NRMCA e-news

National Ready Mixed Concrete Association

Association & Industry News

The early bird registration deadline for NRMCA’s 2018 Annual Convention, scheduled for March 3-5 at the Marriott Marquis Houston is Friday, January 12. Please register on or before that date to save money on your registration fee. NRMCA’s Annual Convention is the venue to explore industry trends and network with your peers. This year’s event is co-located with the National Stone Sand & Gravel Association’s Annual Convention and the Portland Cement Association 2018 Spring Congress.

NRMCA has a block of rooms at the Marriott Marquis Houston at a discounted rate of $249/night plus applicable taxes. Hotel reservations can also be made by calling the Marriott Marquis Houston directly at 713- 654-17777 and asking for the “National Ready Mixed Concrete Association” or “NRMCA” rate. The hotel reservations cut-off date is February 9 or whenever the room block sells out, whichever occurs first. The room block is reserved for attendees of the NRMCA 2018 Annual Convention only.

Click here for all relevant links mentioned above. For more information, contact Senior Director of Meetings Jessica Walgenbach at jwalgenbach@nrmca.org or 240-485-1152.

The estimated ready mixed concrete produced in October 2017 is 34.6 million cubic yards, 5% higher than that in October 2016. The estimated production through October 2017 is 298 million cubic yards, 2.1% higher than that during the same period in 2016.

Ready mixed concrete production is estimated from cement shipments reported by the US Geological Survey. NRMCA members can view additional details here.

The NCC E-News is issued by the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center. The following are covered in more details with links to research reports:

• The December 2017 MAP Brief, Performance Assessment of Nonwoven Geotextile Materials Used as Separation Layer for Unbonded Concrete Overlay of Existing Concrete Pavement Applications in the U.S., provides an overview of the national performance experience of nonwoven geotextile separation layers as an alternative to hot-mix asphalt separation layers in unbonded concrete overlay applications.

• Research at the Georgia Institute of Technology compared the use of Type IL limestone-blended cement to conventional Type I/II portland cement.

• The National CP Tech Center completed a new guide specification for internally curing (IC) concrete.

• The Missouri DOT performed a series of case studies to evaluate six concrete pavement restoration (CPR) methods.

• The Minnesota Department of Transportation has developed a step-by-step selection procedure for evaluating whether an existing HMA pavement is a candidate for a bonded concrete overlay of asphalt (BCOA), also known as whitetopping.

Click here to access the newsletter.

NRMCA is still accepting nominations for the the annual Concrete Cares Award, established by the Manufacturers, Products & Services (MPS) Division to recognize outstanding contributions in community service by an NRMCA producer member company. With ready mixed concrete plants in almost every community in America, NRMCA member companies are making a real difference. From Earth Day celebrations to organized volunteering for Boys & Girls Clubs, local schools and recreation departments, to raising awareness for breast cancer screenings, ready mixed producers are at work every day in their communities.

The Concrete Cares Award aims to recognize these efforts and shine a national spotlight on the positive impact ready mixed concrete companies have in home towns across the nation. A donation in the name of the selected honoree will be made to the charity of its choice. The award will be presented at the 2018 NRMCA Annual Convention in March in Houston, during the Association’s annual Awards Breakfast. Ready mixed concrete producers that are members of NRMCA are eligible for nomination.

Click here to access links for nomination forms. Please note that awards are based on companies producing 250,000 cyds or less and 250,000 cyds or more. The forms and supporting materials need to be e-mailed to Kathleen Carr-Smith, senior vice president, membership and communications, at kcarrsmith@nrmca.org or mail to 900 Spring Street, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, by Friday, February 2.

Schwing America, Inc.
Kryton International

NRMCA Vice President, Local Paving, Phil Kresge recently participated in a Concrete Parking Lot Design Lunch and Learn hosted by NRMCA Producer member S&W Ready Mix Concrete Co. at its Castle Hayne, NC, facility. Attendees included civil and geotechnical engineers from the greater Wilmington area as well as South Carolina. The program was organized by Gordon Singletary, Specialty Products sales manager for S&W. Kresge and Singletary shared time as presenters. Topics included Introduction to ACI 330 – The Gold Standard in Concrete Parking Lots Design, Concrete Overlays of Existing Asphalt Parking Lots, NRMCA’s Design Assistance Program and Updates to North Carolina Pervious Concrete Stormwater BMP.

S&W Ready Mix Concrete Co. is a Titan America business providing ready mix concrete to the construction industry from 25 locations in North and South Carolina.

For more information, contact Phil Kresge at pkresge@nrmca.org.

