NRMCA e-news

NRMCA Vice President, Local Paving, Don A. Clem recently teamed with Jamie Johnson, a pavement engineer with the Colorado/Wyoming chapter of the American Concrete Pavement Association, to discuss with engineers from Aurora, CO, the city's newly adopted roadway design and construction specifications. The specifications included provisions which required both new streets and intersections to be constructed with asphalt pavement. The engineers indicated that the provisions were unintended and agreed to issue an errata removing these requirements, allowing concrete pavement to be specified in the city.

NRMCA and ACPA CO/ WY also offered to assist Aurora city officials with some concrete pavement design issues, construction details and assistance on a large upcoming concrete repair project. Other upcoming roadway projects where concrete pavement might be a good option were also discussed. With a population of over 350,000, Aurora is the third largest city in Colorado, and is expected to continue to grow.

 

NRMCA congratulates the following ready mix executives who have been selected for the 2017-2018 Developing Industry Leaders (DIL) program:

• Jason Blyth, Thomas Concrete of Carolina, Raleigh, NC

• Nicholas Bockoven, Preferred Materials, Inc., Winter Park, FL

• Jim Carreira, BASF, Plymouth, MA

• Matt Chapman, Thomas Concrete, Atlanta

• Jonathan Conley, Redi-Mix Concrete - A US Concrete Company, Euless, TX

• Hank Eisses, Ozinga Ready Mix Concrete, Inc. , Mokena, IL 

• Juan Gonzalez, Central Concrete Supply – A US Concrete Company, San Jose, CA

• Brett A Harris, GCP Applied Technologies, Jeffersonton, VA

• Jaymi Hill, BASF, Martinez, CA

• Terry Holt, Central Concrete Supply Co, Inc.  – A US Concrete Company, San Jose, CA

• Hilan Kaplan, BASF, Beachwood, OH

• Steve Kluch, Preferred Materials, Fort Myers, FL

• Justin Longbotham, Ingram Concrete – a US Concrete Company, Brownwood, TX

• Victor McMillan, B & B Concrete Co., Inc., Tupelo, MS

• Josh Nelson, CalPortland, Portland, OR

• Luke Owings, Irving Materials, Inc., Greenfield, IN

• Nathaniel Reynolds, BASF, Beachwood

• Carroll Simpson, Thomas Concrete, Anderson, SC

• Aaron Smith, Superior Concrete Materials – A US Concrete Company, Chantilly, VA

• Mark Throckmorton, Preferred Materials, Inc., Odessa, FL

• Andrew Van Dyke, Jack B Parson Companies, Clinton, UT

• Joseph L. Viggiano, Eastern Concrete – A US Concrete Company, Parlin, NJ

The goal of the DIL program is to broaden participants’ understanding of the ready mixed concrete industry at a national and strategic level while also giving them the opportunity to work on a diverse team with members from across the country. This peer-centric program, with its accompanying industry mentorship, encourages participants to make lifelong, career friends as they gain insight into a specific industry-specific, national challenge. The collective group will start its work in the next month, meet face to face during NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks, September 29-October, in Grapevine, TX, and present its findings at a membership meeting during NRMCA’s annual convention in March 2018. The second year in the program includes a leadership development workshop. Once complete, the DILs are encouraged to fully participate in association committee meetings.

Recently, the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA), in anticipation of the December 18, 2017 compliance deadline for using electronic logging devices (ELDs) for compliance with Hours of Service (HOS) regulations, released a tool to help both manufacturers and users of ELDs verify their products meet the ELD mandate requirements.

 

The verifying tools can be found online here and here. Click here for more information on ELDs and here for industry compliance guidance.

With lots of time to plan and budget your staff’s career development, please note following classes will be offered under the auspices of the OES Committee:

•Safety Certification Course, October 17-19, Denver

•Leadership & Coaching Workshop for Operations Executives, November 13-14, Dallas

•Environmental Certification Course, November 28-30, Orlando

•Plant Manager Certification Course, December 12-15, Orlando

•Dispatcher Training Forum, January 9-11, Orlando

•Plant Manager Certification Course, January 16-19, Minneapolis 

•RMC Effective Supervisor, January 23-25, Orlando

•Plant Manager Certification Course, February 20-23, Albuquerque, NM

•Plant Manager Certification Course, March 27-30, Louisville, KY

NRMCA is looking for good men and women to serve on the Association's Board of Directors. While serving on the Board requires both commitment and energy, it is a rewarding opportunity to give back to the industry. NRMCA represents a broad range of ready mixed concrete companies across the United States and its success is a direct result of the skills and expertise of the professional staff working in conjunction with Board members. Nominees must be committed to promoting NRMCA programs and working in the best interest of its membership and the industry at large. The Board provides strategic direction, fiduciary oversight and governance of the organization’s operations.

