The NRMCA Concrete Durability Course was attended by 15 industry personnel earlier this month at Association headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. The course was taught by Michael Thomas of the University of New Brunswick, Kevin Folliard, University of Texas at Austin and Colin Lobo, NRMCA staff engineer. The two-day course covered an in-depth look at durability aspects of concrete including shrinkage and cracking, sulfate attack, alkali aggregate reactions, freezing and thawing distress, corrosion and protection strategies and miscellaneous topics. Codes and specifications addressing durability of concrete was covered. For a case study, attendees used the ConcreteWorks software program developed at the University of Texas to develop mixtures for mass concrete and corrosion protection for a 75-year service life.

The course completed with the NRMCA Level 4 certification exam – 11 individuals were successful with 10 being awarded the NRMCA Concrete Technologist Level 4 certification (pre-requisite is having a valid Level 3 certification). Congratulations to Matt Sherman with Simpson, Gumpertz and Heger from the Boston office for achieving 100% on the exam. Course evaluations were generally excellent.