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If you are unable to submit comments directly, please respond to David Shepherd (dshepherd@cement.org) with your company’s name and contact information (name, title, phone number, e-mail address) by January 27, 2005. Your organization will be added to the list of organizations on behalf of which PCA will make comment.

PPI: Steel Prices Rose
48 Percent in 2004
According to the latest Producer Price Index, steel mill products and concrete products prices each rose 0.5% in December, while lumber prices rose 0.2% and asphalt grew 0.3% in the month.

Steel prices are 48.3% higher than December of 2003. Lumber and concrete products are 7.3% and 7.8% higher, respectively, than a year ago. Asphalt is 4.3% higher than last December.

The source of these data is the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The data are provided by PCA market research to aid in the promotion of concrete and cement-based products.
Contact Craig Shulz

Bridge Research Spans TRB Sessions
PCA's bridge group helped keep concrete at the forefront of 84th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board held last week in Washington, D.C. Among the concrete-related activities:

• PCA's Shri Bhidé and Basile Rabbat presented a workshop, Load Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) of Concrete Bridge Superstructures, attended by approximately 50 engineers.
• At TRB's committee on concrete bridges, Bhidé presented the findings of last year’s AASHTO-FHWA international scan tour of prefabricated bridges, of which he was a member.
• PCA organized and presided over two technical sessions in which eight papers on the design and performance of concrete bridges were presented.

Contact Shri Bhidé or Basile Rabbat

Concrete Faces Labor Hurdle at Mega-Resort
Designers selected post-tensioned concrete floor slabs for Steve Wynn's Borgata II, the 850,000-square-foot, 700-foot-tall hotel and casino slated for construction in Atlantic City, N.J. The challenge for Tishman Construction, however, is finding qualified local contractors in this highly unionized area. While the contractor used a Michigan firm for the post-tensioned concrete slabs in Borgata I, Tishman has ruled out bringing in a contractor from outside the area because the excessive costs. Tishman is working with PCA's Mike Mota to find a contractor in the Philadelphia area.
Contact Mike Mota.

World of Concrete Thinking
PCA's director of sustainable development David Shepherd presented a seminar on Tuesday, January 18, at the World of Concrete in Las Vegas. Titled “Concrete Thinking,” the presentation looked at the various influences in sustainable construction and how cement and concrete provide solutions. Shepherd also outlined what the industry is doing to improve the manufacturing process, material formulations, and in-place applications for sustainable development.

“The green building movement is here to stay,” said Shepherd. He contends that for the cement and concrete industries, there is much to be done. Shepherd will present similar discussions, notably at Conexpo-Con/Agg 2005 scheduled March 15-19, also in Las Vegas.
Contact David Shepherd

Taking LRFD Bridge Design to the States
PCA conducted a seminar on the design of concrete bridges by AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, Idaho Department of Transportation, and Northwest Cement Producers Group. Nearly 40 state transportation engineers and consultants attended the seminar, which was held in Boise, Idaho, on January 5. PCA is assisting FHWA in implementing LRFD specifications in all fifty states by October 2007, when all bridges receiving federal funding will have to be designed using the new specifications.
Contact Shri Bhidé or Basile Rabbat

CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2005
March 15-19, 2005
Las Vegas, Nev.
www.conexpoconagg.com

Regional Courses
Click on course titles for more information or to register.

Combustion and Pollutant Formation
(Day 1)
Vertical Roller Mills for Raw Meal Preparation
(Day 2)

January 27-28, 2005 in Colton, CA
February 24-25, 2005 in Midlothian, TX
March 10-11, 2005 in St. Louis, MO

Skokie Courses

Concrete: Principles and Practice
February 7-10, 2005

Aggregates, Admixtures, and
SCMs for Use in Concrete
February 14-16, 2005

Microscopy of Clinker
and Cement
February 14-18, 2005

Cement and Concrete Overview
March 7-8, 2005

Troubleshooting: Solutions to Concrete Field Problems
March 9-11, 2005

Mill Grinding
March 21-23, 2005

Kiln Process
April 4-7, 2005