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This Week in the Ready Mixed Concrete Industry for November 17, 2008

 

NewsLinks

Aggregates Industry Faces Challenges

Commercial-Mortgage Lending Comes to “Abrupt Halt”

Obama Faces £1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill

Costs Paving Way for Concrete – Cheaper than Asphalt?

City Halls Call Out for Help from Obama

Engineering Cited in Minneapolis Bridge Failure

 

Promotion

Market Opportunities Exist for Industry Promoters

St. Louis Firm to Implement Performance Specifications for Concrete

NRMCA Weekly Asphalt Price Survey Now Available Online

 

Engineering

NRMCA Completes Guide to Implement Findings of Fly Ash Project

NRMCA Reports on ACI Fall Convention

 

Operations, Environmental & Safety

January Classes Designed to Increase Efficiency, Productivity

 

Sustainable Development

Wells Fargo Exceeds $2 Billion in Financing for LEED-Certified "Green" Buildings

Cost Savvy Execs Expect Greener Buildings

Green Building Council Predicts New Green Building Economy

Deadline Nears for Minnesota Sustainable Development Course

 

Government Affairs

Labor Department Issues Final Rule on Family and Medical Leave Act

 

Education & Training

New Concrete Parking Course Offered for Producers, Contractors

NRMCA Revises CCSP Module IV/Professional Sales to Address Economy

Deadline Nears for Minnesota Sustainable Development Course

 

Association News

Save the Date: NRMCA Annual Convention Set for March in Florida

 

Industry News

NRMCA Producer Member Celebrates 30th Anniversary

 

Products & Services

English-Spanish Translation Manual is November Internet Special

 

Calendar

A Look Ahead


NewsLinks

Useful News from Around the Web and World of Business

· Aggregates Industry Faces Challenges A November 10 posting on aggregatesresearch.com states that two more years of a downturn in business is seen. "Real Challenges continue to face our industry. I think everybody has concerns about 2009. We see no industry rebound. We see a couple of more years of being in a downturn," Cliff Halliday Jr., treasurer of the Michigan Aggregates Association (MAA) and vice president of Halliday Sand & Gravel, Inc., of Houghton Lake, MI, said to attendees of the 2008 MAA Fall Meeting. Click here.

· Commercial-Mortgage Lending Comes to “Abrupt Halt” A November 7 Bloomberg News story cites a report by RBS Greenwich Capital Markets that states commercial real estate borrowers are running out of options as asset-backed markets dry up and alternative financing comes to an "abrupt halt.” Regional banks and insurance companies, which had become the primary source of financing since credit markets seized up, have stopped lending, the RBS analysts wrote in a report. Click here.

· Obama Faces £1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill – The Web site of the United Kingdom’s New Civil Engineer magazine posted this story on November 10, based on an interview with the president of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Click here.

· Costs Paving Way for Concrete – Cheaper than Asphalt? – Florida transportation officials discussed the rising cost of asphalt and the increasing viability of concrete in this story posted November 11 on aggregateresearch.com: click here.

· City Halls Call Out for Help from Obama  America's mayors are crying out for help from President-elect Barack Obama, seeking immediate relief from a national economic crisis that has slammed budgets in big cities, suburbs and small towns, reports msnbc.com on November 13. Responding to an informal survey by msnbc.com, many mayors called for a program in the style of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration to put people back to work and rebuild neglected roads, bridges and schools. The economy was by far the most frequently mentioned problem, and fixing the nation's infrastructure the most frequently mentioned solution. Click here.

· Engineering Cited in Minneapolis Bridge Failure - Last year’s Interstate-35W highway bridge collapse in Minneapolis, the worst such accident in 25 years, was caused by an engineering flaw and the load on its deck, Bloomberg reported, citing U.S. safety investigators. The Web site of Transport Topics posted this story on November 14: click here.

Promotion

Market Opportunities Exist for Industry Promoters

NRMCA South Central Senior National Resource Director Vance Pool noted that besides the tremendous opportunity available for concrete in parking lots, there are a number of other market segments that bear attention when looking to replace yards no longer available in residential and a number of commercial market segments.

