A new "edgy" video which clearly demonstrates the superiority of concrete pavement is now available. Professionally-produced by the Portland Cement Association (PCA), the video shows an aerial view of a section of US-30 in Ohio where in 2004 one side of the highway was paved in asphalt and the other side paved in concrete. The intention was to discover which material provided the best return on investment. After 11 years, there is a clear breakdown of the asphalt pavement while the concrete pavement appears in excellent condition. The soil, contractor, length of road and weather conditions were identical while the durability was not. The clip is a real-world example of the superiority of concrete paving and may persuade lawmakers and local decision makers to choose concrete.

Supporters of legislation that would significantly improve the safety of multi-unit residential housing in Maryland testified last week on behalf of House Bill 1472. The bill would restrict the use of lightweight combustible building materials in the construction of multi-family residences in areas of high population density.

"We are proud to support legislation that protects Maryland families from natural disasters and fires," said Kevin Sullivan, Deputy Fire Chief, City of Annapolis in written testimony submitted to the committee. "This bill will have a direct impact on the safety of Marylanders and the first responders charged with protecting families and communities."

A number of large-scale apartment fires across the country have highlighted the need for this legislation in Maryland. A five-alarm fire in Edgewater, NJ, destroyed a 408-unit apartment building in January 2015. The Edgewater fire chief said that the building’s construction materials aided the fire’s spread, fueling a fast-moving and very destructive fire. Also testifying in support of the bill was the Hon. Cynthia A. Carter, formerly of the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis. "Our work is dedicated to helping people find affordable housing. Just because it’s affordable doesn’t mean it has to be cheap. All housing must be safe and this legislation goes a long way in addressing a potentially deadly situation," said Carter.

"In a fire, time is everything," said Terry McAllister of the Galesville, MD, Fire Department. "A fire in a building with wood construction moves fast and poses the risk of collapse, endangering residents, firefighters, and first responders. This is an important piece of legislation that will protect Marylanders."

House Bill 1472 will be considered by the committee and if passed will go to the House floor for full consideration.

With its new building promotion program, NRMCA can now provide energy modeling for low- and mid-rise commercial and multi-family buildings. Concrete structures have additional thermal mass and exceed building envelope thermal performance requirements and generally offer long-term savings for builders that are often focused entirely on first cost. The NRMCA promotion team can now illustrate the thermal properties of concrete to show enhanced performance during the design phase at the project level. It can also use this information to target LEED certification. Using energy simulation software, verification of the effect of thermal mass in concrete frame buildings will show significant lower energy use. The overall effect of thermal mass in concrete-framed buildings will translate to energy cost reduction relative to the baseline steel and wood framed buildings.

"Not only will the modeling show significant reduction in energy use, we will be able to assign an Energy Star target to the building," said Michael Wymant, NRMCA's recently named senior director of building innovations. Energy Star ranks eligible buildings with a score of 1-100 based on energy performance. ‘Not only will developers benefit from understanding energy use, they will be in a position to apply for ‘Designed to earn Energy Star’ designation highlighting the EPA standard of ongoing performance," Wymant said.

A recent article by the Oregon Journal of Commerce sought to include the concrete industry’s perspective on the largely unsubstantiated safety claims by the wood industry about its Cross Laminated Timber product commonly known as CLTs. (If you haven’t heard about CLTs and the excitement they seem to elicit among architects you can read the article here.) While the federal government and governments in Washington State and Oregon are working to tilt the scales in the favor of more widespread use of CLTs under the banner of jobs creation, NRMCA staff members are taking the fight directly to the wood industry on both the legislative front and the media front.

For years, the wood industry has sought to promote its own sustainable forestry metric – the Sustainable Forestry Initiative or SFI – claiming that it could adequately police the impacts of logging without the need for independent, third-party verification. The United States Green Building Council didn’t buy it and continues to insist on the more rigorous and independent Forest Stewardship Council or FSC certification. The wood industry is taking the same approach in its attempts to validate the safety of CLTs. The industry’s own research and claims would have one believe that skyscrapers of wood are a safe alternative to concrete and steel. Unfortunately for the wood industry, a fire last year in Nottingham, England, of a nearly completed CLT academic building has dramatically undermined its claims.

NRMCA members should be on the lookout for news articles about CLTs and work with NRMCA staff to push back these erroneous claims of safety.

