NRMCA's celebration of the 100th anniversary of ready mixed concrete in the U.S. continues its submissions for October with more Producer and Associate member profiles - see below for their respective Web site links. This week's industry milestone: Water Tower Place in Chicago, a 75-story reinforced concrete building, was higher than any reinforced concrete building when it was built in 1972-1975. The 859 ft (242 m) tall building featured a concept combining tubular design for the upper 63 stories with conventional design for the lower 13.

Rustin Concrete - Rustin Concrete is a producer of ready mix concrete in Southeastern Oklahoma utilizing eight concrete production sites in seven counties and 40 ready mixed concrete trucks. The company traces its roots to the 1920s. Read more.

An NRMCA Producer member since 1987

ESSROC - ESSROC traces its history to 1866 when cement pioneer David O. Saylor founded the Coplay Cement Company near Allentown, PA. In 1872, Saylor began producing the first portland cement in North America. Read more.

An NRMCA Associate member since 1940

Ask the folks at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet in Frankfort who decide how to build and rebuild the state’s roads whether there is a rivalry between the concrete and asphalt paving industries, and they will tell you there is. But talk to representatives of those two industries and it becomes clear that the rivalry is based more on ambition than reality in Kentucky.

News that a prominent national architectural firm had released a report showing how it could use mainly mass timber to build a 42-story residential tower prompted a number of ready mixed concrete officials to question whether such construction should be allowed by government officials. According to the report, the "Concrete Jointed Timber Frame" system "relies primarily on mass timber for the main structural elements, with supplementary reinforced concrete at the highly stressed locations of the structure: the connecting joints."  (Source: An October 8 posting on AggregateResearch.com. Read more.)

The story prompted NRMCA member and longtime industry promoter Dave Frentress of the CalPortland Company to comment, "just because you can, does NOT mean you should...". He cited a story from the Web site oregonlive.com that described a recent fire as evidence of the dangers of such construction. His Canadian colleague, Carolyn Campbell, executive director of the British Columbia Ready Mixed Concrete Association, also supplied an article from a Canadian media outlet to a similar fire in British Columbia.

The use of concrete as the innermost part of Q4 Architects' design for a tornado-resistant home in Missouri was one reason it achieved the top honor in the Designing Recovery Competition's housing category. The CORE House has features that can be found in conventional homes, but "once the tornado alarm goes off, everyone can find shelter in the home's core, which is sealed off with heavy-duty tornado doors and houses Murphy beds, a kitchen, bathroom and access to backup systems," writes Lidija Grozdanic.

Source: October 8 AGC SmartBrief e-newsletter which included this October 7 article from the Web site inhabit.com.

NRMCA Vice President of Pavement Structures Brian Killingsworth recently presented Roller Compacted Concrete: Introduction to Design at the Pennsylvania Aggregate and Concrete Association’s RCC Workshop and Demonstration held in Williamsport, PA. The presentation focused on the key design parameters needed for RCC pavement structural design as well as the design tools available to pavement engineers to conduct the designs.

Questions and discussion throughout the presentation focused on the freeze-thaw durability of RCC as well as the considerations for leaving RCC unsurfaced or surfacing with a thin asphalt concrete layer. Participants included commercial and industrial property owners, design professionals and public officials including members from PennDOT. Other presentations discussed the cost advantages of RCC versus other pavement types and typical RCC applications. Several local case studies were also highlighted. After the morning presentations, attendees were taken to Centre Concrete’s Montoursville, PA, plant to view a demonstration of RCC placement.

While attending the recent American Society of Concrete Contractors' conference in Columbus, OH, NRMCA Vice President, National Resources Jon Hansen met a contractor and learned of a highly successful parking lot conversion project at a new FedEx Ground facility in Northwood, OH. The contractor, Ray Merlo, working with Ohio Concrete (formerly the Ohio Ready Mixed Concrete Association) staff, was able to validate the voluntary concrete alternate design using a number of industry documents, including ACI 330 and StreetPave. After a year-long effort, the recommendations were approved by the owner for the successful conversion from asphalt to concrete.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and Maryland Environmental Services (MES) recently collaborated to host the Public-Private Partnership Workshop in Annapolis, MD, to provide introductory training and technology transfer on establishing innovative Public-Private Partnerships (P3) for affordable green stormwater management retrofits. Jon Capacasa, director of the Water Protection Division for U.S. EPA Region 3, explained in his opening remarks that the overwhelming infrastructure requirements faced by local jurisdictions, coupled with a shortfall in funding for infrastructure investments, makes it increasingly difficult for localities to bring their existing stormwater and/or combined sewer systems into compliance. "Public-Private Partnerships are designed to attract private sector financing, expertise and innovation to provide necessary infrastructure improvements and local job creation," Capacasa said.