 

Nominees are vetted by the Nominating Committee which consists of the current chairman, the immediate past chairman and past chairmen of the Board for the previous seven years who are still in active in the industry. The selected slate of nominees is then presented to and elected by the general membership and will begin serving three-year terms immediately following the 2018 annual convention. Nominees should have the following attributes:

 

•Current NRMCA producer member in good standing;

•Hold key decision making responsibility within his or her company;

•Inherent leadership, management and interpersonal skills;

•Ability to participate in and sustain collaborative group efforts;

•Commitment to attend and participate in two Board meetings each year and fulfill the duties and responsibilities as referenced in the Board Job Description; 

•Serve on NRMCA committee(s) of his or her choice;

•Annually support the association's Political Action Committee (CONCRETEPAC) and the RMC Research & Education Foundation;

•Attend and participate in promotion programs in his or her region; and

•Actively recruit new members and help to retain existing members.

 

Any NRMCA member can submit a nomination and individuals are also free to nominate themselves. Click here for a list of current NRMCA Board members along with the year that his or her term expires. Please note that members who have served three-year terms and are going off the Board in 2018 are not eligible for re-election until 2019. The exception to this is Board Members who are filling an unexpired vacant seat. Those individuals are marked with an asterisk. Help build NRMCA’s future by nominating a strong industry leader today! The deadline for nominations has been extended to Friday, July 28, 2017. 

The early bird registration deadline is Tuesday, August 8, for NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks 2017, scheduled for October 1-3 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, TX, with Board of Directors’ events and committee meetings preceding the conference on September 29-30. Register now to take advantage of the early bird pricing discount and save more than $100 off the regular registration fees. NRMCA has contracted a block of rooms at the resort at a discounted rate of $209/night plus taxes and a $20/night resort fee that covers several in-room amenities. Hotel reservations can be made by calling the Gaylord Texan directly at 877-491-5138 and asking for the "NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks 2017" rate or we encourage you to make your hotel reservations online. The hotel reservations cut-off date is Wednesday, September 6, or when the block sells out, whichever occurs first.

The Exhibitor Prospectus for this year’s event is also available. Please sign up now to reserve your spot in the expo hall. This year’s NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks is once again co-located with the American Concrete Pumping Association’s (ACPA) Education Conference.

 

NRMCA in collaboration with Dr. Neal Berke with Tourney Consulting Group has completed a research project titled Evaluation of Chloride Limits for Reinforced Concrete Phase A. The research was conducted at NRMCA and Tourney laboratories. The purpose of this phase of the research was to establish a relationship between the calculated total (initial) chloride content and the measured water-soluble chloride content in hardened concrete at a later age. The ACI 318 Building Code prescribes limits on water-soluble chlorides for concrete.

Concrete mixtures evaluated in this study included Type II and Type V portland cement, Class C and Class F fly ash, silica fume and slag cement. Mixtures with varying water-cementitious materials ratio were evaluated. The initial chloride content of the mixtures was varied between the background amount up to 2% by weight of cementitious materials by adding controlled amounts of calcium chloride. The initial chloride content was verified by measuring the acid soluble chloride content in accordance with ASTM C1152. The water-soluble chlorides were measured at an age between 28 and 42 days in accordance with ASTM C1218, as required by ACI 318-14.

In all cases, the measured water-soluble chlorides were less than the initial calculated chloride content and measured acid-soluble chloride content. The estimated initial chloride content determined by calculation of the chloride content of concrete materials and the concrete mixture proportions can be used to ensure that proposed mixtures will conform to the chloride limits stated in the Building Code and specifications. This permits the concrete producer to make adjustments to the mixture before the submittal rather than dealing with measured test results during the project. The research study supports a code change proposal to ACI 318 to permit the calculated total chloride to document conformance with the chloride limits in the Code.

This research work was funded by the RMC Research & Education Foundation and the ACI Concrete Foundation. 

The next NRMCA Concrete Durability Course has been confirmed for September 18-20, 2017, at the AGC of Utah headquarters in Salt Lake City. 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 familiarize attendees with the ConcreteWorks software used for mass concrete and service life prediction. The course also discusses the durability provisions in the Building Code - ACI 318-14 and how specifications can be structured to address durability. Comprehensive reference material is provided as course notes that is an excellent resource to concrete producers and associated technical personnel.

