NRMCA's celebration of the 100th anniversary of ready mixed concrete in the United States continues in E-NEWS this week with the histories of another Producer and Associate member. See below for the two companies we've selected this week, along with a link to that company's respective Web site for more information. This week's industry milestone? The first major pre-stressed concrete beam bridge designed and built in the United States, the Walnut Lane Memorial Bridge in Philadelphia, opened to traffic in 1951.

* Attention NRMCA Convention attendees: hope you’ve been paying attention to these fun facts because there will be a quiz at our Annual Convention. Those with the highest scores will be entered into a raffle to win a Kindle Fire HD! So study hard!

Rockville Fuel & Feed Co. - Rockville Fuel & Feed was founded in 1926 in Rockville, MD. At the time, Rockville was a sleepy agricultural town along the railroad tracks in Montgomery County. The original business model of the company was to deliver wood and coal to Montgomery County residents to heat their homes and sell feed and straw to county farmers for their livestock. That's where the name comes from.

In the mid-1930's, the company added the production and distribution of cinder blocks to its business model. And in 1950, Rockville Fuel & Feed got into the concrete business through a business arrangement with Contee Sand and Gravel. Contee was looking for a site to put a concrete plant in Rockville to supply concrete for a local road construction job. Rockville was willing to allow Contee to set up a plant at the company location on Hungerford Drive. At the end of the job, Rockville bought the plant from Contee and was in the concrete business. Read more.

Zimmerman Industries - This Associate member and member of the Volumetric Mixer Manufacturers Bureau began in the early 60’s when Pennsylvania farmer and inventor Harold Zimmerman saw the need to deliver fresh batched concrete on site. He determined that the only way to do this was to combine the batching, mixing and delivery operation into a single machine. In 1964, after several years of research and development, Zimmerman applied for a patent on his newly designed concrete mixer and in March 1967 the patent was granted.

More than half a century later, Zimmerman Industries delivers units to all segments of the concrete industry and to all corners of the world, including South America, Africa, Seoul, South Korea and throughout the U.S. Read more.

For researchers looking for ways to reduce emissions, cement is not just a commonplace, high-volume commodity; it is also one of the most complex substances known in materials science. From its structure and composition to the reactions that ensue when it is mixed with water and poured into a mould to set, "we still have some of the most basic questions about cement unanswered," says Hamlin Jennings, director of the Concrete Sustainability Hub at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

Core testing, visual inspection, lab analysis and non-destructive testing are just some of the techniques engineers use during forensic testing of pavement. A recent article in an industry trade magazine takes an in-depth look at how and why such testing is done and what can be learned from it.

Though "McMansion" may not be the kindest term for this Chinese architectural phenomenon, that's the case: Wealthy locals in Beijing and other cities have become smitten with Western-style houses that are huge (even by U.S. standards) and in planned subdivisions. And they're farming out the design work to American architects. The good news? These homes are all concrete.

Add coasters to the ever-widening uses for the world's most versatile building material. City Rain is a glass with a built-in concrete coaster. Each eight-ounce cup is $35, a reasonable price considering the author of this story describes concrete as "industrial, and clean, and cool."

NRMCA is seeking candidates for director of pavement structures. The director of pavement structures provides technical support to NRMCA members and staff on issues related to concrete pavement design and construction with a particular emphasis on streets, local roads and parking areas. He/she develops technical publications on concrete roadway and parking area design, including conventional concrete pavements, concrete overlays, roller-compacted concrete and pervious concrete. He/she develops and delivers training and certification programs to engineers, contractors and producers on design and construction of concrete pavements. He/she represents NRMCA at pavement related technical committees, including state DOTs. This position requires approximately 25% travel. The successful candidate will be expected to work from a home office located near an airport in the U.S. This position reports directly to the senior vice president, technical resources.

This position requires a person who can analyze and solve problems and make strategic decisions. He or she must be able to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing. The successful candidate will be expected to gather and analyze data and effectively generate and present reports, develop technical publications, and effectively develop and deliver training material. The successful candidate will have a minimum of 10 years experience directly related to pavement engineering. Experience designing stormwater management systems is a plus. In addition, he or she will hold at a minimum a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and be a registered professional engineer.

NRMCA Senior National Resource Director Philip Kresge and Ohio Concrete Association Southwest Promotion Director John Davidson recently met with a Cincinnati-based design firm to discuss concrete parking lots for the regional supermarket chain Kroger Co. Kresge took the opportunity to show some of the success NRMCA has had with National Accounts such as Dollar General, Lowe’s and Walmart. He also introduced the specifiers to the NRMCA Design Assistance Program and invited them to take advantage of the program for a Kroger project they are currently designing. The project manager agreed to present the idea to Kroger.

The visit was the result of initial prospecting by NRMCA Senior National Resource Director Doug O’Neill, who had identified a Kroger project in Shelby, MI. O’Neill provided the lead to Dan DeGraaf and his staff at the Michigan Concrete Association who quickly determined that the project was being designed by the firm in Cincinnati. When Kresge inquired about the design firm, he found that Davidson had an established relationship with it. The two promoters leveraged that relationship to facilitate the meeting.