NRMCA Senior National Resource Director Phil Kresge attended to workshop on behalf of the ready mixed concrete industry to investigate any opportunities that P3 might provide. "Pervious concrete is a great opportunity for our industry to contribute to P3, but P3 is just as great an opportunity to move pervious concrete forward as a significant part of stormwater management design," Kresge said. "P3’s can be a good way to address the challenges and minimize the obstacles of implementing new technology."

According to Kresge, the P3 concept has been executed in other sectors, perhaps most successfully in the Department of Defense’s Military Housing Privatization Initiative. Community-based Public-Private Partnerships are most effectively built on local levels and it is there that ready mix producers can get involved.

For more information on the P3 initiative, click here or contact Phil Kresge at pkresge@nrmca.org.

NRMCA has promoted Jon Hansen to vice president, national resources North Central region; Amy Miller to vice president, national resources Southeast region; Brian Killingsworth to vice president, pavement structures and Tien Peng to vice president, sustainability. The changes, announced earlier this month by NRMCA President Robert Garbini, were made in recognition of their superior efforts in serving Association members through high-quality promotion and engineering support. Each of them was previously senior directors of NRMCA.

Hansen joined NRMCA in August 2006. Prior to joining NRMCA, he was the director of marketing for the Iowa Ready Mixed Concrete/Iowa Concrete Paving Association partnership. Miller joined NRMCA in 2008 as a member of the National Resource Directors team. She serves as a liaison of the concrete industry to key National Accounts as well as serving NRMCA through efforts with state associations located in the Southeast. Killingsworth joined NRMCA in 2011; prior to that he involved in several research projects with the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), FHWA and state Departments of Transportation. Peng also joined NRMCA in 2011; prior to that he worked in the building design and construction industry developing green homes, communities and commercial buildings.

In addition to these promotions, NRMCA has also restructured its Government Affairs and Operations, Environmental and Safety departments. Kevin Walgenbach has been named senior director of compliance and regulatory affairs. He will focus on advising the ready mixed concrete industry on compliance with operations, safety, labor and environmental regulations. Walgenbach will also continue to monitor and advocate on key regulatory issues of importance to the ready mixed concrete industry. He previously was senior director of legislative and regulatory affairs. Replacing Walgenbach in the Government Affairs department is Elizabeth Fox who is a senior director. Prior to joining NRMCA, Fox spent nine years working in the Senate, most recently as a staff member on the Environment & Public Works Committee with responsibilities including EPA regulation, water and infrastructure, mining, natural gas and alternative fuels.

Finally, Nicole Maher has been named chief operating officer of NRMCA. She was previously a senior vice president. In her new position, Maher will assist the office of the president and personnel with completion of performance-based goals and the work plan projects as approved by the Association’s Board of Directors, as well as development and maintenance of the annual budget. She will also continue managing the Meetings Department and NRMCA’s three affiliated manufacturers bureaus, as well as work with industry partner organizations at the state, regional, national and international levels.

Click here for more information.

Nominations to fill the seats of seven expiring terms of the RMC Research & Education Foundation Board of Trustees are now being accepted. The Board will hold an election to fill the expiring terms at its next meeting, Tuesday, November 19. To nominate an individual for the Board, please contact Foundation Executive Director Julie Garbini at jgarbini@rmc-foundation.org or at 240-485-1150. Nominations must be received by Thursday, October 31.

The next NRMCA Green-Star Auditor Certification Webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, october 29, from 2 - 3 p.m. Eastern time. This Webinar is required for accreditation as a Green-Star Auditor. It explains the educational and work experience needed to be an Accredited Green-Star Auditor, as well as the continuing education requirements for keeping the certification. The Accredited Green-Star Auditor Certification is valid for three years, at which time the auditor must reapply. A few handy templates are covered to assist companies in starting Green-Star. At the conclusion of the Webinar, the student will understand the requirements for accreditation, as well as the expectations that accompany Green-Star Auditor certification.

