NRMCA e-news
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association
NRMCA's celebration of the 100th anniversary of ready mixed concrete in the United States continues in E-NEWS this week with the histories of another Producer and Associate member. See below for the two companies we've selected this week, along with a link to that company's respective Web site for more information. This week's industry milestone? In the Summer of 1933, concrete placement began on the Hoover Dam. When all was said and done in 1935 more than 3,250,000 cubic yards of concrete were placed for the dam itself and another 1.1 million cubic yards went into the power plant and other surrounding works.
To have your company featured in this space in the coming weeks, please contact NRMCA's Kathleen Carr Smith at kcarrsmith@nrmca.org or 301-587-1400, ext. 1145. ——————— Maschmeyer Concrete Company An NRMCA member since 1996. ——————— Sioux Corporation An NRMCA Associate member since 1975. 
NEWS LINKS
The ready-mix concrete market — along with most other construction-based sectors — shrank significantly during the recession, but the recovering housing and commercial construction sectors mean more concrete is being poured, and that translates to growing order boards for mixer body and truck manufacturers.
Source: February 1 edition of Light & Medium Truck online. President Obama called in his State of the Union address for a "Fix it First" program to encourage public-private partnerships to fund transportation improvements in the country.
Source: February 12 entry on The Hill's Transportation Blog, which was included in the February 13 AGC SmartBrief e-newsletter. According to Fox Business, the oil production boom in North Dakota is continuing to spur rapid economic growth in the state, analysts say. Since 2009, employment has soared more than 60% in the Bakken Shale area's 12 counties, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. As a result of the influx of workers, the city of Williston saw "$470 million in construction and remodel permit valuations" in 2012 and the construction of 12 new hotels since 2010.
Source: February 11 article on Fox Business Online, which was included in the February 13 AGC SmartBrief e-newsletter. PROMOTIONS
Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association (PACA) Promotion Director Ken Crank recently joined NRMCA Senior National Resource Director Phil Kresge in meeting with an engineer from the Chalfont, PA office of Bohler Engineering. They took the opportunity to discuss ACI-330 parking lot design recommendations and to introduce the NRMCA Parking Lot Design Assistance Program. The meeting was part of NRMCA’s Full-Loop Promotion effort.
"Our National Accounts promotion efforts have been successful in creating a strong desire in many of our clients for concrete bids as alternates on all their parking lot projects," says Kresge. "However, in many parts of the country, particularly here in the northeast, these bids are not realized because regional and local specifiers, design consultants and general contractors working on the projects provide little encouragement or support for concrete design. In most cases, it is because they are not familiar with, and therefore not comfortable with, concrete paving."
The solution is to "complete the loop" by developing supportive relationships with regional and local consultants in order to win projects. The ideal approach for these projects will be for the NRD and local promoter to meet together with the consultants to offer the range of available concrete paving support, with the local partner establishing the long-term relationships in order to pursue future National Account and other project opportunities. "Full-Loop Promotion is our way of connecting the dots," says Kresge.
Headquartered in Warren, NJ, Bohler Engineering has 13 offices in MA, NJ, NY, PA, FL and VA. Their list of clients includes some of NRMCA’s identified National Accounts. Kresge and Crank will continue to work with Bohler to benefit those N/A’s as well as local and regional accounts.
For more information, contact Phil Kresge at pkresge@nrmca.org.
NRMCA announced this week that Jim Mack, Director of Market Development for CEMEX, one of the premier champions of concrete in the nation, is the winner of the 2013 Promoter of the Year Award. With Master degrees in both civil engineering and business administration, Jim works effectively with the technically proficient but also has the ability to convey complicated topics in simple terms to non-technical audiences. He has particularly distinguished himself in recent years as the chair of the industry technical group working with the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub.
Jim's expertise in helping promoters and legislators alike understand the nuances of material-specific inflation rates and their impact on Life Cycle Cost Analysis(LCCA) in street and road construction budgets has influenced policy in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Texas and California. His reputation for being unbiased, honest and straightforward gives his message high credibility among agency officials across the nation, including at the federal Government Accounting Office. In California, Jim has provided critical insight to Caltrans LCA research taking place at the University of California Pavement Research Center. In Florida, he has been a valuable member of the Florida DOT Concrete Pavement Task Force since 2009, working to improve design procedures, address specification issues and introduce new pavement design options including concrete overlays and roller compacted concrete for shoulders. He can be trusted to provide strong technical data in a manner that can be easily understood by policy-makers and PhD's alike. These comments of Franz-Josef Ulm, Director of the Concrete Sustainability Hub at MIT, are a testament to Jim's worthiness for this year's award: "All the developments so far achieved in the Hub would have been impossible without the guidance and collaboration of Jim Mack. He is the single authority in the U.S. who combines the technical knowhow of pavement engineering, LCA and LCCA with commercialization, a combination that allows him to identify the potential for concrete market penetration. By giving this prestigious award to Jim Mack, you honor a truly professional engineer and manager, whose outstanding contributions have re-positioned concrete at the pole position for pavements in the United States." Jim will be presented the NRMCA Promoter of the Year Award on March 5, 2013, during the NRMCA Convention in San Antonio, TX. 
ENGINEERING
NRMCA will offer the Concrete Durability Course on June 3-5, 2013 at offices of the CTLGroup in Skokie (Chicago area), Illinois. The course is taught by Michael Thomas, University of New Brunswick and Kevin Folliard, University of Texas at Austin and NRMCA Engineering professionals. 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 and provides additional learning units towards the NRMCA STEPS program. Please click here to register early.