 

Those with the NRMCA Level 3 Certification obtain the NRMCA Concrete Technologist Level 4 Certification when passing the exam offered with the course. It is not essential to have attended the NRMCA Technical Short Course to attend the Durability Course. The course provides required learning units toward the technical track of the NRMCA STEPS certification program. Persons interested in attending this course are encouraged to register as soon as possible.

 

The following four sessions are scheduled for the technical track education program at the NRMCA ConcreteWorks in Dallas:

 

• Ready Mixed Concrete for Pavements, Monday, October 2, 1:45-2:45 p.m. - Peter Taylor with the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center will discuss the basic requirements for concrete mixtures for slip-form paving. The presentation will discuss the basic concepts of designing delivering and assuring a mixture using locally available materials. He will outline the concepts in AASHTO provisional standard PP84 Standard Practice for Developing Performance Engineered Concrete Pavement Mixtures.

• ConcreteWorks Software for Mass Concrete and Other Applications - Monday, October 2, 3:15-4:15 p.m. - Kevin Folliard with the University of Texas, Austin, will outline the use of this software that can be used to develop a thermal control plan for mass concrete, predict service life of concrete related to corrosion of reinforcing steel, prediction of strength based on maturity and other applications.

• Innovations in Concrete Materials Technology, Tuesday, October 3, 10-11 a.m. - Three 20-minute sessions: Controlled Flow Concrete outlines development of self consolidating concrete mixtures with low powder contents – Terry Harris, GCP Applied Technologies; IoT Solutions for Ready-Mix Producers provides novel "Internet of Things" solutions with project examples for ready mix producers – Matt Offenberg, Smart Concrete; Concrete Delivery Telematics – Unlocking the Easter Egg in the Truck discusses electronics on truck mixers that provide a wide range of information to support operational and quality control issues – James Shilstone, Jr., Command Alkon.

• How Can Mixer Drivers Positively Impact the Quality of Concrete, Tuesday, October 3, 11 a.m.-noon - Matt Chapman with Thomas Concrete will discuss ideas on how to empower mixer drivers to positively impact the quality of concrete.

 

September 18 - 20, Salt Lake City

Concrete Durability Course

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

 

October 1 - 3, Grapevine, TX

NRMCA ConcreteWorks 2017

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

 

October 10 – 13, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module I: Concrete 101

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

 

October 17 – 19, Denver

Safety Certification Course

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

 

November 2, Salt Lake City

Handling Concrete Specifications

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

 

November 6 – 10, Silver Spring, MD

Annual Technical Short Course

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

 

November 13 - 14, Dallas 

Leadership, Coaching for Operations Executives

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

 

November 15-16, Dallas

Sales Managers Leadership Workshop

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

 

November 28 – 30, Orlando, FL

Environmental Certification Course

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

 

December 5 – 7, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module II: Customer Business Knowledge

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

 

December 12 – 15, Orlando, FL

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

 

January 9 – 11, Orlando, FL

Dispatcher Training Forum

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

 

January 16 – 18, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module III: General Business Knowledge

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

January 16 – 19, Minneapolis

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

January 23 – 25, Orlando, FL

RMC Effective Supervisor Course

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

February 20 – 23, Albuquerque, NM

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

March 27 – 30, Louisville, KY

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

March 27 – 29, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module IV: Professional Sales Skills

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

Two thousand years ago, Roman builders constructed vast sea walls and harbor piers. The concrete they used outlasted the empire — and still holds lessons for modern engineers, scientists say. A bunch of half-sunken structures off the Italian coast might sound less impressive than a gladiatorial colosseum. But underwater, the marvel is in the material. The harbor concrete, a mixture of volcanic ash and quicklime, has withstood the sea for two millennia and counting. What's more, it is stronger than when it was first mixed.

 

The joints had been fixed and fresh asphalt laid over 40-year-old concrete on Interstate 94 between downtown Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center. But before traffic even started to roll over the new multimillion-dollar freeway, the pavement buckled in five places from the 90-degree June heat, leading to higher costs and more delays. The incident highlights a wrenching debate that is playing out among state officials trying to stretch limited transportation money to fix or replace as much roadway as possible. In Minnesota and in many other states, transportation funding has lagged as road conditions have deteriorated.

Houses can be made of wood, as they were in the past – or of concrete, as they are today. To build for tomorrow, the two building methods are being combined: these hybrid structures, which contain both wood and concrete elements, are becoming increasingly popular in contemporary architecture.