NRMCA e-news

 

 
Schwing America, Inc. Fritz-Pak Corporation
Pavement
NRMCA Vice President, Local Paving, Phil Kresge recently met with engineers from the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) – Mid Atlantic Division at the Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia to discuss proposed changes to their pervious concrete specification. "The original spec was developed and adopted in 2012 with help from NRMCA and the ACI 522 Committee," Kresge said. "Unfortunately, it has not evolved with the industry and does not now reflect the most recent technology and industry practices." Kresge noted that issues with the specification were brought to his attention by one of NRMCA’s certified pervious concrete craftsmen.

Among the proposed changes are adjustments to recommended cementitious content, nominal aggregate size, target void content and curing procedures. Approved placement procedures were also updated to include current practices. Additionally, Kresge suggested removal of Solar Reflective Index (SRI) and flatness specification requirements, as neither were appropriate for pervious concrete. "In the past, NAVFAC has been very receptive to our industry’s input and I believe it will still look to us to provide guidance," Kresge said.
 
The NAVFAC pervious specification is part of the Unified Facilities Guide Specification (UFGS) which provides specifications for all branches of the Department of Defense.

For more information, contact Phil Kresge at pkresge@nrmca.org.
 
Association & Industry News
Add your company name to the growing list of sponsors for NRMCA’s most exciting event of the year! The 11th Annual National Mixer Driver Championship is your opportunity to help the industry celebrate the hard-working men and women who make up the backbone of our industry. All sponsors will receive recognition in the official Championship Program, on signs throughout the venue and course, and from NRMCA leadership throughout the event. Sponsorships are on a first-come basis, so secure your sponsorship spot today.
 
Click here for a list of available opportunities available (please note that due to the special nature of this event, these opportunities are not included in the annual NRMCA sponsorship package). For more information, contact Jacques Jenkins at  240/485-1165 or by e-mail, jjenkins@nrmca.org.
 
NRMCA congratulates 23 ready mixed concrete executives who have been selected for the 2016-2017 Developing Industry Leaders (DIL) program
 
The Concrete Producer magazine is seeking responses for its annual survey that aims to learn what is trending in the industry. It will then publish the results in its September/October issue. As an incentive, the magazine is offering a $500 American Express gift card to one randomly picked participant who completes the survey.

Click here to access the 2016 survey. Click here to view previous years' surveys. The deadline to participate is Monday, August 8. For more information, please contact The Concrete Producer Editor Sharon J. Rehana at srehana@hanleywood.com.
 
WAM USA, Inc. Putzmeister America, Inc.
Government Affairs
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 July 18 - 22, 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.
 
Buildings
Please join NRMCA and guests ToxServices, Inc. and GreenCricle Certified on Thursday, August 18, at 1 p.m. Eastern time to discuss the Health Product Declaration (HPD) as a compliance pathway to meet LEED v4 MR material ingredient disclosure credit. Starting in October 2016 all LEED projects will be required to use the new LEED v4 product disclosure credits. This Webinar will introduce concrete producers to the concept of HPDs and how concrete producers can help meet the reporting requirements.

Click here to register (after registering, you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing information about joining the Webinar). For more information, contact James Bogdan at jbogdan@nrmca.org.
 
A huge 3-alarm fire in Rockville, MD, in April 2014, similar in nature to the devastating fire in Edgewater, NJ, which destroyed a 408-unit apartment building in January 2015, was front and center as delegates and advocates met on June 12 in the Maryland State Legislature’s Summer Study Session to discuss a bill restricting the use of lightweight, combustible building materials in the construction of multi-family residences. Chief Steve Lohr, chief of the Hagerstown, MD, Fire Department and retired chief of the Montgomery County, MD, Fire Department fought the Rockville fire and spoke at length to delegates about how out-of-control height and area limits have weakened the building code and allowed this style of construction to become unsafe.
 
Residents in the West are bracing for the threat of this fire season. Having destroyed more than a dozen houses, a wildfire raging near Los Angeles tripled in size over the weekend to more than 33,000 acres. Meanwhile, Colorado’s State Forest Service FireWise construction guide is encouraging the use of noncombustible construction materials such as metal, concrete, cement, brick, stucco and stone. However, wildfire risks are not limited to western states. As reported by Rolling Stone, a 1.1-million-acre tract in southern New Jersey has the potential to be the worst wildfire disaster in U.S. history because of the population density.

Previously, we reported on President Obama’s executive order requiring that buildings above 5,000 square feet located on Federal lands to comply with ICC's 2015 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (IWUIC). This White House support for resilient building codes and standards intends to address the impact of climate change and natural disasters through mitigation. We know mitigation efforts not only increases the chance a structure can survive a wildfire, but helps firefighters do their jobs as well.

NRMCA has resources to help members and state affiliates advocate for resilient and safer construction, including model legislation, talking points, public relations and other key strategies.