The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association is offering its one-day course, Handling Concrete Specifications, Low Strength Problems and Mixture Submittals, intended for concrete producers, contractors, engineers and testing labs. The course will be offered on Wednesday, March 20 in Charlotte, NC and Thursday April 4 in Baton Rouge, LA.
Dealing with concrete specifications, troubleshooting low strength problems and ensuring proper mixture submittals can be expensive and time consuming. This one-day course will get into code and specification requirements (ACI 318, 301, ASTM C94) governing ready mixed concrete including exposure categories introduced in ACI Building Code 318-08. It will suggest specification revisions for all around benefits in performance and cost based on a specification guideline document. The guideline document is the result of review of numerous concrete specifications (Section 03300) belonging to large owners and has been reviewed and supported by the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standards Committee. The course will cover the analysis of strength test results to identify causes for low strength problems and provide guidance to track compliance with specification requirements. Non-destructive testing techniques like the Rebound Hammer, core testing, evaluating core test results for acceptance and assignment of responsibility will be discussed. The course also provides necessary details required for an efficient concrete mixture submittal following the ACI 318 Flowchart for Selection of Concrete Mixtures. Course instructors are Luke Snell, P.E., FACI, FASCE, Western Technologies and an NRMCA engineer. Producers, contractors, engineers and testing labs will find the discussions on investigating low strength problems and specifications very helpful to address issues that impact partnering, project cost and schedule. Upon successful completion of the course, attendees will earn 8 professional development hours, a certificate of completion and credits toward NRMCA's STEPS program. For more information, click here. SUSTAINABILITY
NASA’s Zortnetzer to Present on LEED Platinum Sustainability Base
 Dr. Steve Zornetzer, PhD, associate center director at NASA Ames Research Center will present details of the new ultra-green federal facility, named Sustainability Base, located at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA at the 2013 International Concrete Sustainability Conference, May 6-8, in San Francisco. Sustainability Base received the highest level of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, LEED Platinum, in 2012. Unlike any other government building ever constructed, this new facility’s performance includes repurposed NASA aerospace technologies. Highly intelligent, even intuitive, this building is designed to optimize its performance automatically, in real time, and in response to internal and external changes. This 50,000 square-foot, lunar-shaped building will know exactly how much energy each occupant uses and can adapt to weather, season and occupancy. Sustainability Base was awarded LEED platinum certification because it received more than 80 out of 100 points across five major categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, plus additional points for innovation in design and regional priority. NASA’s new, environmentally-friendly building was named in honor of the first humans to walk on the surface of the moon more than 40 years ago. The landing site for the Apollo 11 spacecraft was named Tranquility Base. Sustainability Base is a site where NASA technologies can be repurposed for application on Earth.MIT’s Jeremy Gregory to Present on Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings
Dr Jeremy Gregory, PhD, research scientist, MIT Materials Systems Laboratory, will present Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings: A Gap Analysis of Existing Literature and Trending Tools at the 2013 International Concrete Sustainability Conference, May 6-8, in San Francisco. It is widely reported that buildings contribute one-third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and more than 40% of global energy use. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identified the building sector as the area with the most potential to deliver long-term and cost-effective GHG reduction. One method for quantifying real and potential reductions in GHG emissions is life cycle assessment (LCA). However, inconsistent LCA design tools, coupled with regional variations in housing styles and energy sources, makes comparison between studies challenging and impedes scalability. Existing tools generally fall into two categories: those that use LCA to estimate life cycle impacts of materials and those that focus on estimating the use phase energy modeling. While these tools certainly add value for users, the industry lacks a tool that is both comprehensive and provides a platform for quantifying for uncertainty. This presentation will review different approaches to building LCA in an effort to identify overarching trends, as well as identify gaps or inconsistencies ripe for refinement. Click here for list of speakers and to register for the conference. Contact Lionel Lemay at LLemay@nrmca.org or 847-918-7101.
EDUCATION &TRAINING
Educational Activities Committee (EAC) Chair Patsy Bergquist extends a warm invitation to all attendees at NRMCA's 2013 Annual Convention to join the Spring EAC Meeting, Sunday, March 3, from 2:00-4:00 p.m., at the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa, San Antonio, TX
These tough times make it a challenge for industry staff to participate in training. Nevertheless, EAC continues to offer vital insight about what short- and long-term preparations are needed that positively impact the professionalism and growth of staff. Please join us for a frank discussion about what your company could use to keep employees performing at a national standard. That includes foreseeable publications, classes, Webinars and out-of-box ideas: creative input is most welcome.
For more information, contact staff EAC liaison Eileen Dickson at edickson@nrmca.org or 240-485-1164.
CALENDAR
CCSP Module III: General Business Knowledge Email:Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154 February 20, Cleveland, OH February 21, Webinar February 25, Webinar February 26, Webinar February 28, Orlando, FL March 3-5, San Antonio, TX March 5, Webinar March 7, Webinar March 11-14, Online Course March 12, Webinar March 12-14, Silver Spring, MD March 15, Webinar March 19, Webinar March 19-21, Silver Spring, MD March 19-22, Houston, TX March 20, Charlotte, NC March 26, Webinar April 4, Baton Rouge, LA April 8-11, Online Course April 19, Webinar April 23, Webinar May 6-8, San Francisco, CA May 12-15, Chicago, IL May 20-23 Online Course June 3-5, Chicago, IL June 11, Webinar June 25, Webinar August 11-15, Montreal August 13-16, Silver Spring, MD August 27, Webinar September 22-24, Las Vegas, NV November 19-21, Silver Spring, MD December 4-6, Orlando, FL December 10-13, Orlando, FL |
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