Wind power is growing rapidly, Pool said. Whether onshore or off, a significant amount of concrete is available in footings and bases in this market. If you live where there is wind, you will have wind power eventually.

Local streets and roads have also seen asphalt prices climb and limited availability for the product. Grassroots efforts through either politics or city and county engineers are areas where industry promoters should be gaining market share more rapidly than at present, he added.  Pushing to bid concrete alternates on any asphalt-specified paving should be an area of focus for all sales teams with capacity to sell. 

Lastly, don’t forget Wal-Mart allows concrete alternates on all new projects, but if you get a unit with the old specifications, go get it from the contractor on price, Pool says, “like you can do on all others you hear about. If you don’t get it, position yourself to get calls on all future work, you’ll get one!”

For more information, contact Vance Pool at vpool@nrmca.org.

St. Louis Firm to Implement Performance Specifications for Concrete

In an effort to prepare itself for changes and implement new technology faster, HOK in St. Louis recently invited NRMCA North Central Senior National Resource Director Jon Hansen to speak to a group of designers and company executives. The topic of the luncheon meeting was the transition from prescriptive specifications to performance specifications, or P2P. The 1.5 hour meeting allowed Hansen to present an overview of P2P objectives and left a generous amount of time for questions.

“Like any change in procedure, P2P implementation is met with resistance by some and embraced cautiously by others,” Hansen said. “HOK management is committed to keeping the firm up to date not only on new technology, but on all aspects of material specification, concrete certification and quality control.”

HOK was founded in 1955 by George Hellmuth, Gyo Obata and George Kassabaum. It currently has 26 regional offices on four continents and was ranked the #1 architectural/engineering firm by Engineering News-Record in April 2007. The firm has over 2,500 employees and is credited with designing the first LEED certified airport terminal at Boston Logan International Airport. HOK has also been recognized for six consecutive years on the American Institute of Architects’ “Top 10 Green Projects List”.

For more information, contact Jon Hansen at jhansen@nrmca.org.

NRMCA Weekly Asphalt Price Survey Now Available Online

NRMCA is now charting the average weekly liquid asphalt price of a large national supplier based on 10 of its sales locations across the U.S. This information is updated every Monday to show last week’s price compared with weekly prices since April. The average price last week was $691, approximately $100 less than the peak price reached in early September.

The price survey is available by clicking here.

For more information, contact NRMCA’s Glenn Ochsenreiter at glenn@nrmca.org.

Engineering

NRMCA Completes Guide to Implement Findings of Fly Ash Project

The NRMCA Research Laboratory recently completed a guide for the construction team (contractor, concrete producer and engineer) which was an extension of the project “New Technology-Based Approach to Advance Higher Volume Fly Ash Concrete with Acceptable Performance”. The guide provides recommendations on the application of the maturity method to support the use of optimized Higher Volume Fly Ash (HVFA) concrete mixtures by providing a simple method to estimate in-place strength development.

Funding for the development of this guide was provided by the RMC Research & Education Foundation. The original project was also funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the Combustion Byproducts Recycling Consortium.

The guide can be downloaded from two locations: http://www.rmc-foundation.org/ and

http://www.nrmca.org/research/eng_articles.asp.

For more information, contact NRMCA's Karthik Obla at 1-888-846-7622, ext. 1163 or by e-mail, kobla@nrmca.org.

NRMCA Reports on ACI Fall Convention

Some brief notes from NRMCA staff who attended the recent American Concrete Institute (ACI) Convention in St. Louis:

· ACI 211 on Mixture Proportioning – Extensive revisions were balloted and discussed at the committee meeting on the 211.1 document “Standard Practice for Selecting Proportions for Normal, Heavyweight, and Mass Concrete”.

· ACI 555 on Recycled Materials – The committee is looking for case studies on the successful use of recycled concrete aggregates in buildings. These will be incorporated in the 555R document “Removal and Reuse of Hardened Concrete” which is undergoing revisions. The revised document will also discuss the use of crushed returned concrete as aggregates.

