Concrete Scores with W Dallas Victory Hotel and Residences

“To the victor go the spoils!” And spoiled is Dallas with its new W Dallas Victory Hotel and Residences, the first and anchoring structure in the up-and-coming urban redevelopment known as Victory Park. It's also a win for structural concrete, consisting primarily of post-tensioned flat plate in addition to slab-and-beam construction.

The 780,000-square-foot project includes 252 hotel guest rooms, 65 modern luxury residences in two towers, parking for 450 vehicles, a spa and fitness center, and an outdoor infinity edge swimming pool in a two-story, open-air atrium on the 16th floor. The 33rd floor features the Ghost Bar, a subsidiary of the popular Las Vegas entertainment destination.

Phase II of Victory Park, the more than $3 billion, 75-acre mixed-use development will include high-end residential, retail, indoor and outdoor recreation facilities, a 45-story office tower, and a museum. More.

Post-tensioned flat plate concrete construction is becoming almost synonymous with high-rise hotel and condominium construction. Developers in every major city are employing the flexibility of concrete-framed buildings to combine a myriad of concepts and amenities in hotel and resort design. Hotel owners chose concrete floors for the inherent durability, security, and fire resistance while offering unobstructed floor-to-ceiling views between the floor plates. More hotel case studies.

September PPI: Steel Continues Climb Amid Declines

According to the September Producer Price Index (PPI), steel prices continued to rise even though lumber, asphalt, and concrete posted declines.

Asphalt prices declined 0.1% in September, the first monthly decline since April of 2004. Concrete prices also declined 0.1% for the month, while lumber prices dropped 0.3%.

Steel prices climbed 2.4% in September, the thirteenth straight monthly increase. Asphalt prices are 33.5% higher than one year ago and steel prices are 23% higher. Concrete prices have grown 9.3% in the last year while lumber prices are 8% below a year ago.

Source: Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Know Your Wall System

When it comes to using concrete wall systems in sustainable building construction, the options are limitless. High-performance concrete comes in many varieties, including these six popular systems: tilt-up, insulating concrete forms (ICFs), precast, masonry, removable forms and autoclave aerated concrete. More.

Structural Integrity

Structures capable of safely supporting all conventional design loads may suffer local damage from severe local abnormal loads, such as explosions, vehicle impact, or impact of local effects from very high winds. The overall ability of a reinforced concrete structure to withstand such abnormal loads can be substantially enhanced by providing relatively minor changes in the detailing of the reinforcement, without impacting the overall economy. More.

Learn about structural integrity and earn continuing education credit. More.

New Record Sales for Tilt-Up in the US

Tilt-up concrete construction is one of the fastest-growing building technologies in North America, with at least 10,000 structures—enclosing more than 650 million square feet of space—being built every year. More.

The Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA), a non-profit international organization that serves to expand and improve the use of site-cast tilt-up as the preferred construction method, has announced that 2005 was a record year for tilt-up construction sales in the United States. More.

The Tilt-Up Construction and Engineering Manual - 6th Edition
Published by the Tilt-Up Concrete Association, this manual is the leading resource of information on tilt-up design and construction as it is practiced today. The manual is an important reference for those just getting started as well as those with years of experience. It includes a CD supplement of guide photos, guide details and guideline specifications. (LT192)

NEES/UCSD Seminar on Analytical Modeling of Reinforced Concrete Walls for Earthquake Resistance

This follow-up seminar to the seven-story building-slice earthquake blind prediction contest sponsored by UCSD, NEES and the National Science Foundation (NSF), provides a unique opportunity to capitalize on things learned from the contest on ways to improve the analytical modeling of reinforced concrete walls. It will be held December 16, 2006 at UC San Diego. More.

Designing High Performance Concrete Structures

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) have teamed together to offer a new 2-day seminar on how to design and build high-performance concrete structures exposed to harsh environments such as bridges, roadways, plazas, parking structures, marine structures or any structure with exposed concrete. More.

ACI Seminars

ACI has a long history in the delivery of quality educational programs in the concrete field, and has provided the industry with educational seminars since 1969. More.

Upcoming Conventions

Greenbuild International Conference and Expo
November 15-17, 2006, Denver, Colo.

Structural Engineers Conference and Expo
November 29-30, 2006, Washington, D.C.

World of Concrete
January 24-26, 2007, Las Vegas, Nev.
Click here for free registration.

National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA) Annual Convention
February 20-24, 2007, Orlando, Fla.

Manufactured Concrete Products Exposition (MCPX)
February 22-24, 2007, Orlando, Fla.