, 240-485-1140

 

January 10, Jonesboro, AR

Pervious Concrete Technician Certification

Email: Rita Madison

 

January 13, Webinar

The Quantifiable Advantages of Concrete Parking Lots

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

 

January 14, Webinar

Concrete Pavement Jointing Plans

Email: Amanda Hult, 303-953-2382

 

January 14, Free Webinar

New Radical Material and Resources Reporting Criteria in LEEDv4

Email: Tien Peng, 206-913-8535

 

January 15, Free Webinar

STEPS™ A Long Term Career Tool for the RMC Industry

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

 

January 20, Webinar

Roller Compacted Concrete: Another Choice for Pavement

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

 

January 20–23, Webinar

Building Green with Concrete

Email: Tien Peng, 206-913-8535

 

January 27–31, Orlando, FL

Regional Concrete Technologist Training & Certification "Short Course"

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

 

January 28, Webinar

RCC: Intro to Design and Construction Webinar

Email: Amanda Hult, 303-953-2382

 

January 29, Free Webinar

Winning Initial Streets & Roads Projects in Counties & Municipalities

Email: Glenn Ochsenreiter, 240-485-1140

 

February 6–7, Medellin, Colombia

International Concrete Sustainability Conference, Latin America

E-mail: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

February 10, Webinar 

Designing & Specifying Pervious Concrete (Part 2 is February 17)

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

 

February 11, Free Webinar

New Radical Material and Resources Reporting Criteria in LEEDv4

Email: Tien Peng, 206-913-8535

 

February 11–12, Online Course

Designing Jointed Concrete Pavement for Streets and Parking Areas

Email: Amanda Hult, 303-953-2382

 

February 11–13, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP III: General Business Knowledge

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

 

February 18, Webinar

Understanding Asphalt

Email: Brian Killingsworth, 830-438-2690

 

February 18–20, Silver Spring, MD

Dispatcher Training Forum

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

 

February 24–27, Webinar

LCA of Concrete Structures

Email: Tien Peng, 206-913-8535

 

March 1–3, Las Vegas 

NRMCA Annual Convention

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

 

March 3, Webinar

The Quantifiable Advantages of Concrete Parking Lots

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

 

March 3, Webinar

Introduction to Concrete Pavement Analyst Program

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

March 4–8, Las Vegas

CONEXPO-CON/AGG

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

 

March 17, Webinar

Roller Compacted Concrete: Another Choice for Pavement

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

 

March 18, Webinar

Controlling Moisture in Concrete Slabs

Email: Amanda Hult, 303-953-2382

 

March 18–20, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP IV: Professional Sales Skills Workshop

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

 

March 25, Webinar

Concrete Overlays for Streets and Local Roads and Parking Lots

Email: Amanda Hult, 303-953-2382

 

March 25–28, Oklahoma City, OK

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

April 7, Webinar 

Designing & Specifying Pervious Concrete (Part 2 is April 14)

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

 

April 16, Webinar

Building the Customer Relationship... in the Post-Recession Economy

Email: Eileen Dickson, 240-485-1164

 

May 6, Webinar

Soils 101

Email: Amanda Hult, 303-953-2382

 

May 12–15, Boston

International Concrete Sustainability Conference

E-mail: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

June 17, Webinar

Concrete Pavement Jointing Plans

Email: Amanda Hult, 303-953-2382

 

July 8, Webinar

Understanding Asphalt

Email: Brian Killingsworth, 830-438-2690

 

August 19, Webinar

Controlling Moisture in Concrete Slabs

Email: Amanda Hult, 303-953-2382