· ACI 130 on Sustainability – This is a newly formed ACI committee that had its first meeting. This committee will develop a document on how concrete fits in sustainable development. The committee will sponsor a session at the Spring 2009 ACI convention in San Antonio.

· ACI 601-B Certification – This committee has developed the framework for a Concrete Quality Technical Manager Certification. The goal of this certification is to establish qualifications of a person who has demonstrated knowledge in concrete testing, concrete technology, and codes and specifications. This person should be responsible for developing performance-based mix designs and a ready mixed concrete company's quality plan. ACI will undertake a market survey for establishing viability of this certification.

· ACI 332 Residential Concrete – The residential code committee met to discuss the next cycle for code revisions. The next committee cycle will be shortened to coincide with International Residential Code cycle. No major revisions to the ACI residential code, ACI 332, are anticipated.

· ACI 560 Insulating Concrete Forms – This committee met to discuss the first step toward developing a design guide for waffle grid systems. The committee will host a session in San Antonio where several design philosophies will be presented.

· ACI 301 Specifications – This committee is working hard to complete the next version of the specification. In three days of meetings, it resolved issues from several ballots. The revised ACI 301 will incorporate the pertinent provisions of ACI 318-08 and include at least four additional optional sections on industrial floor slabs, structural and architectural precast concrete and tilt-up walls. Significant revisions are in the works for the existing sections also. It is anticipated that ACI 301 will be published in 2010 after the ACI review process.

· ACI 318 Building Code – The building code is undergoing a complete reformat that will primarily impact design professionals. However, the traditional chapters on materials will be moved around in a different sequence in the document. The subcommittee responsible for the materials section of the code is working on several revisions through the process. The next version of ACI 318 will only be printed in 2014. A supplement is planned for 2011 for critical items.

· ACI 214 Strength Tests and Cores – The committee is completing a revision to this document. It is also revising the document on testing cores.

· ACI BAC-SD – Board Advisory Committee on Sustainable Development – Developed recommendations for greatly increased attention to the issues of sustainability with concrete within the meetings and other considerations of all technical committees.  This effort was specifically requested by the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors.

· ACI-330 on Design and Construction of Concrete Parking Lots – Following the publication in 2008 of a revised standard; committee members are already considering revisions.

· ACI-522 on Pervious Concrete – The committee finalized its voting on the ACI-522 R document which will provide strong recommended guidelines for the design, construction and use of pervious concrete. As an emerging technology much detail is included, including the history of its use as well as its future application and in particular its critical place as a technology at the forefront of sustainable development.

 

NRMCA Staff Presentations

Lionel Lemay was part of a six-member panel of the traditional ACI 123 Forum with the topic, Should Sustainability be Policy Driven? Lemay stressed that there should be a balance of the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development and that it is often observed that industry initiatives progress significantly with incentives rather than mandates.

Karthik Obla delivered a presentation on “Early Age Test Criteria for Predicting Long–Term Chloride Penetration Resistance into Concrete”. Preliminary results indicate that RCPT (coulomb) results did not appear to correlate well with chloride diffusion coefficient test results, possibly due to varying concrete pore solution conductivities. The study was funded by the RMC Research & Education Foundation and the Portland Cement Association, and ongoing work is also part of an Indiana DOT led Pooled Fund Study.

Colin Lobo delivered two presentations: the first one was on Precision of Strength Testing, discussing the variability of strength tests derived from the annual round robin strength testing program in the Washington, DC, area. The second presentation was on the Ready Mixed Concrete Industry’s Perspective on Self Consolidating Concrete (SCC), based on a short survey of the industry members on the challenges and opportunities to promote the use of SCC.

For more information, contact Lionel Lemay, Karthik Obla, Dan Huffman or Colin Lobo at llemay@nrmca.org, kobla@nrmca.org, dhuffman@nrmca.org or clobo@nrmca.org.

Operations, Environmental & Safety

January Classes Designed to Increase Efficiency, Productivity

Meet the 2009 challenge head on by using the dead of winter to train your staff to apply industry-specific best practices. Each class qualifies for national recognition within the STEPS certification program. Additionally, registration discounts/rebates are available for those companies that are members of their state association as well as NRMCA. Please note that each class has a December hotel cut-off dates, so plan wisely for additional savings.