For more information, please contact Tien Peng at tpeng@nrmca.org or John Loyer at jloyer@nrmca.org.

 
There is no dispute that natural resources are finite, whether those resources are sand and gravel for concrete, timber for wood or iron ore for steel. And even though raw materials for concrete are some of the most abundant on earth, it is becoming clear that extracting those materials in a responsible way and being able to communicate sourcing practices will become a large part of a company’s ability to operate effectively into the future. Beyond product strategies of reduce, reuse and recycle or operational efficiency strategies, starting in October 2016, LEED v4 projects will require companies to report on their raw material extraction practices. Companies who source their materials responsibly and report on their sourcing practices will be favored in LEED.
 
That’s why NRMCA is collaborating with the Concrete Sustainability Council to develop a responsible sourcing certification program that is intended to help producers look at the bigger picture beyond compliance.  The framework guides a producer into their upstream suppliers to evaluate practices, that could impact their long-term business sustainability. The intent of the program is to enhance supply chain transparency and elevate environmental, social and governance practices so that concrete producers can meet ongoing trends of supply chain sustainability or green building standards, such as LEED v4.

For more details, contact James Bogdan at jbogdan@nrmca.org or 412-420-4138.
 
Build with Strength is teaming up with the Arkansas Ready Mixed Concrete Association to present its first seminar for architects, builders and developers entitled Concrete Value & Innovations on Wednesday, August 24, in Little Rock. Building materials play a big role in deciding the safety and resiliency of the built environment. Through design solutions demonstrated in this workshop, designers, architects and engineers can focus on strength rather than disaster response, resulting in investments that are secure and generate long-term value to the owners.

This workshop will explore emerging trends in housing and development, innovations in concrete construction, case studies that showcase building value generation, economical design of concrete wall and floor systems and how to utilize free resources to design structures. The seminar offers architects and engineers six hours of professional learning credits.
 
Build with Strength is a first-of-its-kind program for the concrete industry, designed not only to support our members, their businesses, and the hard-working men and women of the concrete industry, but also to change the way people think about concrete construction versus direct competitors like soft-wood lumber.
 
To register or to encourage your contacts in the design/build community to attend, visit www.buildwithstrength.com or visit ARMCA’s Web site. For more information, contact the Arkansas Ready Mixed Concrete Association at 501-404-0304 or armmca@att.net.
 
True Dispatch
OES
Last week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) finalized its adoption and interpretation of changes to the federal hours of service (HOS) regulations specific to ready mixed concrete truck operations. FMCSA’s published changes are the direct result of victories obtained by NRMCA’s regulatory and legislative departments and then adopted and interpreted from last year’s transportation bill passed by Congress, known as the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act or FAST Act. Specifically, the new HOS language covers ready mixed concrete trucks and their drivers concerning the industry-wide exemption from the 30-minute break and changing from 12 hours to 14 hours the reporting time contained in the 100 air-mile logging exemption.
 
Effective August 1, federal regulatory agencies will have the authority to significantly increase the amount of civil monetary penalties doled out to businesses and individuals that have violated federal regulations. The civil monetary penalty increases are a product of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Improvement Act of 2015 that requires the agencies to make such changes. Not only will the regulatory agencies institute upfront "catch up" amounts to bring civil monetary penalties up to present day adjustments, since many penalties are still at levels set in 1990, but will also tie the penalty amounts to "inflation each year based on the Consumer Price Index."

For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has already published in detail its penalty adjustments which highlight an initial 78% increase in the maximum allowable penalties. This jump equates to an increase from a previous maximum penalty of $7,000 per violation for a serious violation to now one of $12,471 per violation. For a willful or repeated violation, the penalty will rise from $70,000 per violation to $124,709 per violation.
 
Click here for more information on the changes for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Click here for more information on the changes for the Environmental Protection Agency. Click here and here for more information on the changes for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. You may also contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.
 
Following an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report released last week, EPA warned owners and users of diesel fuel underground storage tanks (USTs) to check for corrosion. According to EPA, "the report shows that 35 of 42 – or 83 percent – of the USTs studied exhibited moderate or severe corrosion, but less than 25 percent of owners were aware of corrosion prior to the internal inspection."

EPA noted that, "Although EPA cannot project the actual percentage of USTs storing diesel that are affected by corrosion nationwide, the Agency is alerting owners of USTs storing diesel fuel about risks from corrosion." EPA also recommended that "owners check inside their tank systems and further investigate the condition of their diesel fuel tanks."

Click here for more information or to view the report, or contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.
 
This year’s NRMCA National Mixer Driver Championship will take place on Sunday, September 18, during NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks being held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, TN. The registration form for entering drivers into the championship is now available. Please note that registration forms and payment are due Monday, August 1.

Click here for a registration form. For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org.
 