The 2016 International Code Council’s (ICC) code development cycle began last week with the release of the proposed code changes to the Group B codes which includes:

• Building an Existing Building Codes (Structural chapters) 

• International Residential Code (IRC) -Building and Energy chapters

• International Fire Code (IFC) 

• Energy Conservation Code (IECC)

• Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC)

The Committee Action Hearings (CAH) will commence in Louisville, KY, from April 17-27, 2016 where the ICC Committee will hear testimony on proposed changes. Accepted proposals will then be heard at the Public Action Hearings on Oct 19-25, 2016 in Kansas City, MO, where the public building and fire officials will vote. NRMCA and its allies will represent industry interest in code changes and support amendments to the national codes and standards where they are deficient. As expected, a strong wood testimony for reduction of safety limits to promote combustible construction and sprinkler interests will likely be heard. NRMCA will also address any energy proposals that rolls back the stringency of the requirements in the IECC; proposals to make the building envelope requirements more stringent and those affecting concrete such as LCA, service life and operational use phase.

NRMCA Senior Director, Local Paving, Phil Kresge recently spoke with representatives from the construction and store development division of AutoZone to discuss their pavement design and specifications. During the discussion, Kresge confirmed that AutoZone still prefers concrete pavement and is still very much interested in obtaining bids for both rigid and flexible pavement on all new construction projects. As a result of the meeting, AutoZone has provided a copy of its current design and specifications for NRMCA review. Additionally, Kresge introduced the Design Assistance Program (DAP) and invited AutoZone to utilize the program for upcoming projects.

"While AutoZone does have a minimum acceptable design for concrete pavement, it defers to the geotechnical and civil engineers for actual pavement design on individual projects," Kresge said. "Unfortunately, more often than not, this results in over designed pavements that prohibit concrete from providing a competitive bid."

Both NRMCA and AutoZone are interested in eliminating the over designs and are asking for assistance from the concrete industry. "If there is an AutoZone project planned for your area, I encourage you to contact the civil and/or geotechnical engineer to discuss proper concrete parking lot design. Or, if you prefer, you can provide the contact information to your NRMCA local paving director for follow-up," Kresge said.

The Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) and the European Federation of Foundation Contractors (EFFC) have released the Best Practice Guide to Tremie Concrete for Deep Foundations. The guide is the result of the initial study efforts of the joint DFI and EFFC Concrete Task Group that studied common problems in drilled shafts and diaphragm walls constructed using tremie methods. The primary purpose of the document is to present design considerations (concrete rheology, mix design, reinforcement detailing, concrete cover, etc.) and best practices for tremie concrete placement for drilled shafts and diaphragm walls that promote construction of high quality elements. In addition, the guide proposes changes to the methods used commonly to specify concrete mixes and the procedures to test them. It highlights important considerations to minimize risk related to concrete workmanship and quality, and potential conflicts between contracted parties.

Click here for a press release on the subject. The document can be downloaded here.

The NRMCA Concrete Technologist Training and Certification program (Technical Short Course) was attended by 54 industry personnel in Des Moines, IA, in early February. The following include the number of certifications awarded at the course. Attendees and personnel obtaining certification are congratulated for their participation and effort.

• NRMCA Field Technician Grade II  - 15
• NRMCA Concrete Technologist Level 2 – 31
• NRMCA Concrete Technologist Level 3 – 14

Last week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced the long-awaited publication of its Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). While the ANPRM doesn’t establish or propose any new regulations regarding OSA, it does launch somewhat of a fishing expedition for FMCSA on the issue in an attempt to gather information from potential covered stakeholders FMCSA may use to propose new OSA regulations at a later date. To be accurate, the ANPRM comes from both FMCSA and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), requesting comments from stakeholders about potential costs, benefits, impediments, medical requirements and experiences, to name a few, related to treating and managing commercial motor vehicle drivers (such as concrete mixer truck drivers) with OSA or who might be at risk of OSA. FMCSA and FRA are specifically asking for answers to 20 different questions listed in the Federal Register notice the agencies deem will provide them the necessary information before making a determination on moving forward with a proposed rule.

Comments on the ANPRM are due June 8, 2016. The agencies have stated they plan to hold listening sessions on the ANPRM in Washington, DC, Chicago and Los Angeles. Dates on the listening sessions have yet to be published. NRMCA will be providing comments on the ANPRM and participating in the upcoming listening sessions.

