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Upcoming Seminars
CRSI / NRMCA / PCA / PCI / PTI to Host the
2009 Structural Professors’ Seminars
The 11th annual Bridges seminar will be held on August
6-7, 2009 in conjunction with the 18th annual Buildings
seminar on August 3-5, 2009. Both events will take
place at the Portland Cement Association’s headquarters in
Skokie, Illinois. These seminars provide a forum in which the latest
concrete industry developments are presented to university professors
in civil, structural and architectural engineering. As in past years,
there is no seminar registration fee.
National sponsors include: Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute
(CRSI), the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA), the
Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI), the Post-Tensioning
Institute (PTI), and the Portland Cement Association (PCA.) These
sponsors provide speakers, teaching materials, and complimentary
publications. They also sponsor receptions, dinners, and daily luncheons
during this event.
Participating professors are sponsored by local concrete industry
groups from the U.S. Such groups include: Regional Cement and Concrete
Promotion Groups, State Ready Mixed Concrete Associations, CRSI
Chapters, and PCI Regional Associations. These groups cover the
professors' travel, lodging, and meal expenses. Professors are usually
reimbursed for all of their travel expenses by the local concrete
promotion groups. Sometimes budget may allow only partial reimbursement
of expenses. That is why professors interested in one or both seminars
should consider applying as soon as possible.
In order to maintain a proper educational setting and to provide
for meaningful interchange of ideas, attendance is limited to 32
professors per seminar, on a first come, first served basis.
Design of Concrete Bridges by the AASHTO
LRFD (August 6-7, 2009)
Structural concrete design courses at universities focus on proportioning
and detailing of building components by the ACI 318 Building Code.
The concrete bridge design seminar focuses on the AASHTO Load
and Resistance Factor Design
(LRFD) Bridge Design Specifications. These are reliability-based
specifications and have introduced new concepts for proportioning
of concrete bridge members. The AASHTO LRFD concrete design provisions
are significantly different than those of the ACI 318 Building Code.
The purpose of the seminar is to provide professors with background
information and tools to facilitate teaching new concepts introduced
in the LRFD bridge design specifications and current practice. They
include, but are not limited to, bridge deck design, girder design
(including shear design methods), substructure design, and bridge
construction.
Each professor receives a participant notebook with copies of all
slides, design examples, and a CD-ROM containing PowerPoint files
of most presentations and design examples. These materials are provided
to the participants to facilitate starting a new concrete bridge
design course, or improving on an existing one. Professors are also
encouraged to contact their state Department of Transportation and
offer to bring them up to speed with the LRFD provisions.
Engineering and Economics of Concrete Buildings
(August 3-5, 2009)
Up-to-date information on the design and construction of concrete
buildings is provided so that participants can significantly enhance
their concrete design courses. Economic aspects of design and construction
are pointed out. Other topics include teaching the fundamentals
of structural concrete design, unified design provisions for flexure
and axial loads in structural concrete members, seismic details
for concrete buildings, strut-and-tie, and an overview of codes
and standards. Changes introduced in ACI 318-08 will be discussed.
Participant’s forums and open discussions enable those in
attendance to discuss points of interest in teaching design of concrete
buildings. Each attendee receives handout materials provided by
the speakers and numerous publications related to the seminar topics.
For information on either of these annual seminars, please contact
Caron Johnsen at the Portland Cement Association, 5420 Old Orchard
Road, Skokie, IL 60077, (847) 972-9058, E-mail: cjohnsen@cement.org
or Basile Rabbat at (847) 972-9062, e-mail: brabbat@cement.org.
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