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Fritz-Pak Corporation
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WAM USA, Inc.
CarbonCure Technologies Inc.
BASF Construction Chemicals
True Dispatch
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McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing, Inc.
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Con-Tech Manufacturing, Inc.
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There are lots of great choices available for operations staff. Additionally, discounts
are available for multiple registrations per class. See each class listing below for specifics:

• January 9-11, 2018, Orlando - Dispatcher Course
• January 16-19, 2018, Minneapolis - Plant Manager Certification Course
• January 17, 2018, Eagan, MN - Improving Concrete Quality
• January 23-25, 2018, Orlando - Effective RMC Supervisor Certification
• February 20-23, 2018, Albuquerque - Plant Manager Certification
• March 27-30, 2018, Louisville - Plant Manager Certification

Click here to access links for each of the courses listed above or contact NRMCA’s Meetings Department at 240-485-1152.

MAPEI
Xypex Chemical Corp
Pavement

In mid-December, Jon Hansen, NRMCA senior vice president of local paving, and his colleague, Phil Kresge, vice president of local paving, traveled to southwestern Minnesota to conduct the popular NRMCA Concrete Parking Lot Boot Camp at the headquarters of K&M Concrete Construction, Inc. At the invitation of K&M president Andy Kooiker, owners and top management of NRMCA producer member Buffalo Ridge Concrete, Inc. also participated in the 10 hours over 2-day Boot Camp.

“K&M Concrete Construction is an aggressive, growing concrete contractor extending its work coverage over many states. With the recent addition of a Somero Laser Screed® with 3D equipment, it will be aggressively expanding into all phases of parking lot construction, both new and overlay,” reported Hansen. “K&M’s Parking Lot Boot Camp also represented a milestone, being the 20th Parking Lot Boot Camp conducted since their inception. We think this is a fitting conclusion to closing out 2017.”

Parking Lot Boot Camps are now being scheduled for 2018. To find out more, contact Jon Hansen at jhansen@nrmca.org or any local paving team member here.

Ryder Fuel Services
Mack Trucks, Inc.
Engineering

NRMCA in conjunction with the Aggregate and Ready Mix Association of Minnesota and the Minnesota Concrete Council is presenting the one-day course, Improving Concrete Quality, intended for concrete producers, ingredient material suppliers, engineers, testing labs and contractors. The course will be offered on Wednesday, January 17, in Eagan, MN. Improving Concrete Quality, a book authored by one of the instructors, and other NRMCA resources provide the basic content for the course.

Improved concrete quality can benefit all stakeholders in a concrete construction project. This course will answer some of the following questions:

  • How do you know if you have good quality? What should be your quality metric?
  • How to become more profitable through better quality?
  • What are all the key statistical calculations you need to know in concrete?
  • How to control the mixing water content in concrete?
  • How to deal with temperature and delivery time variations?
  • What is the most effective way to ensure that your materials ingredients are of good quality?
  • How to improve batching accuracy, mixing uniformity?
  • How to identify non-standard testing and curing? How to improve testing quality?
  • Tests a producer should do, internal audits and many more.

Course instructors are Kevin MacDonald, Ph.D., FACI, Beton Consulting Engineers LLC, and Karthik Obla, Ph.D., P.E. at NRMCA. Producers will learn readily implementable steps to manage variability and attain a more consistent product; ingredient suppliers will learn how material variation affects concrete variation; engineers will learn the opportunity for improving quality through specifications; and testing lab professionals will learn to measure and improve testing quality. Upon successful completion of the course, attendees will earn 8 professional development hours, a certificate of completion and credits toward NRMCA’s STEPS program.

Click here for more information.

Calendar

*Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site.

January 9 – 11, Orlando, FL
Dispatcher Training Forum
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

January 16 – 18, Silver Spring, MD
CCSP Module III: General Business Knowledge
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

January 16 – 19, Minneapolis
Plant Manager Certification Course
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

January 17, Eagan, MN
Improving Concrete Quality
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

January 23 – 25, Orlando, FL
Effective RMC Supervisor Course
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

February 5 – 9, Dallas
Regional Technical Short Course
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

February 13, Nashville, TN
Pervious Concrete Contractor Certification Program
Email: Darla Sparkman, 615-360-6670

February 20 – 22, Nashville, TN
CCSP Module I: Concrete 101
Email: Darla Sparkman, 615-360-6670

February 20 – 23, Albuquerque, NM
Plant Manager Certification Course
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

March 3 - 5, Houston
NRMCA's Annual Convention
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

March 27 – 29, Silver Spring, MD
CCSP Module IV: Professional Sales Skills
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

March 27 – 30, Louisville, KY
Plant Manager Certification Course
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

April 10 – 12, Orlando, FL
NRMCA Safety Course
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

May 23, Bozeman, MT
Handling Concrete Specifications
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

September 29 – October 1, Metro Washington, DC
NRMCA's ConcreteWorks
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

December 11 – 14, Austin, TX
Plant Manager Certification Course
Email: Jessica Walgenbach, 888-84-NRMCA, x1152

Logo NRMCA
900 Spring Street
Silver Spring, MD, 20910
Phone: 301-587-1400 Toll Free: 888-84 NRMCA (846-7622)
Email: info@nrmca.org