Web-based Project Lead Service Proving Valuable for NRMCA Promotion Efforts

In late 2012 NRMCA began subscribing to a Web-based project lead delivery platform that offers accurate, up-to-date, detailed information on thousands of commercial and civil construction projects nationwide. The goal was to increase NRMCA's knowledge base concerning the WHO, WHAT and WHERE these projects are happening, said Senior National Resource Director Doug O'Neill.

"From the National level, we have not had the specific information on local projects before, so this has been a real eye opener to actually have knowledge about so many projects," he said. "The difficulty is in developing a strategy to make the best use of this information."

The most interesting information seems to be coming from the projects that are in the bidding stage. Once a project sets a bid date, in most cases the service allows access to bid documents, including site plans and specifications. The geotechnical engineering reports are where much of the exciting information is contained, O'Neill said. Often the geotech report is where the civil engineer is getting his or her recommendations for pavement design.

"In these reports we are seeing the classic problems we are combating with the engineering community and that is use of AASHTO 93, far too conservative designs based on little or no hard data but on what they’ve always done or, worse yet, finding no concrete sections at all," O'Neill noted. "This valuable data about the who and where the geotech’s are is something that we haven’t been compiling in the past, so now we are able to know who they are and start the process of reaching out to these geotech firms with the hope of changing some hard and fast attitudes about concrete."