NRMCA e-news

NRMCA Vice President, National Resources, Jon Hansen reports that a newly created organization - The Iowa Good Roads Association - has been formed with $80,000 in funding from the ready mix concrete, asphalt, aggregate, cement and contractor sectors. The aim is to force the state's governor to support a fuel tax increase for road construction. "So it is never one material against another, it is about building good roads and bridges," Hansen said.

An E-NEWS item from earlier this month detailed a large concrete pour in Los Angeles described as the largest continuous pour ever. Since then, more details have been forthcoming. NRMCA Producer member Catalina Pacific Concrete/CalPortland produced and delivered the concrete for the largest continuous concrete foundation pour in history. "Ultimately 21,200 cubic yards of concrete were placed by 11:30 a.m., beating the existing record of 21,000 cubic yards set by The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas in 1999", Guinness World Records adjudicator Michael Empric said to the media gathered at the end of the "Grand Pour". The foundation is just the beginning of what will soon become the tallest building in Los Angeles, the new Wilshire Grand.  When completed this more than $1 billion world class mixed use office and hotel project will ascend 73 stories skyward topping out at 1,100 feet making it the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River.

The concrete placement began on Saturday, February 15, and was supplied from eight area concrete batch plants operating at full capacity throughout the night and into the morning.  A fleet of 208 concrete mixer trucks delivered 2,120 loads of concrete continuously until the final record volume was reached at approximately 11:30 a.m. Sunday, February 16. There was around the clock transport and delivery of more than 200 truckloads of cement from CalPortland’s Mojave and Colton cement plants, approximately 65 loads of fly ash and 1,340 truckloads of rock and sand to all operating concrete batch plants.

The American Coal Ash Association (ACAA) hosted its annual winter meeting in Albuquerque, NM, earlier this month. In the morning session, more than 125 participants were presented with information on the current state of the coal market and the Anthracite Region Independent Power Producer's Association (ARIPPA) report on removing and utilizing coal refuse from current and past mining activities and returning thousands of acres of land back to its natural state and usefulness. Additionally, Martha Van Geem, principal engineer with Van Geem Consulting, spoke about the ongoing task of developing an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for fly ash and a representative from the Environmental Protection Agency discussed the recent positive finding for beneficial use of CCR in concrete.

In the afternoon, NRMCA Vice President, Pavement Structures, Brian Killingsworth presented on roller compacted concrete pavement; specifically about its uses, how it is produced and constructed, and how coal combustion products can be utilized to enhance the RCC mixture properties. Audience discussion after the presentation focused on the opportunities for high-volume fly ash replacement in RCC pavement applications and what the overall outlook is with RCC pavement in the future. Killingsworth shared with the group that fly ash, as a cement and fine aggregate replacement, is being used much more commonly in RCC paving mixtures in the U.S. and the future is very bright for this versatile paving mixture. In fact, over 17 million square yards of RCC pavement have been placed since the mid 1980’s in the U.S., wherein almost one-third of that quantity has been placed during the period from 2011 to 2013.

For more information about roller compacted concrete pavement, contact NRMCA’s Brian Killingsworth at bkillingsworth@nrmca.org or 830-438-2690 or the NRMCA National Resource Director in your area.

The Erie-Niagara Chapter of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers recently held its E-Week Seminar Series which included a session on ACI 330 given by the team of Greg Novitzki, executive director of the NY Concrete Promotion Council and Doug O’Neill, NRMCA senior director, national resources. This year’s event drew close to 200 attendees, O’Neill reported. The team of Novitzki and O’Neill covered why attendees should consider ACI 330 over other pavement design options and then went into the different sections of the ACI 330 Guide, ending with an overview of the resources available, including the NRMCA’s Design Assistance Program. During the questions and answers section, one civil engineer was eager to discuss an upcoming, several acre parking lot which was designed in asphalt. The engineer had not even considered concrete as an option, until now. The team will be following up on this opportunity for a DAP.

"It was one of those sessions where you could tell everyone in the room was paying attention and interested," O’Neill said. Novitzki had brought with him a box of ACI 330 manuals which was empty by the time the they left the auditorium. "I was surprised and thrilled with how many came up to us afterward with questions and to take one of the guides," Novitzki said.

For more information, contact Doug O'Neill at doneill@nrmca.org.

NRMCA is pleased to announce the Tennessee Concrete Association (TCA) as the winner of the 2013 State Association of the Year. This is the 10th annual award and the second time TCA has received this recognition, having previously won in 2008.  Some highlights from Tennessee’s nomination include:

• 2013 Week of Concrete – 2013 debuted this five-day event that covered numerous concrete markets, including decorative flatwork, decorative vertical concrete, sealers and stains, pervious concrete, decorative pervious, high-performance concrete construction, Green Schools and more.

