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Association & Industry News
The RMC Research & Education Foundation has released its latest pervious concrete research report, Predictive Model for Void Content and Strength of Pervious Concrete Pavements Installed in the Field. Performed by researchers at Washington State University, the project includes the development of a model that may be used to predict the void content and compressive strength of pervious concrete field installations based on mixture composition and the compaction level. Installers can use a database of their mixture composition, roller screed weight, revolutions per minute, void content and strength of cores from past projects to recalibrate the developed model. The calibrated model can then forecast the required compaction to produce the target void content and strength. The project included both laboratory and field testing and looked at several variables, including roller screed weight and the number of passes. 
Buildings
Concrete Credentials is back for another season; in the second season of this Build With Strength podcast, we’re featuring even more of the critically-important discussions you’ve come to expect on sustainability, innovation and strength with a variety of guests with wide-ranging expertise. Season 2 will also feature guests from industries outside of concrete, particularly those that have unique perspectives about its uses and value. These will include guests from the design, insurance, environment, academia, housing and government sectors. For Episode 1 - out now - NRMCA’s Gregg Lewis spoke with Keith Meier, the executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Teller County, CO, about the ongoing partnership between Habitat for Humanity and Build With Strength. The conversation is one you won’t want to miss; you can learn how ICFs are creating affordable, safe and sustainable homes for new homeowners in Colorado. You can download and listen on the Apple Podcast App, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcast and other major podcast streaming apps. The show is also available here for streaming. For more information, contact Gregg Lewis at glewis@nrmca.org. Build With Strength, NRMCA and the Arizona Rock Products Association are sponsoring a webinar on Wednesday, June 2, titled Achieving Resilience With ICF Construction that will identify what resilience means and how design practices and building materials - particularly Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) - can improve a building’s energy efficiency while fortifying it against nature’s inevitable hazards. Join instructors Chris Dagosta, NRMCA senior director, building innovations, and Paul Camozzi, CET director of commercial business development amvic building systems for this webinar. If you are an architect, engineer, contractor, developer, building owner or product manufacturer, don't miss out on this free opportunity. Attendees can receive up to 1 HSW LU credit or 1 PDH. For more information, contact Chris Dagosta at cdagosta@nrmca.org. Build With Strength (BWS) is partnering with the Commonwealth of Kentucky – Energy & Environment Cabinet, Office of Energy Policy to host a virtual training event pertaining to Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF) construction. A Pathway To Energy & Disaster Resilience: An ICF Symposium And Training Event will offer a view on advancing resilience in future construction. It will describe why and how innovative concrete systems like ICFs are helping transform the way we can build energy - and disaster-resistant buildings. The training will consist of two hours per day over four days, June 21-24. On the first two days, learning sessions are targeted toward architects and engineers and will include design and benefits of operating ICF buildings presented by architects from NRMCA and Sherman Carter Barnhart. Event days three and four will provide ICF installation training for contractors (although design professionals are welcome). This portion of the training will be led by the Insulated Concrete Forms Manufacturers Association (ICFMA) and provide the specifics for constructing with ICFs. Up to 8 hours of AIA learning units are available for this event. Click here for the agenda and registration information; please note that this is a free event sponsored by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Office of Energy Policy and registration priority will be given to owners, developers, architects, engineers and construction professionals with a Kentucky mailing address. For more information, contact Derek Torres at dtorres@nrmca.org or 973-876-0938 or James Bogdan at jbogdan@nrmca.org or 412-420-4138.
Government Affairs
As Congressional committees prepare to consider surface reauthorization legislation in both the House and Senate, NRMCA joined letters penned by the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association and the Portland Cement Association to urge Congress to reject efforts to expand Buy America restrictions on federal procurement. Last year, during the consideration of the INVEST Act by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, an amendment was adopted to include “construction materials” in the Buy America provisions governing Federal Highway Administration procurement. This addition could extend Buy America requirements to aggregates and cement, and NRMCA and its partners are strongly advocating against these policies. Similar efforts to include construction materials in Buy America policies are being considered by the Senate. NRMCA will continue to join our allies in opposing these harmful policies that will make construction more expensive and reduce the buying power of federal infrastructure dollars. You can read the letters here and here. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. NRMCA joined the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and a host of other industry groups in advocating for Congress to reject proposals to increase the minimum insurance for heavy trucks. Last year, the surface reauthorization package passed by the House of Representatives included a provision to raise the minimum insurance level from $750,000 to $2 million per truck. The coalition has met with dozens of Congressional offices, stressing the potential negative impacts on small trucking companies and pointing to federal safety data indicating that current levels cover the damages in more than 99% of crashes. In addition to meeting with dozens of Congressional offices, NRMCA joined the coalition in sending letters to the Indiana and Illinois delegations as well as members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and the Democratic Blue Dogs Coalition. NRMCA members also advocated on this issue during the Cement and Concrete Fly-In in April. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org.
