NRMCA e-news
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association
NRMCA's celebration of the 100th anniversary of ready mixed concrete in the U.S. concludes its April offerings with the histories of another Producer and Associate member. See below for the two companies we've selected for this week, along with a link to those companies respective Web sites for more information. This week's industry milestone: In 1927, the Erie Steel Construction Company of Erie, PA, developed the Aggremeter hopper which weighed and measured concrete ingredients by volume.
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.
Salina Concrete Products – This Producer member was organized in 1913 by H.H. Allison and known as Salina Silo. The business operated solely as a turnkey operation producing silo staves and then constructing concrete silos. This continued until 1975 when the company then known as Salina Concrete Products (SCP) eliminated silo production and construction due to the farming community moving to trench silos. In 1936, Salina Silo was purchased by the Wyatt Manufacturing Company. In 1938, SCP added ready mixed concrete and concrete block to its product mix. Now a subsidiary of The Monarch Cement Company, SCP still runs eight ready mix trucks and is routinely seen on residential and commercial projects throughout Saline County. Read more.
An NRMCA producer member since 2003.
GivenHansco - In 1969 Robert Hanson formed Hansco Data Processing, Inc., developing business applications for IBM mainframes. In 2002, the company now known as Hansco Information Technologies, Inc. merges with the Given Company to become GivenHansco, Inc. More than 30 years after its founding, GivenHansco is still developing ready mix-specific software, offering products and services for materials producers. Read more.
An NRMCA Associate member since 2001.
NEWS LINKS
Anthony Foxx, mayor of Charlotte, NC, and President Barack Obama's pick to head the Department of Transportation says he will continue the bipartisan efforts of outgoing Secretary Ray LaHood. "There is no such thing as a Democratic or Republican road, bridge, port, airfield or rail system," Foxx said. "We must work together across party lines to enhance this nation's infrastructure."
Source: AGC SmartBrief e-newsletter for April 30 which contained this April 29 article by the Reuters news service.
The Cement Association of Canada has launched a new Web site to engage stakeholders and the public in discussing concrete’s sustainability and provide information on the topic. The Web site, www.rediscoverconcrete.ca, is the collective endeavor of the Canadian Concrete Joint Sustainability Initiative members (CCJSI), a group that brings together representatives from different sectors of Canada’s cement and concrete industry to communicate and advance the industry’s significant contributions and progress toward meeting the challenges of sustainable construction.
Source: April 29 posting by the Daily Commercial News.
E-NEWS has reported on many universities' research on concrete and here's yet another. University of Washington-led researchers are seeking ways to reduce concrete's carbon footprint in an effort to manufacture greener concrete. What would the global energy savings be if concrete had a 50 percent smaller carbon footprint?
Source: An April 23 University of Washington news release. Read more.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, the South African National Roads Agency’s (Sanral’s) multibillion-rand road-upgrade and road-building plans were hindered last year because of shortages of bitumen, which stemmed from unplanned shutdowns at refineries. The shortage is "encouraging cement firms to dream of a shift to concrete roads," the article states. "For years, cement companies have tried to get road authorities to choose cement which would then be made into concrete. Yet bitumen has been found to be cheaper and quicker to work with. This is even if concrete roads last longer."
Source: An April 25 article by BusinessDay Live. Read more.
PAVEMENTS
The date for the July Design of Concrete Pavements online course has been changed to July 8 - 11 from noon to 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. This course provides an in-depth look at how to design and construct concrete streets and parking lots. Recommendations for concrete reinforcement, thickness and jointing designs will be provided. Construction techniques, inspection, testing, maintenance and repair are discussed. Additional details will be provided on cost estimating, cost-benefit analysis and life cycle cost. In addition to details of conventional concrete streets and parking lots, this seminar will provide introductions to innovative products such as pervious concrete, concrete overlays and roller compacted concrete.
This course is intended for civil engineers, geotechnical engineers, public works officials and architects involved in the design and layout of concrete streets and parking areas. Concrete contractors and concrete producers will also benefit from the class. Participants who attend all sessions and successfully complete all quizzes will receive 6 Professional Development Hours.
Click here to register for the course. For more information, contact NRMCA's Amanda Hult at ahult@nrmca.org or Shawnita Dickens at sdickens@nrmca.org.