"If you have not yet heard of NRMCA’s Full-Loop Promotion efforts, you soon will. And this was Full-Loop Promotion at its best," says Kresge. The concept of Full-Loop Promotion is for NRMCA’s National Resource Directors to collaborate with local promoters in developing supportive relationships with regional and local consultants in order to win projects.

The next scheduled promotion-focused Webinar is Roller Compacted Concrete: Your Third Choice for Pavement. This Webinar will introduce specifiers to Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC). Having characteristics of both asphalt and concrete pavements, RCC is best described as a third pavement choice. Attendees will learn the basics of RCC design and construction. Additionally, they will better understand the benefits of RCC, in terms of both construction and performance. Frequently asked questions regarding reinforcement, maintenance and freeze-thaw durability will also be addressed. Want to learn more? Just see the link below and register today. You can also contact NRMCA's Jacques Jenkins at jjenkins@nrmca.org.

• Tuesday, March 5 - Roller Compacted Concrete

Architecture 2030 founder Edward Mazria will deliver Architecture 2030 and the Concrete Industry during the opening session of NRMCA’s annual convention on Monday, March 4. His presentation will illustrate the powerful role of the built environment in both creating and alleviating many of the crises facing America and the world today. Mazria is an internationally recognized architect who reshaped the national and international dialogue on energy and climate change by bringing the building sector – the largest energy consumer and contributor to global warming – to center stage.

Mazria’s research shows conclusively that buildings are responsible for almost half of all U.S. energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and that any viable solution to global warming must run through the building sector. As an award-winning architect with more than 35 years of experience in low energy and passive solar energy design, and the author of numerous published works, including The Passive Solar Energy Book, Mazria is preeminently qualified to develop a method for transforming the building sector from the greatest contributor to climate change to its leading solution. Based on his experience and research, Mazria developed and issued the widely adopted 2030 Challenge, a measured and achievable strategy to dramatically reduce global GHG emissions and fossil fuel consumption by the year 2030.

As a follow-up, Francesca Desmarais, manager of Architecture 2030’s Challenge for Products, will present at the 2013 International Concrete Sustainability Conference, May 6-8, in San Francisco.

NRMCA requests its members, the concrete industry and interested parties who want to deliver an education session at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2014 to submit their proposal(s) no later than Friday, May 31. Speaker proposals can only be submitted online. Submittals will be reviewed by the CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2014 Education Committee for topic and audience balance within the total program, application, newness and practicality of session material; relevance and significance to the marketplace; structure and organization of a session and speakers' ability to engage the audience. Commercial product sessions are not acceptable topics. Contractors, by far, are the heaviest attendees at education sessions. 

Session tracks include concrete, aggregates, asphalt, safety and regulatory compliance, heavy machinery, equipment management and maintenance, workforce development and business best practices. The CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2014  seminar program will run Tuesday, March 4, through Friday, March 7, 2014. Seminars may also be scheduled on Saturday, March 8, 2014. Presentation dates of a selected proposal is the sole discretion of CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2014.

 

Six researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will present key findings from work conducted over the last year at the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub during the 2013 International Concrete Sustainability Conference, May 6-8, in San Francisco. Dr Franz-Josef Ulm, PhD (shown here), will participate on a panel titled Transparency and Material Ingredient Disclosure: What Google is Doing to Keep its Buildings Healthy. Environmentally conscious building owners, like Google, Inc., are demanding transparency with regard to the health and environmental impacts of the products they use in building construction. 

The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED v4 Rating System will soon demand Health Product Declarations (HPDs). This informative 1-1/2 hour panel discussion will provide an overview of HPDs, how Google is requiring transparency on its new Bayview project in the San Francisco Bay area and how stakeholders are addressing the issue throughout the value chain. Other MIT speakers and topics include:

• Dr. Jeremy Gregory, PhD, will present Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings: A Gap Analysis of Existing Literature and Trending Tools

• Arash Noshadravan will present Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Pavements Under Uncertainty and Variation

• Jacob Sobstyl will present Management: City Texture Matters

• Omar Swei will present Characterizing and Implementing Uncertainty in the Life-Cycle Cost of Pavements

• Christoph Wuestemeyer will present An Approach for Analyzing Cost and Energy Performance Trade-offs in Residential Building Wall Systems

Falcon Ready Mix Company’s Lusail Plant located in Doha, Qatar, became the fifth NRMCA Certified Sustainable Concrete Plant in the world this week. The plant is certified at the Silver level. To certify, 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. After third party audit, plants can obtain an NRMCA Sustainable Concrete Plant Certification level of:

• Bronze: 30-49 points

• Silver: 50-69 points

• Gold: 70-89 points

• Platinum: 90-100 points

Lionel Lemay of NRMCA presented Concrete Building Systems: Disaster Resilient Solutions for Safer Communities at the first annual Residential Building Design and Construction Conference, February 20-21, in Bethlehem, PA. The conference was organized by the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center (PHRC) at Penn State University and provides a forum for researchers, design professionals, manufacturers, builders and code officials to present the latest advancements, innovations and projects related to residential buildings. The paper presented a four step process for resilient construction:

• Adopting a basic building code

• Promoting market driven resilience programs

• Adopting more robust resilience standards

• Building with more robust materials such as concrete

Lemay was also able to provide presenters with information on life cycle assessment research at MIT’s Concrete Sustainability Hub to refute claims by some presenters that concrete is not a sustainable solution for residential construction.