NRMCA’s Commitment to Environmental Excellence Awards competition offers producers national recognition for outstanding contributions to protecting the environment and maintaining sound management practice in their operations. The program salutes companies that have not only met, but surpassed governmental compliance measures and demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence through plant and staff investment. Any NRMCA member company producing ready mixed concrete from a fixed plant location in the U.S., its territories or Canada is eligible to enter. Awards will be determined upon individual plant merits; companies may choose to enter plants from each of the five production volume categories.
 
This year’s program features a more picture-oriented focus with minimal text, versus the focus from years past that centered on lengthy descriptions of a plant’s environmental management systems. Winning entrants will be honored at the Awards Luncheon at NRMCA‘s ConcreteWorks this September in Nashville, TN. Winners will also be featured in a 2016 edition of NRMCA’s Concrete InFocus magazine as well as Concrete Products magazine.
 
Entries and photos must be e-mailed to Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org by Friday, July 29. Click here for more information and to download the entry form. You may also contact Gary Mullings or Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.
 
McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing, Inc. The Euclid Chemical Company
Engineering
The next NRMCA Concrete Durability Course is scheduled for September 28-28, 2016, at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton, Seattle Airport/Southcenter in Seattle. The course is taught by Michael Thomas, University of New Brunswick; Kevin Folliard, University of Texas at Austin and NRMCA Engineering Staff. 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 and to evaluate the potential for temperature-related cracking. The course also discusses the durability provisions in the Building Code - ACI 318-14 and how specifications can be structured to address durability. Comprehensive reference material is provided as course notes that is an excellent resource to concrete producers and associated technical personnel. The course concludes with a comprehensive exam on the subject matter covered.
 
Those with the NRMCA Level 3 Certification obtain the NRMCA Concrete Technologist Level 4 Certification when passing this exam. However, it is not essential to have attended the NRMCA Technical Short Course to attend the Durability Course. The course provides required learning units toward the technical track of the NRMCA STEPS certification program. Please register early if you wish to attend.
 
More information, registration options and staff contacts are available here.
 
McInnis USA, Inc. Xypex Chemical Corp
Education & Training
Each module of NRMCA's Certified Concrete Sales Professional (CCSP) series will be held in Silver Spring, MD (metro Washington, DC), beginning in October and ending in March 2017. A discounted fee is extended for those who register for all four classes and to companies who send three or more people to one clas
 
Educational Activities Committee (EAC) Chairman Johnny Young extends a warm invitation to all attendees of NRMCA's 2016 ConcreteWorks to join the Fall EAC meeting on Friday, September 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (lunch will be served) at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville. As the industry recovers, more producers are evaluating what industry-based training would best serve their staff and companies. Get an update as well as 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.

Register for ConcreteWorks here. The cutoff for discounted hotel rooms is Wednesday, August 24. For more information about the EAC meeting, contact staff EAC liaison Eileen Dickson at edickson@nrmca.org or 240-485-1164.
 
Calendar
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site.

August 3, Sioux Falls, SD
NRMCA North Central Regional ConcreteWorks
Email: twaugh@nrmca.org, 240-485-1132
 
August 17, Free Webinar
Health Product Declarations (HPDs) Contribution to LEED v4
Email: jbogdan@nrmca.org, 412-420-4138
 
September 18 - 20, Nashville, TN
NRMCA's ConcreteWorks 2016
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
 
September 26 - 28, Seattle
Concrete Durability Course
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
 
October 11 - 13, Indianapolis
NRMCA Safety Course
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
 
October 12 - 14, Online Class 
Handling Concrete Specifications, Low Strength Problems and Mixture Submittals
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
 
November 7 - 11, Silver Spring, MD
Annual "Short Course"
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
 
November 29 - December 1, Orlando, FL
Environmental 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 6 - 8, Silver Spring, MD
CCSP Module II: Customer Business Knowledge
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
 
December 13 - 16, Anaheim, CA
Plant Manager Certification Course
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
 
2017
 
January 10 - 12, Orlando, FL
NRMCA Dispatcher Training Forum
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
 
January 17 - 19, Kissimmee, FL
Effective RMC Supervisor Course
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
 
January 24 - 26, Silver Spring, MD
CCSP Module III: General Business Knowledge
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
 
March 21 - 23, Silver Spring, MD
CCSP Module IV: Professional Sales Skills
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152
 
Continental Mixers CarbonCure Technologies Inc.
Products & Services
The NRMCA July Internet Spotlight, good through Tuesday, August 3, are all (25) NRMCA Safety Series titles. The Safety Series is a library of publications and training resources to help the ready mixed concrete industry meet their safety needs and comply with regulations on the federal level. The goal of each publication is to increase safety awareness while reducing injuries and violations. Each lesson comes with a prepared PowerPoint presentation, instructor’s guide and student training materials.

Order any of the 25 lesson titles online today and receive 20% off. Regular member price for these are $85, making this Internet Special $68, plus shipping. Please use discount code ISJULY16 to receive your discount.