Registration is now open for the Pervious Concrete: A Stormwater Solution online course to be held May 20-23 from noon to 1:30 p.m. Eastern time each day. This course will provide detailed instruction on how to implement pervious concrete pavements as a solution to reducing stormwater runoff from building sites and other paved areas. Attendees will learn the details of pervious concrete pavement systems, engineering properties and construction techniques. Other topics that will be covered include:
• Economic and Environmental Benefits
• Hydrological and Structural Design
• Specifications, Mix Design and Test Methods
• Construction Techniques
• Contractor Certification
• Durability and Maintenance
• Applications and Case Studies
This course is intended for civil engineers, architects, landscape architects, public works officials and others who design pavements and stormwater management systems. Contractors, product suppliers and land developers will also benefit from this seminar. Participants will receive 6 continuing education hours upon completion of the course, required reading material and quizzes.
Click here to register for the course. For more information contact NRMCA's Amanda Hult at ahult@nrmca.org or Shawnita Dickens at sdickens@nrmca.org.
PROMOTIONS
The Wisconsin Concrete Technology Seminar earlier this year is starting to pay back results reports NRMCA Senior National Resource Director Jon Hansen.
"The seminar focused heavily on rehabilitation options for existing streets and local roads and parking lots," he said. "It featured a good mix of technical resources documents for concrete overlays presented by me; then a producer spoke on the contractor/producer relationship for going after work, and finally the morning session was rounded out with a contractor talking about the contractor/ producer relationship. The contractor finished his presentation with tips on customer relationships that lead to winning jobs. All of us in the morning session had a common theme: Working together to get the work."
"A couple of weeks ago, I received a call from an industry partner in Wisconsin telling me he was sure he has converted a 50,000 SF parking lot overlay project in western Wisconsin," continued Hansen. "The approach he used to get this project was 'textbook' from the seminar."
Hansen also took advantage of his time in the morning to make the 130 in attendance aware of the RMC Research & Education Foundation's (RMC) Bridge the Gap campaign. He stressed the important part the Foundation played in bringing the latest technical document to the industry and how it helps everyone who makes their living in the concrete industry secure more jobs.
Click here for more info on the RMC Bridge the Gap campaign. For more information on the activity in Wisconsin discussed above, contact Jon Hansen at jhansen@nrmca.org.
Mark your calendars for two more of NRMCA's promotion-focused Webinars scheduled for this month - and on the same day too. Both Introduction to Concrete Pavement Analyst Software and The Quantifiable Advantages of Concrete Parking Lots are set for Monday, May 13. Click on the respective links below to learn more and then to register online.
ASSOCIATION & INDUSTRY NEWS
NRMCA Associate member The Euclid Chemical Company of Cleveland has had two of its employees named Fellows of the American Concrete Institute (ACI). Philip Brandt, vice president, business development, and Warren McPherson, Great Lakes regional manager, were honored by ACI. ACI Fellows are individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the production or use of concrete materials, products and structures in the areas of education, research, development, design, construction or management.
Brandt has been with Euclid Chemical for more than 20 years and has been a member of ACI since 1984. He has served as the first president of the ACI Central Texas Chapter, chaired ACI 305, Hot Weather Concrete for several years and was instrumental in completing the first published specification for that committee. McPherson, who has been actively involved in the design, manufacturing and finishing of concrete for more than 35 years, is the past president of the ACI Greater Michigan Chapter. He is also a member of the following ACI committees: 211, Proportioning Concrete Mixtures; 237, Self-Consolidating Concrete; 302, Construction of Concrete Floors; 332, Residential Concrete Work; and C640, Craftsman Certification.
Source: Euclid Chemical Company press release.
ENGINEERING
NRMCA has made available a new compilation of 38 current ASTM standards related to ready mixed concrete. NRMCA Publication 2PCONCRETE13, ASTM Standards for Ready Mixed Concrete includes ASTM C94, Specification for Ready Mixed Concrete and most of the standards referenced in the specification and other standards used for quality control testing of aggregates and concrete. Cement specifications and The Manual of Aggregate and Concrete Testing are also included in this publication. This is a must-have reference for technical services and quality control personnel in the cement, aggregates, admixtures and ready mixed concrete industries.
By special agreement with ASTM, this publication is available at a considerable discount from the ASTM list price only to NRMCA members. Non-members of NRMCA will need to purchase this publication from ASTM at www.astm.org. To purchase a copy, contact NRMCA's Jacques Jenkins. For a listing of the standards, click here.
NRMCA is now accepting applications for its popular Excellence in Quality Award contest. A company must be a 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 from 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.
Click here to access the Excel spreadsheet award form from NRMCA's Web site and for more information, including past quality award winners please. Completed award forms should be e-mailed by June 30 in the original Excel format along with required supporting documentation to Karen Bean at kbean@nrmca.org.
OPERATIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL, SAFETY & HR
NRMCA has scheduled the last two Plant Manager Certification classes of 2013 for August 13-16 in Silver Spring, MD (metro Washington, DC), and December 10-13 in Orlando, FL. This course establishes basic industry standards, measured through certification. Please note that the Army Corps of Engineers requires batchmen on awarded contracts pass the class’s exams BEFORE work commences. Seats are on a first come, first served basis.
Plant managers serve a vital function, with responsibilities that affect issues from regulatory compliance to product quality, safety and profitability. NRMCA’s certification program helps them make sure that they are up to speed on product knowledge, plant safety, environmental regulations, plant operations and ready mixed concrete industry business principles.
Click here for more information, registration options and staff contact.
SUSTAINABILITY
NRMCA now has a Webinar recording, PDF presentation and design guidelines - each available for downloading - that outline how concrete performance can be improved while lowering the environmental footprint by implementing performance-based specifications.
Concrete is used in nearly every structure we build today, including buildings, bridges, homes and infrastructure. With greater emphasis placed on sustainability in recent years, engineers, architects, contractors and concrete producers are faced with the challenge of meeting traditional design criteria in addition to evolving criteria that support sustainable construction. Performance-based specifications for concrete can substantially help meet this new challenge. Prescriptive requirements such as minimum cement content or maximum water to cement ratio are among many common specification requirements that can increase the environmental footprint of concrete.
Visit www.nrmca.org/sustainability or www.nrmca.org/P2P to download these valuable resources. For more information, contact NRMCA's Lionel Lemay at LLemay@nrmca.org or 847-918-7101 or Colin Lobo at CLobo@nrmca.org or (240) 485-1160.
This week is the last chance to register in advance for the 2013 International Concrete Sustainability Conference, May 6-8 in San Francisco. NRMCA’s eighth annual sustainability conference will provide the latest advances, technical knowledge, continuing research and solutions for sustainable concrete manufacturing and construction. Experts will present on the latest developments related to design, specifying, manufacturing, testing, construction, maintenance and research of concrete as it relates to sustainable development. A few of the organizations represented during the technical sessions include:
• Stanford University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• UC Berkeley
• Cambridge University
• Washington State University
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• FHWA
• Google
• PE International
• Climate Earth
• Architecture 2030
• Skidmore, Owings & Merril
• Arup
• AECOM
• KPFF
• DPR Construction
Visit www.concretesustainabilityconference.org for online and fax-back registration links. For more information, contact NRMCA's Lionel Lemay at LLemay@nrmca.org or 847-918-7101.
Two weeks ago, Tien Peng, NRMCA’s senior director of sustainability, codes and standards, presented "Concrete Building Systems: Disaster Resilient Solutions for Safer Communities" at the The Infrastructure Security Partnership's Critical Infrastructure Symposium 2013. The Resilient Construction track was moderated by Cooper Martin who is the manager of Community Resilience for the American Institute of Architects. The program also featured sessions on topics of infrastructure resilience policy, structure and design, operation, education and training. Approximately 250 engineers, architects, emergency management planners, and environmental professionals, in addition to representatives from the Navy, Army and Coast Guard attended the conference at the West Point Military Academy in West Point, NY.
The Critical Infrastructure Symposium (TCIS) is a collaborative learning community comprised of students, educators, practitioners and government officials all engaged in developing the next generation of critical infrastructure protection and resilience leadership, technologies and strategies. The symposium is about the integration of policy, engineering and asset protection with economics, insurance, security and everything else to form a coherent whole.
For more information on concrete resilience initiatives, contact Tien Peng at tpeng@nrmca.org or 206-913-8535. NRMCA is also updating the www.nrmca.org/resilience Web page.
NRMCA will present free Webinars on Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) on Wednesday, May 22, and Wednesday, June 19. EPDs are third-party verified (certified) reports published by product manufacturers that provide quality assured and comparable information regarding environmental performance of their products. Well established in other parts of the world, EPDs are starting to appear in the U.S. as the common methodology for assessing environmental performance of a product. The upcoming LEED v4 Rating System and Architecture 2030 Challenge for Products are starting the demand for EPDs.
Join us for an informative 1-1/2 hour Webinar as we offer a brief overview of EPDs, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) that supports them and the Product Category Rules (PCRs) that sets the ground rules for them. In addition, the Webinar will discuss NRMCA’s EPD Program and present the first certified EPD for concrete in North America.
