Concrete Condos Enrich Wilshire's Golden Mile

Structural engineers EPI and developer Fifield Companies selected an 8-inch-thick, two-way post-tensioned slab system. The cladding system will employ a conventional reinforced concrete moment-resisting frame with precast panels. General contractor Pankow Builders hopes to break ground by the end of this year.

Favored in residential construction for the lowest floor-to-floor heights, cast-in-place concrete buildings are often built on a two day cycle per floor resulting in earlier occupancy with a lower project cost. Known for excellent resistance to vibrations and fire, concrete walls and slabs also reduce sound transmission by 30% to 40% over membrane walls and provide excellent acoustic separation. To read more case studies, click here.

Producer Price Index: Volatility Continues

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Prices for concrete products rose less than 1% in August and are 5.2% higher than last year. Asphalt prices remained steady for the month and have increased only 1.3% for the year.

PCA coordinated seminar speakers and materials, including the book on which it is based, Simplified Design of Reinforced Concrete Buildings of Moderate Size and Height. Four of PCA's structural engineering experts are part of the faculty conducting the course. The goal is to provide designers with efficient time-saving alternatives for moderate size buildings. More.

Post-Tensioning Seminars Stress Concrete Economy

PCA and the Post-Tensioning Institute will present Fundamentals of Post-Tensioning: Design, Analysis and Construction, a series of design seminars on the technology, analysis and design, application, and construction of post-tensioned buildings. Seminar participants can earn PDH/CEU credits. More.

Emerging Trends in Structural Concrete

Learn about recent advances in creating sustainable, durable, and cost-effective structures. This fast-paced four-hour workshop will provide solid background information on the latest technologies related to: Self-Consolidating Concrete; Efficient Concrete Formwork Systems and Materials; and Precast Hybrid-Frames.
Keynote Speaker: W. Gene Corley, PhD, SE , “Blast and Progressive Collapse Resistance of Concrete Buildings”
September 16th, 2004 – Long Beach, CA More.

Concrete Builds the Sustainable Movement

In partnership with Building Design & Construction this in-depth report features essential articles and case studies examining concrete’s role in green building design, LEED and concrete, green concrete building resources, and green building costs. The supplement profiles green building applications in various market sectors including educational, public, civic, government, residential, commercial and renovation projects.
Click here for printed copy or download PDF.

Fireproofing Subject of Latest Round of WTC Tests

Tests to determine the role of spray-on fireproofing in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers may have uncovered deficiencies in the test procedures themselves rather than flaws in design or workmanship.

At issue is the composite, open-web, steel-joist floor system used in the the towers. Concerned that insufficient fireproofing caused the joists to fail and contribute to the building collapse, researchers for the National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) subjected smaller scaled versions of the floor system to fire tests at Underwriter Laboratories on August 25.

Results were inconclusive. The test sections failed not from structural collapse, but first from the elevated temperatures of the steel joists followed by the temperature rise of the non-structural concrete slab they supported.

Experts question the validity of both the test apparatus and the conditions. "The floors were tested in extreme and unrealistic conditions," says Stephen Szoke, PCA's director of codes and standards. Szoke witnessed the tests at UL's Northbrook, Ill., facility along with other experts, members of the press, and the family of victims. Both Szoke and an August 26 New York Times report on the tests conclude that the test sections did not accurately represent the floor system used in the WTC and the conditions they were subjected to in the terrorist attack.
More on WTC.NIST.gov