This course earns one credit hour toward a CCPf certification, which is the highest professional certification designation in the industry.

NRMCA has certified Unibeton’s New Port Plant in Doha, Qatar, at the Gold level in NRMCA’s Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification Program. The program, designed to help concrete producers demonstrate excellence in sustainable manufacturing, includes quantitative, performance-based metrics to provide ready mixed concrete producers with specific guidance to assess their production practices and implement responsible sourcing strategies that will ultimately lower their overall environmental footprint.

To earn the certification, plant personnel use a document titled Sustainable Concrete Plant Guidelines that rates a plant’s level of sustainability within different credit categories, with the objective of reducing carbon footprint, energy consumption, water use and waste; increasing recycled content; and improving human health and social conditions. Plants can achieve between 0 and 100 points depending on how many sustainability credits are achieved and their level of performance within each credit. Plants are awarded points according to the following NRMCA Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification point categories:

•Bronze: 30-49 points

•Silver: 50-69 points

•Gold: 70-89 points

•Platinum: 90-100 points

Unibeton’s New Port Plant received an unprecedented 83 points, putting it solidly into the Gold level of certification. "Unibeton should be very proud for having the first plant in the world to certify at the Gold level," said Lionel Lemay, senior vice president of sustainability for NRMCA. "Unibeton has clearly demonstrated its commitment to sustainable manufacturing and continuous environmental improvement." In addition, Lemay indicated that certifying at the Gold level is a remarkable achievement since the program is extremely rigorous.

Lionel Lemay, NRMCA senior vice president, sustainability, presented a keynote speech at the Mexican Ready Mixed Concrete Association (AMIC) national meeting in Cancun last week. Lemay presented Concrete as a Sustainable Material with a focus on concrete’s sustainable attributes, how green building criteria in LEED are addressed, the challenges facing the industry in order to meet the new Materials and Resources credits requiring environmental product declarations (EPDs) and responsible sourcing and material ingredient disclosure. He discussed NRMCA programs such as its EPD program and its responsible sourcing program called Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification in order to help producer meet these new challenges.

Federal officials later this month will enforce new regulations governing how commercial motor vehicles "drive onto highway-rail grade crossings." This latest regulation out of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) stems from the transportation bill Congress recently passed. That legislation, known as MAP-21, directed FMCSA to prescribe regulations that will "reduce highway-rail grade crossing crashes." Despite the Congressional intervention on this issue, the direction of MAP-21 is the culmination of a notice of proposed rulemaking originally published in January 2011 with the same goal. The new regulation, effective Friday, October 25, reads:

49 C.F.R. 392.12 Highway-rail crossings; safe clearance

No driver of a commercial motor vehicle shall drive onto a highway-rail grade crossing without having sufficient space to drive completely through the crossing without stopping.

Something else to consider with this new development is training. Although NRMCA’s previous guidance on this topic fell in line with the new regulations, the Safety Series #15: Railroad Crossing Safety has been updated to accurately reflect the new changes. According to FMCSA, training on this would also "occur as a modification of emphasis in existing railroad grade crossing training curricula. Railroad grade crossing training curricula for drivers would include training to comply with eight FMCSRs related to the safe operation of regulated motor vehicles at railroad grade crossings and penalties for noncompliance with these railroad grade crossing safe operation rules. In addition, drivers who operate in States with existing laws similar to the regulations in this final rule will be familiar with the requirements."

Finally, FMCSA expects this rule to result in 2.62 fewer crashes each year and 0.3 fewer train derailments.

Following the lead of the House, which unanimously passed H.R. 3095 in late September, the Senate passed H.R. 3095 by unanimous consent on October 4th. H.R. 3095 now goes the President for his signature. The intent of H.R. 3095 is to block the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) from adopting and/or enforcing regulations on sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, for commercial motor vehicle drivers absent a formal rulemaking process. The American Trucking Associations estimates that such a rule could cost the trucking industry roughly $1 billion.

NRMCA will continue to monitor this issue for any future developments.

For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.