• TCA helped design and install a beautiful pervious parking lot for the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation at its new office location in Nashville. This was the first commercial installation of a ‘small-stone’ pervious using 7/32" crushed limestone aggregate.

• In the advocacy arena, significant progress was made in regard to air content on bridge decks and numerous changes are being implemented in the way that TDOT handles and tests acceptance cylinders. Potential savings from direct penalties for low cylinder breaks and other out-of-pocket costs associated with acceptance testing on TDOT projects are estimated to be at least $250,000 per year for ready mix producers in Tennessee.

• TCA has created a campus in Nashville, with the vision of it serving as a concrete showplace and hands-on learning lab for all things concrete. In addition to hosting two technical tours for the national Construction Specifications Institute trade show (CONSTRUCT) in September, the TCA Campus also hosted groups, including the National Conservation Resource Service, Middle TN Chapter of the US Green Building Council, Middle Tennessee State University, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee State University, the Wilmot Company, Tennessee Department Environmental and Conservation, and numerous individuals. The entire facility is designed with QR codes and signage throughout to provide visitors the opportunity to gain additional information about the concrete options they are viewing.

• In addition to being a long-time supporter of the RMC Research & Education Foundation, and participating in research at a variety of educational institutions across the state, TCA’s primary research project for 2013 took place during the Week of Concrete event on the TCA Campus. Seven different pervious mixes were tested, along with two different finishing techniques. The results of this research are being used by TCA in its ongoing educational outreach and promotion efforts targeted to the design and regulatory communities.

For more information on this NRMCA award program, contact Nicole Maher at nmaher@nrmca.org.

NRMCA recently completed its Regional Technical Short Course at the offices of the Florida Concrete & Products Association (FCPA) in Orlando. The course was attended by 39 industry personnel. The following is the summary of the results of the certification exams:

• NRMCA Level 2 – 24 awarded

• NRMCA Level 3 – 13 awarded

• NRMCA Field Testing Technician Grade II – 25 passed the exam, 19 were awarded certification (NRMCA Field Grade II requires a current ACI Field Grade I certification.)

NRMCA commends the attendees at the course for their effort and diligence in participating and commend those who obtained certifications. NRMCA thanks FCPA for its co-sponsorship of the course and significant support.

The Environmental Protection Agency is hosting a Webinar on Thursday, February 27, from 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern time to provide an overview of the Agency's recently released Methodology for Evaluating Encapsulated Beneficial Uses of Coal Combustion Residuals and the Coal Combustion Residual Beneficial Use Evaluation: Fly Ash Concrete and FGD Gypsum Wallboard.  The methodology supports beneficial use decisions by allowing the user to determine whether releases from an encapsulated beneficial use of coal combustion residuals during use are comparable to or lower than those from analogous products made without CCRs or are at or below relevant regulatory and health-based benchmarks.

EPA used the methodology to evaluate the potential environmental impacts associated from fly ash used as a direct substitute for portland cement in concrete and from FGD gypsum used as a replacement for mined gypsum in wallboard. EPA's evaluation concluded that the beneficial use of encapsulated CCRs in concrete and wallboard is appropriate because they are either comparable to analogous products or below the relevant benchmarks. 

  

Last November, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a proposed rule which would require employers to electronically submit their injury and illness reports to OSHA, instead of just keeping that information on file at each work place. OSHA proposes that employers with 250 or more employees submit detailed reports quarterly, while employers with 20 to 249 employees submit just a summary report once a year. In addition, employers would be required to post this information online for the public to examine. OSHA plans to use this newly gathered information to "...be better able to identify and remove workplace hazards." As well, the new information will "...identify the workplaces where workers are at greatest risk."

NRMCA has submitted comments opposing OSHA’s proposal, specifically taking issue with such information unnecessarily being placed into the public domain, different reporting requirements for different size establishments, as well as the fact that OSHA already has the means for collecting this information. NRMCA notes in its comments that, "...OSHA is imposing duplicative, arbitrary and an undue burden on employers of all sizes." NRMCA’s comments go on to state, "...publishing and allowing public access to establishment specific safety data poses serious employer liability concerns and should never be a part any federal agency information collection. Instead of grabbing for greater information collection and enforcement authority, OSHA should rely on utilizing its current authority to further its directive. Continued reliance on current OSHA enforcement, incentives, and voluntary protection programs are proven methods for fulfilling OSHA’s safety and health mission."

For decades scientists and green building advocates have agreed that the most effective method of reducing urban heat islands is to use light colored pavements and cladding such as concrete. Recently, however, the Asphalt Pavement Alliance has been challenging the science behind urban heat island effect with new research from Arizona State University (ASU). "Unintended Consequences: A Research Synthesis Examining the Use of Reflective Pavements to Mitigate the Urban Heat Island Effect," calls into question many common assumptions about the ability of reflective pavements to mitigate urban heat island effect. 