Click here and here for more information or to view the ANPRM. You may also contact either Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or 
Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.

The 2016 Fleet Benchmarking Survey sponsored by Lytx DriveCam is completed each year by industry fleet managers and/or financial managers based on data gathered from the previous calendar year’s performance. This year’s form includes new questions on mixer drum composition, idle time and types of fuel being used. NRMCA's Fleet Benchmarking Survey is used to establish industry benchmarking norms and procedures. Information gathered from the annual Fleet Benchmarking Survey is published in a full report in Concrete InFocus magazine each autumn. A shorter Executive Summary of the survey is also made available to all.

The deadline for submitting completed entries by e-mail to gmullings@nrmca.org is Friday, April 15, 2016.

NRMCA's Safety Contest & Benchmarking Survey has for years been a safety performance and incentive/award program aimed to foster safe practices at ready mixed concrete plants across the nation. The survey is a per-plant contest open to all facilities operated by NRMCA member companies in good standing in 2015. Companies with more than one division are encouraged to distribute entry blanks to individuals responsible for keeping safety records at each plant location.

Entries must be received by e-mail to Karen Bean at kbean@nrmca.org no later than Friday, April 15. Click here for more information and to download the Benchmarking Survey entry form or contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org.

The Athena Institute, a long-time partner and verifier in the NRMCA EPD program, has developed an online tool that calculates the environmental impacts of concrete mixes that can be used to generate an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). Athena works with concrete producers to customize the calculator with plant specific energy use and supply chain data. Once that’s done, a producer can simply enter concrete mix details and the calculator generates environmental impacts and allows a producer to:

• Explore and compare mix designs to industry average and NRMCA benchmarks;

• Identify environmental "hot spots" to help improve concrete mixes;
• Communicate to customers the environmental footprint of custom mixes;

• Generate custom EPDs  easily and inexpensively; and
• Show design teams how a custom mix affects the LCA of a whole building.

Benefits of this new tool for concrete producers include:

• Helping customers earn LEED points;

• Identifying the "greenest" mixes;

• Demonstrating sustainability leadership; and

• Generate credible results.

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 March 7 - 11, 2016, 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 Jill Landry at jlandry@nrmca.org.

The second of NRMCA's quarterly 90-minute Webinars for ready mix sales managers will take place on Tuesday, May 10, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. The title for this Webinar is Personal Leadership & Coaching. Content includes:

• The important difference between management and leadership – and why it matters!

• When to be a "Manager" and when to be a "Leader" – a critical difference!

• The 4 Coaching Strategies – different coaching styles for different employees

• "C4 Leadership" – How to become an effective leader

March 21, Free Webinar

Pervious Concrete Maintenance Guidelines

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

 

March 22, Free Webinar

Introduction to Concrete Pavement Analyst Software

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

 

April 5 - 8, Birmingham, AL *Sold Out

Plant Manager Certification Course

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

 

April 7, Webinar

Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete Part 1 (Part 2 is April 14)

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

 

April 10 - 12, San Diego

NRMCA's Annual Convention

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

 

May 3, Free Webinar

The Quantifiable Advantages of Concrete Parking Lots

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

 

May 4, Manchester, NH

Improving Concrete Quality

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

 

May 9, Webinar

Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete Part 1 (Part 2 is May 16)

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

 

May 10, Webinar

Personal Leadership and Coaching

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

 

May 10, Webinar

Introduction to Concrete Pavement Analyst

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

 

May 15 - 18, Washington, DC

International Concrete Sustainability & Self-Compacting Concrete Conference

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

  

May 17, Free Webinar

Pervious Concrete Maintenance Guidelines

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

 

June 6 - 8, Silver Spring, MD

Concrete Durability Course

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

 

September 18 - 20, Nashville, TN

NRMCA's ConcreteWorks 2016

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

 

October 4 - 7, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module I: Concrete 101

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

 

October 11, Webinar

Recruiting & Hiring Top Performing Ready Mix Sales Reps

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

 

November 7-11, Silver Spring, MD

Annual "Short Course"

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

December 6, Webinar 

Sales Performance Assessments and Reviews... for Ready Mix Sales Managers

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

 

December 13-16, Anaheim, CA

Plant Manager Certification Course

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