NRMCA e-news

A representative for the portland cement industry in Kansas and a former Kansas Department of Transportation pavement engineer recently penned a letter to a Kansas newspaper explaining the many factors that influence the long-term performance of concrete pavements in the area — subgrade and subbase preparation, concrete mix design, finishing and curing, jointing, traffic loading, the environment and materials (which include aggregates). The representative, Todd Latorella, executive director of the Missouri/Kansas Chapter of the American Concrete Pavement Association, calls for "raising the bar" on aggregates.

Source: An October 3 letter posted by The Topeka Capital-Journal. Read more.

Alaska Professor Proposes Concrete Solution to Alaska's Road Rut Problem

For the past eight years in Alaska, University of Alaska Anchorage (IAA) Professor of Civil Engineering Osama Abaza has been developing a road surface that can stand up to Alaska’s road-rut problem. The concrete slab at UAA is the first practical test of the solution. Abaza plans to work with the Alaska Department of Transportation to install a 180-foot lane of the concrete on Abbott Road next summer.

Source: An October 11 article in the Alaska Dispatch News. Read more.

Concrete Pump Truck Joins the Pink Cancer Brigade

Modern Concrete Pumping of Newington, CT, has painted one of its concrete pump trucks pink, joining the many mixer trucks across the U.S. that have also sported the color in an effort to raise awareness for breast cancer research and those afflicted with breast cancer.

Source: This news item was passed along by Connecticut promotion partner Jim Langlois. Click here to access Modern Concrete Pumping's Web page on the topic.

PAVEMENTS

Midwest Engineering Firm Touts Concrete Overlays of Parking Lots

BAX Engineering in St Charles, MO, (a St. Louis suburb) is a leader in designing concrete overlays on existing asphalt parking lots. The firm has designed projects for a wide range of clients and features a dedicated section on its Web site to explain the benefits of overlaying existing asphalt parking lots with concrete. "BAX Engineering is a great example of an engineering firm that takes a strong lead in bringing excellently executed overlay parking lot projects to its market," reports NRMCA Senior Vice President of Local Paving Jon Hansen.

Click here for more information along with before and after photos of one of BAX Engineering's projects (other overlay projects will appear during the slide show on its home page). For more information, contact Jon Hansen at jhansen@nrmca.org.

Successful Overlay Project Is Followed by Effective, Low-Cost Promotion Video

The largest concrete overlay in Maryland history (MD Route 210) was featured in a recent edition of E-NEWS. NRMCA Producer member Chaney Enterprises provided the concrete for this project and has now released a video to promote street and road overlays. The video features the Route 210 project and is a very good example of effective promotion and what can be done in-house on a low budget. Other than entry/exit animations, the only outside service utilized was for the voice-over; the other elements, including the script, filming and editing, was produced by Chaney. The video is also a good example of effective use of drone aerial photography. Chaney used a Phantom II drone matched with a GoPro video camera which it purchased for about $1,400; it has already the equipment on other projects.

Click here to view the video. For more information, contact Steven Tripp at stripp@chaneyenterprises.com.

Virginia Architects Learn About Pervious Concrete

NRMCA Senior Director, Local Paving, Phil Kresge recently met with the architectural division of Dewberry Engineering at its Fairfax, VA, office to hold a lunch-and-learn program titled Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete. Kresge’s presentation focused on using pervious concrete as an integral part of a stormwater management system. In particular, he highlighted the structural and hydrological design aspects of pervious concrete and also stressed the importance of proper maintenance for both the performance and durability of the pavement. The meeting was facilitated by Hessam Nabavi, director of industry services for the Northern Virginia Advisory Council of the Virginia Ready-Mixed Concrete Association.

Headquartered in Fairfax, Dewberry has 40 offices in 19 states. It provides comprehensive architectural, engineering and consulting services in several major markets, with special emphasis in the education, institutional and healthcare fields.

For more information, contact Phil Kresge at pkresge@nrmca.org.

ACI 330 Webinar on Concrete Parking Lot Design Scheduled for Mid-November

When designing, constructing or proposing a concrete parking lot, there is just one standard that should be followed: ACI 330R-08 – Guide for the Design and Construction of Concrete Parking Lots. A November 17 Webinar on the standard discusses the basis of the design guide, gives an overview of the sections of the guide and most importantly compares and reviews other commonly used design procedures to that of ACI 330 R-08. Upon participating, an attendee should feel confident that the best option for designing, constructing and testing of a concrete parking lot is encompassed within ACI 330R-08.

Architects and engineers earn one Professional Development Hour upon completion of this program. This seminar is registered with the American Institute of Architects Continuing Education Systems. Free copies of ACI 330 R-08 (Guide for Design and Construction of Concrete Parking Lots) and ACI 330.1-03 (Specification for Un-Reinforced Concrete Parking Lots) will be provided to participants of the Webinar, so join NRMCA pavement engineer Amanda Hult at noon Eastern time on Tuesday, November 17, for this one-hour Webinar titled ACI 330 R-08 – The Gold Standard of Concrete Parking Lot Design.

Click here to register. For more information, contact Amanda Hult at ahult@nrmca.org.

ASSOCIATION & INDUSTRY NEWS

Ready Mix Production Statistics Updated Through August 2015

The preliminary estimate of ready mixed concrete produced in August 2015 is 33.4 million cubic yards, 4.1% higher than that in August 2014. Estimated production through August is 217 million cubic yards, 3.5% higher than that during the same period in 2014.