To register, click on the date you would like to attend:
Visit www.nrmca.org/sustainability for more information on EPDs or contact NRMCA's Lionel Lemay at LLemay@nrmca.org or 847-918-7101.
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
NRMCA encourages you to join our industry allies for the Transportation Construction Coalition’s (TCC) 2013 Legislative Fly-in on Capitol Hill on June 4-5 in Washington, DC. The Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) scored a major victory last year when the "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act" (MAP- 21) became law. The legislation provided a two-year authorization through the end of Fiscal Year 2014 and sufficient revenue to support current funding levels. MAP-21 also accomplished significant reforms in the federal-aid highway and transit programs that will give states more say over what projects are to be built and expediting the environmental review and planning process to speed delivery of necessary transportation infrastructure projects. Senators and representatives have told us that hearing from the folks back home about the need for transportation investment was an important factor in getting MAP-21 enacted.
With this major victory behind us, now is the time to address the long-term viability of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) by providing the revenue necessary to address the nation’s current and growing transportation investment deficit. As Congress continues to debate the budget, deficit, spending and revenue, it is important that transportation investment be part of the discussions.
Your members of Congress need to hear from you. They must understand the dire impact on their states, districts and the national economy if Congress fails to take action to address the long-term financial solvency of the HTF. Join your fellow transportation construction colleagues in making the case with Congress that timely reauthorization of MAP-21 must be a priority.
This year’s meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Washington, 400 New Jersey Ave, NW, Washington, DC: click here to register. To make your hotel reservation, contact the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill at 1-888-421-1442 or 1-202-737-1234. Ask for the TCC Fly-In rate of $309 per night. Please make your reservations today. The TCC hotel room block ends on Friday, May 3.
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 April 22 - 26, 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 Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
NRMCA's Technology in Practice series cover brief technical topics in the popular "What?, Why? And How?" format and are developed as educational topics for ready mixed concrete industry technical personnel. The topics are selected and developed by the NRMCA Research, Engineering and Standards (RES) Committee. NRMCA releases two more topics in the series:
TIP 9 – Density of Structural Lightweight Concrete – discusses the relationship between oven-dry density, equilibrium density and fresh bulk density of lightweight concrete. The density of lightweight concrete is critical when used for design load on structural members, fire rating of building assemblies and overall mass of a structure in seismic conditions. The TIP discusses procedures used in ASTM C567 to calculate or measure the density of lightweight concrete in different moisture conditions and to develop information required in project submittals.
TIP 10 – Mixing Water Quality for Concrete – addresses the process of qualifying non-potable sources of water, such as well water or mixer wash water, for use as mixing water in concrete. It discusses the details of ASTM C1602, Specification for Mixing Water and the testing requirements to qualify non-potable sources of water for use in concrete.
The TIP series is available as a package of the current 10 topics. The list of topics and a brief preview of each can be viewed here. Contact Jacques Jenkins to order a set of the TIPs.
CALENDAR
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site.
May 6-8, San Francisco
International Concrete Sustainability Conference
Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101
May 12-15, Chicago
Fifth North American Conference on Design and Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete
May 13, Frankfort, KY
Regional ConcreteWorks
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
May 13, Webinar
Introduction to Concrete Pavement Analyst Program
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
May 13, Webinar
The Quantifiable Advantages of Concrete Parking Lots
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
May 20, Webinar
Roller Compacted Concrete: Your Third Choice for Pavement
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
May 20-23 Online Course
Pervious Concrete: A Stormwater Solution
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
May 31, Webinar
ACI 330 R-08 – The Gold Standard of Concrete Parking Lot Design
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
June 3-5, Chicago
Concrete Durability Course
Email: Karen Bean, 888-84-NRMCA, x1168
June 3, Webinar (Part I)
Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
June 10, Webinar (Part II)
Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
June 11, Webinar
Concrete Overlays for Streets and Local Roads and Parking Lots
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
June 25, Webinar
Controlling Moisture in Concrete Slabs
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
July 8-11, Online Course
Design of Concrete Pavements
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
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 13-16, Silver Spring, MD
Plant Manager Certification Course
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
August 27, Webinar
Concrete Pavement Jointing Plans
Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154
August 30, Webinar
ACI 330 R-08 – The Gold Standard of Concrete Parking Lot Design
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
September 22-24, Las Vegas
Concrete Works & Board of Directors' Meeting
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
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
October 1-4, Silver Spring, MD
CCSP I: Introduction to Concrete Fundamentals—Concrete 101
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
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