The Effective RMC Supervisor, Silver Spring, MD, January 13-16 – New – Hands-on people management processes and communication skills for driver supervisors, operations, fleet, QC supervisors to increase daily operations productivity, efficiency and reduce front line employee liabilities and claims. Hotel discount cut off: Saturday, December 20.                                                                                                      

Fleet Manager’s Certification Course, Phoenix, January 13-16 – New – Prepares ready mixed concrete industry fleet professionals for the day-to-day management of maintenance shops, equipment, vendor relations, work processes and people. Hotel discount cut off: Saturday, December 13.

Dispatcher Training Forum, Birmingham, AL, January 20-22 – Technical, operational and customer service applied skills and best practices specifically for RM schedulers, shippers, dispatchers and dispatch managers. Hotel discount cut off: Monday, December 29.

Mentor Driver Workshop, Portland, OR, January 27-28 Once a year training for a senior driver and his/her supervisor, instructing how to schedule and conduct short, weekly driver training sessions that reinforce safety and environmental compliance as well as operations and technical information that specifically relates to a driver’s job execution. Hotel cut off: Monday, December 15.

For more information, contact NRMCA's Jessica Moore at 1-888-846-7622, ext. 1153 or by e-mail, jmoore@nrmca.org.

Sustainable Development

Wells Fargo Exceeds $2 Billion in Financing for LEED-Certified "Green" Buildings

Wells Fargo has surpassed $2 billion in lending for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certified buildings. Of the buildings financed by Wells Fargo, 28% are LEED-rated, 37% are LEED-silver, 21% are LEED-gold and 9% are LEED-platinum, the highest rating available. Since May 2007, Wells Fargo has doubled its commitments for LEED buildings from $1 billion to $2 billion and increased the number of LEED buildings it has financed by 125%.

In addition, Wells Fargo is one of the first organizations to be LEED® pre-certified for new construction. Its new banking stores will use about 20% less energy and 40% less water than conventional buildings of the same type. Since 2007, Wells Fargo has contributed nearly $500,000 to nonprofit organizations in support of green building education and practices. Learn more at www.wellsfargo.com/environment.

Source: Wellsfargo.com.

Cost Savvy Execs Expect Greener Buildings

According to a recent survey by CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle, commercial real estate executives are increasingly seeking greener office space. The survey found that more commercial real estate executives than ever – some 69% compared with 47% in 2007 – have "embraced sustainability" and view it as a critical issue. Some 40% identified sustainability and energy as major factors in their companies' location decisions and another 36% said those attributes are "tie-breakers" when considering competitive sites.

Of the executives surveyed this year, 42% said they are willing to pay a premium – typically 1-5% – to lease green work space and 53% said they would pay a premium to retrofit property they own to increase efficiency. The survey showed that 40% of the firms queried are charting "sustainability data" – chiefly the costs and benefits associated with energy efficiency – and 30% are collecting data in some form related to green workspace.

Source: GreenerBuildings.com.

Green Building Council Predicts New Green Building Economy

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), developers of the LEED® Green Building Rating System, predicts new emphasis on green building with Barack Obama as president. With more than 500 energy and climate advisors, President-Elect Obama campaigned on an aggressive and detailed plan to strengthen the economy, spur green job creation and protect the environment. Policy proposals include:

· Expand federal grants to assist states and localities build more efficient public buildings through the use of LEED;

· All new federal buildings would have to be carbon-neutral by 2025;

· Carbon-neutrality for all new buildings by 2030;

· Invest $150 billion over 10 years to spur the development of renewable energy and other energy efficient technologies;

· Renew support for public mass transit projects;

· And Implement a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to direct $60 billion over 10 years to infrastructure projects that could create some 2 million new jobs and $35 billion annually in economic activity.

In addition, USGBC estimates that 2.5 million new green jobs could directly result from a 100% commitment to energy efficiency in our homes, schools and offices.

Source: USGBC.org.

