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Association & Industry News
It’s time for the concrete industry to reconnect! You have the products and services our conference attendees want, so meet current and future customers in one place at one time at NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks 2021. Reserve your spot by July 8 to be included in the first round of booth assignments. The Exhibitor Prospectus for this year’s event is available online; the application process utilizes a priority point formula for the assignment of exhibit space. Applications and payment received prior to July 8 will be part of the priority assignment process. Past exhibitors in NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks will be assigned first by priority number. New exhibitors will then be assigned in the order in which they were received. Applications received on or after July 8 will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis by exhibition management. Exhibit space costs can be found in the prospectus. Reserve your space in the expo hall by completing the Exhibitor Application and returning it to NRMCA along with the required payment. NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks 2021 will take place in person September 30 – October 4 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, FL (metro Orlando) and will be co-located with the Portland Cement Association's (PCA) fall committee meetings taking place September 30 – October 1. For more information, please contact Senior Director of Meetings Jessica Walgenbach at jwalgenbach@nrmca.org. Click here for links to the exhibitor prospectus, registration and hotel reservation information and much more. NRMCA joins the Illinois Ready Mixed Concrete Association in sadness upon news of the death of Theron Tobolski. Tobolski, IRMCA’s assistant executive director, died June 18 at the age of 45. He leaves behind a wife, Lori, and two children, Rian Mae and Caden J. Oaks, along with many relatives and friends. Among his accomplishments in the ready mixed concrete industry was being named the NRMCA 2015 Promoter of the Year when he was employed by NRMCA Producer member Prairie Materials. At the time of the award, Tobolski was praised for being “a true champion of ready mixed concrete. With imagination and enthusiasm, he advanced a fresh and exciting perspective on promotion, resulting in customers and specifiers that recognize enormous new possibilities for the modern version of our age-old product.” The family requests that memorials may be given to the family for the children’s education: Venmo: @Lori-Tobolski-6. Click here to read Mr. Tobolski’s obituary notice. 
Buildings
Build With Strength has scheduled a webinar titled The Business Case for Building Multi-Family with Concrete for today, June 30, from 10 to 11 a.m. Mountain time. This presentation provides insight on the economic benefits of building multifamily residential structures with concrete using Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs). Cost comparisons are presented to demonstrate how building with ICFs can increase return on Click here to register and here to learn more about Build With Strength's educational opportunities. For more information, contact Chris Dagosta at cdagosta@nrmca.org.
NRMCA Board of Directors Chairman Abbott Lawrence took part in the annual meeting of the Texas Aggregates & Concrete Association's (TACA) annual meeting held in mid-June in San Antonio. Lawrence told the TACA audience that in 2019, Texas was No. 1 in spending on roads and highways of all states (New York and California were next in line), which is not surprising given the level of population growth the state has experienced in the past few years. In 2020, he said, Texas producers shipped 61.8 million cubic yards of materials, with California a distant second at 37.8 million cubic yards. Of the top 20 aggregate demand regions in the U.S., Lawrence said four are in Texas – Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio – three are in Florida and two are in California. The Texas and National Economic Report was presented by Jon Hockenyos, president of TXP, Inc., an economic analysis and public policy consulting firm founded in 1987 in Austin. “While both Texas and the U.S. are close to resuming ‘normal’ activity, a full recovery has yet to occur,” said Hockenyos. “However, in the months to come, I believe we are looking at a new version of the ‘roaring ‘20s,’ due to low interest rates, pent-up demand for travel and social experiences and a lot of stimulus money being pumped into the economy.” Hockenyos noted that Texas’ dramatic growth – the state currently holds 8.9 percent of the nation’s population and accounts for 32.4 percent of net national population growth in 2020 – has created a huge demand for housing, industrial and warehouse construction, but a slower demand for office, lodging, entertainment and medical facilities, which is largely due to societal changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. He predicts there will be a rise in public spending in the next few years, benefiting TACA member companies which supply the materials that build the state’s public and private infrastructure, including roads and highways, bridges, schools, hospitals and residential and commercial structures. Michael Johnson, president & CEO of the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA), warned that America’s economic competitors are investing strategically in infrastructure as a means to try to take our status as the No. 1 economy in the world just as the quality of our infrastructure continues to decline. “The U.S. got just a C- and Texas only got a C in the American Society of Civil Engineer’s latest Report Card for America’s Infrastructure (issued every four years). We can and must do better.” Johnson is optimistic about Congress passing legislation that will make significant investment in infrastructure this year and cautioned that when that investment does come, regulations “that are not built on sound science” could make it more difficult to access the aggregates and produce the construction material that will be needed. For more information on the TACA meeting. contact Christian Goff at cgoff@pureenergypr.com or 
SEO