SEO
Earlier this week, NRMCA Safety, Environmental and Operations staff met with members of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), members from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Small Business Administration (SBA) to discuss the potential of an emergency temporary standard (ETS) DOL is promulgating. The potential ETS would require businesses take certain steps to keep workers safe from COVID-19 transmission, an escalation of DOL’s current COVID-19 focus from voluntary guidance to a specific mandate. NRMCA relayed to OIRA, DOL and SBA staff that such a standard is not only not necessary, but that the current COVID-19 cases, deaths and vaccination data don’t support mandating new measures. NRMCA outlined the specifics of the ready mixed concrete industry, its workforce, when, where and how employees work, as well as how the industry has kept its workforce safe since the inception of the pandemic. NRMCA also conveyed the work it has done with industry partners on workplace safety and what an ETS should encompass if finalized. OIRA will likely finalize its assessment of the ETS in the next couple of weeks at which time any potential ETS language could be released. After OIRA’s review, the rule’s finalization could follow. NRMCA will continue to monitor movement on the potential ETS from OIRA and DOL. For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. Get ready for the National Mixer Driver Appreciation Week, taking place August 2 - 6. To help celebrate our industry’s drivers, please visit the Appreciation Week Store which includes polos, t-shirts, hats, beverage tumblers, first-aid kits, safety glasses, masks and portable power banks. It will remain open through June 15. All orders will then be shipped by July 15 and arrive by August 1, just in time for Appreciation Week. Click here for the store. For more information, contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. 
Pavement
NRMCA, through its Pave Ahead© program, is offering a free, six-week webinar series on concrete pavement beginning Thursday, May 20. The webinars will focus on technical topics related to design, construction, maintenance and rehabilitation of concrete pavements and will conclude with a webinar on controlled low strength material also known as flowable fill. Webinars in this series will offer AIA Elective Learning Units through the AIA continuing education system, Professional Development Hours or Continuing Education Units. The intended audience for this series includes architects, engineers, contractors, developers, owners and product manufacturers. Instructors for all webinars will include NRMCA local paving experts. The webinar schedule with registrations links are below or may also be accessed at paveahead.com/education/. Each webinar will take place from 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern time.
Registration for free, on-demand recordings of the 2020 Pave Ahead webinar series are below or may also be accessed at paveahead.com/education/.
For more information, contact Brian Killingsworth at bkillingsworth@nrmca.org. Earlier this month, NRMCA Vice President, Local Paving, Don Clem, presented Concrete Overlays Over Existing Asphalt Parking Lots for the Illinois Ready Mixed Concrete Association (IRMCA). This was the seventh of 12 webinars on pavement-related topics sponsored by IRMCA, Clem said. More than 30 engineers, contractors, developers and ready mixed concrete producers attended. The engineers in attendance represented 18 different engineering firms from throughout the state of Illinois. Webinars are being recorded and are scheduled every 1-2 weeks through July 2021. For more information and a list of future webinars, visit IRMCA.org or contact Theron Tobolski at 708 473-0117 or ttobolski@irmca.org, or Don Clem at dclem@nrmca.org. 
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Calendar
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. Thursday, May 20, Free Online Webinar Thursday, May 27, Free Online Webinar June 2, Webinar Series June 3 - 17, Online Course Thursday, June 3, ET Free Online Webinar Thursday, June 10, Free Online Webinar June 15 – 17, Smyrna, TN Thursday, June 17, Free Online Webinar June 21 - 24, Online Course Thursday, June 24, Free Online Webinar August 3 - 5, Smyrna, TN September 29 - October 3, Kissimmee, FL November 9 – 11, Dallas |
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