Ready mixed concrete production is estimated from cement shipments reported by the U.S. Geological Survey. Details are available for NRMCA members here.

Submittals for Speaker Topics CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2017 Due November 9

NRMCA requests its members, concrete industry professionals and any interested party to submit topics for speakers at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2017 by Monday, November 9. Program sessions will be reviewed by the CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2017 Education Committee and will be evaluated based on the quality and timeliness of the topic.

Click here to submit proposal(s)directly to CONEXPO-CON/AGG. For more information, contact NRMCA’s Eileen Dickson at edickson@nrmca.org or 240-485-1164.

NRMCA to Attend This Week's CONEXPO Latin America

NRMCA's Colin Lobo and Gary Mullings are attending this week's CONEXPO Latin American being held in Santiago, Chile. They will update attendees on NRMCA activities along with the state of the ready mix industry in North America. The conference began yesterday (October 21) and concludes Saturday, October 24.

Click here for more information on CONEXPO Latin America. You may also click on the Education link to access a list of sessions and industry speakers, including detailed descriptions of both the NRMCA presentations.

ENGINEERING

Registration Open for NRMCA Course on Improving Concrete Quality in Milwaukee in December

NRMCA has scheduled its one-day course Improving Concrete Quality intended for concrete producers, ingredient material suppliers, engineers, testing labs and contractors for Tuesday, December 15, in Milwaukee. Improving Concrete Quality, a new book authored by one of the instructors, and other NRMCA resources provide the basic content for the course.

Improved concrete quality can benefit all stakeholders in a concrete construction project.This course will answer some of the following questions:

How do you know if you have good quality? What should be your quality metric?
How to become more profitable through better quality?
What are all the key statistical calculations you need to know in concrete?
How to control the mixing water content in concrete?
How to deal with temperature and delivery time variations?
What is the most effective way to ensure that your materials ingredients are of good quality?
How to improve batching accuracy, mixing uniformity?
How to identify non standard testing and curing? How to improve testing quality?
Tests a producer should do, internal audits and many more.

Course instructors are Kevin MacDonald, Ph.D., FACI, Beton Consulting Engineers LLC, and Karthik Obla, Ph.D., P.E. at NRMCA. Producers will learn readily implementable steps to manage variability and attain a more consistent product. Ingredient suppliers will learn how material variation affects concrete variation. Engineers will learn the opportunity for improving quality through specifications and testing lab professionals will learn to measure and improve testing quality. Upon successful completion of the course, attendees will earn 8 professional development hours, a certificate of completion and credits toward NRMCA’s STEPS program.

Click here for more information, registration options and staff contact.

OPERATIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL, SAFETY & HR

Few Seats Are Left for November Effective Supervisor Course

With hiring and retention of paramount importance in the economic recovery, it is critical that front line ready mix supervisors understand the scope and tasks they are expected to execute. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the most common business lawsuit filed is by employees against their employers - and the employees cite their direct supervisor as the cause. Therefore, the class audience is plant and area managers, operations, dispatch, fleet and driver supervisors, as well as QC supervisors. Content includes industry-specific, hands-on exercises to develop solid procedures to increase efficiency and profitability using better communication skills with front line employees. The class will be held November 17-19 at NRMCA headquarters in Silver Spring, MD.

Please note that the Effective Supervisor Course is held just once each year. Training reduces risk: No producer’s bottom line can afford an expensive internal attack.

Click here for registration options, NRMCA staff contact and more information.

Registration Still Open for 2015 Environmental Course in December in Florida

This year’s Environmental Certification Course will be held in Orlando, FL, from December 1-3. Course attendees will be educated on industry-specific environmental issues that affect ready mixed concrete production, including the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, Discharge Permits, Stormwater Management, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Solids Management, Hazardous Materials, Dust Control, Recycling, Spill Prevention Plans, Air Quality Management, Noise Management, Environmental Auditing and much more.

Those who should attend include plant managers, environmental managers, compliance managers, executives or anyone with fiscal and/or environmental responsibilities that should know the details concerning your company’s responsibilities when it comes to EPA regulations, the Clean Water Act, Discharge Permits, Stormwater Management and numerous other critical environmental matters.

Click here for registration options and other information or contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or Jessica Walgenbach at jwalgenbach@nrmca.org.

GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

NRMCA Advocacy News Roundup Updated Through October 16

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 October 12 - 16, 2015, please click here.

If you would like to receive this weekly updated link in a separate e-mail, or if you have questions or comments about the roundup, contact NRMCA’s Jill Landry at jlandry@nrmca.org.

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

October Internet Special is ASTM Specification Guide

The NRMCA October Internet Spotlight, which will be good through Tuesday, November 3, is the User's Guide to ASTM Specification C 94 - 2nd edition. This second edition includes 22 comprehensive chapters that explain every section of ASTM C 94/C94M, including background, scope, referenced documents, ordering information, materials, requirements for production, acceptance of concrete and much more. Authors: D. Gene Daniel and Colin L. Lobo. 160 Pages | Pub# 2PMNL49-14.

Order online today and receive 20% off the regular member of $75, plus shipping. Use Discount Code ISOCT15.

CALENDAR

A Look Ahead

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

November 2 - 6, Silver Spring, MD *Sold Out

Annual Concrete Technologist Training and Certification Course "Short Course"

Email: Karen Bean, 240-485-1168

November 6, Free Webinar

Parking Lots-Are You Getting Your Share?

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 240-485-1165

November 10, Free (Member) Webinar

Increase Your Profits with Roller Compacted Concrete