Does your facility need to report to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program? Have you run the calculations to determine if your facility does? Do you know what the requirements are and/or how to report if necessary? Now’s the time to obtain answers to all of these questions. Remember, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) TRI Program “tracks the management of more than 650 toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human health and the environment.“ Specifically, “U.S. facilities in certain industry sectors must report annually how much of each chemical is released to the environment and/or managed through recycling, energy recovery and treatment.” This information is then submitted annually to EPA and compiled in the TRI. Facilities that handle toxic chemicals, including ready mixed concrete plants, are required to calculate the quantities that were handled and if any quantity is over an allowable threshold, that chemical and amount need to be reported under the program. Should a facility need to report, the reporting deadline is tomorrow, July 1. Click here for more on the program, listed chemicals, potential for reporting and when/how to report. You may also contact Gary Mullings at gmullings@nrmca.org or Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. The NRMCA’s Annual Safety Award acknowledges the significant contribution that safe work practices gives to the growth and success of individual companies and the ready mixed concrete industry as a whole. The NRMCA Annual Safety Award is presented to an individual or company whose actions represent the very highest in the advancement of safety in the ready mixed concrete industry. The award program is generously sponsored by the Truck Mixer Manufacturers Bureau (TMMB). The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, July 2. The award may be presented to an individual whose single action or longtime commitment to safety and health in the ready mixed concrete industry exemplifies superior performance in the field of safety. Examples of the award winner could be a ready mixed concrete truck driver whose actions were lifesaving. Other examples could include plant managers, safety managers and company officials who have outstanding longtime dedication to safety and health in the ready mixed concrete industry. Other examples would be an individual’s involvement with community safety activities. This award may also recognize a corporation, coalition or organization that was unrelenting in its pursuit of safety for the industry. Nominees may have created and implemented a life-saving and or injury-preventing safety solution. Examples of the award winner could be a ready mixed concrete producer company, a ready mixed concrete state association or an industry-related equipment or material supplier. Criteria for selection of the individual or company may include evidence of the following:
Nominations shall be made by submitting a detailed explanation for why the individual or company should be considered for the award. The explanation should focus on highlighting the criteria listed above. Submissions should include necessary supporting documents, a high-resolution electronic image of the nominee (if an individual), or a high resolution company logo and any other relevant images. Entries must be e-mailed to gmullings@nrmca.org no later than Friday, July 2. Click here for more information or contact Gary Mullings. 
The Summer 2021 edition of the National Concrete Consortium newsletter contains the following items: • Moving Advancements into Practice (MAP) Brief titled 40-Year Pavements Demand Improved Foundations is now available from the NC² Resource Library. • BIM: Data Integration for Reduced Lifecycle Cost: BIM is a collaborative work method for structuring, managing and using data and information about transportation assets throughout their lifecycle. Users report that BIM benefits include optimized design, greater ability to predict costs, improved project communications, increased worker safety, fewer errors and improved schedule performance. A series of flyers, slide presentations, tech briefs and case studies developed by the CP Tech Center for FHWA aims to educate stakeholders as an increasing number of state DOTs experience the potential of BIM. BIM's treatment of data as an asset and its breaking down business silos so data are accessible throughout a project and asset lifecycle is a game-changer. • FHWA Concrete Clips: Ensuring Durability: Mechanisms and Mitigation and Durability Test Methods • Accelerated Construction of Urban Intersections with Portland Cement Concrete Pavement (PCCP): This report documents the strategies used by the Washington State Department of Transportation to rapidly reconstruct an urban intersection in three days. • Reduced Cementitious Material in Optimized Concrete Mixtures: This NRRA report documents the results of using reduced cementitious concrete mixtures in two cells at the MnRoad facility in Albertville, MN. • Supplementary Cementitious Materials: Assessment of Test Methods for New and Blended Materials - This report by the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas at Austin examined rapid SCM screening tests and the long-term performance of nontraditional, blended fly ashes. • Construction & Materials Best Practice for Concrete Sidewalks: This report summarized an 18-month effort by the Massachusetts DOT to identify best practices for concrete sidewalk construction. • Learn about. . .Performance-Based Specifications: A listing of ongoing research based on search query "performance based specifications" from the Concrete Infrastructure Research Database that covers both in-progress and recently completed concrete pavement and bridge deck research. Click here to access the newsletter and links to each of the above items. 
Engineering
The Center for Infrastructure Renewal at Texas A&M University held a webinar earlier this month titled Future of Emerging SCMs. It featured a presentation by Anol Mukhopadhyay on durability-based concrete mix design followed by a panel discussion with NRMCA's Karthik Obla, Ivan Diaz, Lisa Lukefahr and Anol Mukhopadhyay on the current fly ash shortage. The panel discussed the current problem and potential solutions such as changes needed in the industry standards and specifications to reduce landfilling of fly ash produced, harvesting fly ash, other supplementary cementitious materials such as slag cement, silica fume, natural pozzolans and ground glass pozzolans, flexible concrete specifications in light of supply constraints and a performance-based approach toward concrete specifications. For more information, contact Karthik Obla at kobla@nrmca.org. 
Calendar
*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. August 3 - 5, Smyrna, TN September 29 - October 3, Kissimmee, FL October 18 - 20, Orlando, FL November 9 - 11, Dallas November 30 - December 2, Orlando, FL December 7 - 10, Orlando, FL |
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