Government Affairs

Labor Department Issues Final Rule on Family and Medical Leave Act

Last Friday, the Department of Labor released a final rule updating the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993. The final rule primarily focuses on extending the FMLA benefits to families of servicemen and women, and families of members of the National Guard and Reserves. The new rule allows families to take up to 26 work weeks of leave in a 12-month period to care for a family member seriously injured or who has fallen ill in the line of duty. As well, families of National Guard and Reserve members are now able to take FMLA leave to attend to child care and school matters, obtain financial, legal and counseling services, and to manage short-notice deployment.

The rule also provides employers more direct access to workers’ and their family members’ health information, reduces the time that employees need to give their employers notice of leave and adds new requirements before an employee can qualify for paid leave under the Act.

To view the final rule published in Monday’s Federal Register notice please click here.

For more information, contact NRMCA’s Tom Carter or Kevin Walgenbach at tcarter@nrmca.org or kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.

Education & Training

New Concrete Parking Course Offered for Producers, Contractors

NRMCA and the American Society of Concrete Contractors have teamed to offer a new course title How to Build a Successful Parking Lot Construction Business, January 20-21, 2009, in St. Louis. Concrete contractors and concrete producers now have a unique opportunity to build a successful business installing concrete parking lots.

Concrete has traditionally been perceived as the higher-priced but longer-lasting material for parking lots. However, with the recent rise in asphalt prices concrete has now become competitive in both initial cost and life-cycle cost. Now property owners can enjoy the benefits of concrete, including long service life and low maintenance along with environmental benefits, including cooler surfaces and reduced lighting requirements.

This course is intended for concrete contractors and concrete producers. It provides features and benefits of concrete and asphalt for paved parking areas. It presents the importance of marketing and effective presentation skills in the successful promotion of concrete parking areas. The course also provides different contract delivery methods and how they affect the potential for a successful concrete parking lot contracting business.

This course provides detailed instruction on how to design and build concrete parking lots. Concrete materials are presented, including discussions on strength, workability and durability. Construction techniques, inspection, testing, maintenance and repair are discussed. Additional detail will be provided on cost estimating, cost-benefit analysis, and life cycle cost. In addition to details of conventional concrete parking lots, this seminar will provide introductions to innovative products such as whitetopping and pervious concrete.

Click here to register online or download a registration form. For more information, contact NRMCA's Lionel Lemay at LLemay@nrmca.org or 847-918-7101.

NRMCA Revises CCSP Module IV/Professional Sales to Address Economy

NRMCA will launch a totally revised Certified Concrete Sales Professional (CCSP) Professional Sales Module IV, January 27-30, in Silver Spring, MD. The material will not only address selling techniques in this challenging environment but also guide sales reps through the ins-and-outs of selling green and parking lots. The material is geared toward mid-level staff so they can apply consultative, team-based cross-selling methods in ready mixed concrete situations. Hotel discount cut off: Monday, January 5.

For more information, contact NRMCA's Jessica Moore at 1-888-846-7622, ext. 1153 or by e-mail, jmoore@nrmca.org.

Deadline Nears for Minnesota Sustainable Development Course

Registration for the seminar Concrete’s Role in Sustainable Development, scheduled for Wednesday, December 3, in Minneapolis, is nearing capacity. This popular NRMCA course is being sponsored by the Aggregate and Ready Mix Association of Minnesota.

Participants will leave with a detailed understanding of the environmental attributes of concrete and how it can contribute to sustainable development. LEED and calculations related to the green building rating systems will be addressed, as well as how to promote sustainable business. This course is intended for ready mixed concrete sales and marketing professionals, concrete technical and operational professionals. Attendees can earn seven Professional Development hours upon completion of the course and can also fulfill some requirements toward NRMCA’s STEPS Certified Concrete Professional program.  

Registration can be completed online at http://www.armofmn.com/ or by contacting Margaret Mills at mmills@armofmn.com. The registration fee for the course is $300.

Association News

Save the Date: NRMCA Annual Convention Set for March in Florida

NRMCA’s 2009 Annual Convention is set for March 15-17 at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista. The hotel phone is 407-827-4000 and fax, 407-827-6369. The room rate is $199/night.

For more information, contact NRMCA’s Jessica Moore at jmoore@nrmca.org