Given the large body of scientific evidence associated with reflective pavements, it is no wonder the flawed ASU paper has been called into question. The Global Cool Cities Alliance has issued a letter to the director of ASU Global Institute of Sustainability characterizing the research as "biased, misleading, and error-riddled industry white paper" and urged a retraction of the paper, citing its "institutional reputation" at risk.

Green building standards have widely adopted reflective material as UHI reduction strategy: The International Green Construction Code mandates heat island mitigation with hardscape materials that are light colored with a Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) of at least 29. LEED 2009 credit SSc7.1 Heat Island Effect and LEED v4 SSc5 Heat Island Reduction contains substantially the same requirement; And Green Globes offers 1 credit for at least 25% of a site hardscape having an SRI of 25.

The speakers schedule for the 2014 International Concrete Sustainability Conference, scheduled for May 12-14 just outside Boston, has been finalized. Over 60 world-renowned experts will present the latest developments related to design, specifying, manufacturing, testing, construction, maintenance and research of concrete as they relate to sustainability. This year’s conference is being held in cooperation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Concrete Sustainability Hub Showcase scheduled for May 15. The conference is co-sponsored by NRMCA, RMC Research & Education Foundation and the Portland Cement Association.

Keynote speakers include:

• Jeremy Gregory, PhD, executive director, Concrete Sustainability Hub and research director, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States

• John L. Knott, Jr., executive director, Health Product Declaration Collaborative, United States

• Phillip Williams, PE, LEED AP, vice president of sustainability and technical systems, Webcor Builders/Webcor Consulting, United States

• Michael Culp, team leader-sustainable transport and climate change at FHWA, United States

• Michael Lepech, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, United States

• Gina Ahlstrom, senior pavement engineer, FHWA Office of Pavement Technology, United States

• Mark Webster, structural engineer, Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger, United States

• Jennifer Atlee, HPD technical liaison, Health Product Declaration Collaborative, United States

• Lisa Bradley, Ph.D. vice president and senior toxicologist/risk assessor, AECOM, United States

Fifty-five technical speakers from 10 different countries will present in a total of 18 technical sessions over the two day Sustainability conference. 

The MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub Showcase will feature key researchers who will present research on concrete science, buildings, and pavements using poster sessions, plenary presentations, and interactive workshops. The event is an opportunity for stakeholders, including researchers, design professionals, and industry professionals to see first-hand the progress being made at MIT.

For additional details and to register for the conference visit www.concretesustainabilityconference.org or contact Lionel Lemay at LLemay@nrmca.org or 847-918-7101.

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 February 17 - 21 please click here.

A short, free Webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, March 12, to discuss the industry’s premier professional development/career planning program as supported by NRMCA’s Board of Directors. Learn what STEPS® is and how to enroll. Learn how STEPS® encourages ready mixed concrete employees to participate in a broad range of technical, operations, sales and sustainability-related classes through NRMCA and state associations.

A Webinar scheduled for Wednesday, April 16, is aimed at ready mix concrete sales representatives, Building the Customer Relationship...in the Post-Recession Economy. Much has changed in the post-recession economy, especially with our customers. Many of the companies we did business with pre-recession have changed dramatically - new contacts, new business strategies, new operations, new buying criteria. Do we really know our most important customers as well as we need to? Enough to be sure of getting and keeping their ready mix business as the economy improves?

In this Webinar, sales reps will learn how to reassess their relationship with key customers and how to ask the right "20 Questions" to help build a business plan to "Get, Keep, and Grow" sales.

Click here for more information.

February 27, Webinar

Designing Concrete Parking Lots the Right Way!

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

 

March 1–3, Las Vegas 

NRMCA Annual Convention

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 11, Free Webinar

New Radical Material and Resources Reporting Criteria in LEEDv4

Email: Tien Peng, 206-913-8535

 

March 12, Free Webinar

STEPS™ A Long Term Career Tool for the RMC Industry

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

 

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

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 15, Free Webinar

New Radical Material and Resources Reporting Criteria in LEEDv4

Email: Tien Peng, 206-913-8535

 

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

 

May 21, Webinar

Personal Leadership and Coaching

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

 

June 3-5, Silver Spring, MD

Concrete Durability Course

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

 

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 12-15, Silver Spring, MD

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

August 19, Webinar

Controlling Moisture in Concrete Slabs

Email: Amanda Hult, 303-953-2382

 

August 20, Webinar

Recruiting & Hiring Top Performing Ready Mix Sales Reps

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

 

September 10, Webinar

Re-Entrepreneuring: 7 Strategies for Rebuilding Your Business in the New Economy

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

 

November 19, Webinar

Sales Performance Assessments and Review for Ready Mix Sales Managers

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