Next month, on Thursday, March 21, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, NRMCA will present a free Webinar on Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). EPDs are third party verified (certified) reports published by product manufacturers that provide quality assured and comparable information regarding environmental performance of their products or service. 

With the proliferation of eco-labels and green certifications worldwide, it can be confusing determining a product’s environmental attributes. Well established in other parts of the world, EPDs are starting to appear in the U.S. as the common methodology for assessing the potential environmental performance of a product or process. The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED v4 Rating System and Architecture 2030 for Products are starting the demand for EPDs. 

Join us for an informative 1-1/2 hours as we offer a brief overview of EPDs, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) that supports it and the Product Category Rules (PCRs) that sets the ground rules for it. In addition, the Webinar will discuss NRMCA’s EPD Program, which enables concrete producers to meet the new requirements for EPDs.

Media articles on Congress, transportation infrastructure, regulation, heath care, 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 the Week of February 18 - 22, please click here.

NRMCA's Internet Spotlight, good through Tuesday, March 5, is the Guideline Manual for Quality Assurance Quality Control. This publication describes the basic requirements of a ready mix producer's quality plan, including a reprint of ACI 121R-04 Quality Management System for Concrete Construction and a section on statistical concepts for quality control purposes. The publication includes a variety of standard reports that the industry can use.

February 28, Orlando, FL

Adopting Disaster Resilient Construction at the Local Level

Email: Tien Peng, 206-913-8535

 

March 3-5, San Antonio, TX

NRMCA Annual Convention

Email: Nicole Maher, 888-84-NRMCA, x1158

 

March 5, Webinar

Roller Compacted Concrete: Your Third Choice for Pavement

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 888-84-NRMCA, x1165

 

March 7, Webinar

RCC: Intro to Design and Construction

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

March 11-14, Online Course

Building Green with Concrete

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

March 12, Webinar

The Quantifiable Advantages of Concrete Parking Lots

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 888-84-NRMCA, x1165

 

March 12-14, Silver Spring, MD

Dispatcher Training Forum

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

March 15, Webinar

Effectively Communicating Sustainability

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 888-84-NRMCA, x1165

 

March 19, Webinar 

Concrete Pavement Jointing Plans

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

March 19-21, Silver Spring, MD

CCSP Module IV: Sales Fundamentals

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

March 19-22, Houston

Plant Manager Certification Course

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

March 20, Charlotte, NC

Handling Concrete Specifications, Low Strength Problems & Mixture Submittals

Email: Karen Bean, 888-84-NRMCA, x1168

 

March 26, Webinar

Green-Star Auditor Certification

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 888-84-NRMCA, x1165

 

April 4, Baton Rouge, LA

Handling Concrete Specifications, Low Strength Problems & Mixture Submittals

Email: Karen Bean, 888-84-NRMCA, x1168

 

April 8-11, Online Course

LCA of Concrete Structures

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

April 19, Webinar

Effectively Communicating Sustainability

Email: Jacques Jenkins, 888-84-NRMCA, x1165

 

April 23, Webinar

Using a Sales Customer Relationship Management System

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

May 6-8, San Francisco

International Concrete Sustainability Conference

Email: Lionel Lemay, 847-918-7101

 

May 12-15, Chicago

Fifth North American Conference on Design and Use of Self-Consolidating Concrete

 

May 20-23 Online Course

Pervious Concrete: A Stormwater Solution

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

June 3-5, Chicago

Concrete Durability Course

Email: Karen Bean, 888-84-NRMCA, x1168

 

June 11, Webinar

Concrete Overlays for Streets and Local Roads and Parking Lots

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

June 25, Webinar

Controlling Moisture in Concrete Slabs

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

August 11-15, Montreal

ISARC 2013: 30th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, Mining & Petroleum Industries

Email: Chantal Murphy, 514-939-2710, ext. 1309

 

August 13-16, Silver Spring, MD 

Plant Manager Certification Course

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

August 27, Webinar 

Concrete Pavement Jointing Plans

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

September 22-24, Las Vegas

Concrete Works & Board of Directors' Meeting

Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

 

November 19-21, Silver Spring, MD

The Effective RMC Supervisor Course

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

December 4-6, Orlando, FL

Environmental Professional Certification Course

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154

 

December 10-13, Orlando, FL 

Plant Manager Certification Course

Email: Shawnita Dickens, 888-84-NRMCA, x1154