 Which
one of these titans of concrete technology has been most influential?
Take the PCA Poll
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Secure, Sustainable, and Stately:
Concrete Meets 21st Century Criteria for New Federal Courthouse
The need for force protection and the desire for a LEED Gold-certified
building lead to the incorporation of several concrete systems
into a federal courthouse in Oregon. The Wayne L. Morse U.S.
Courthouse in Eugene, Ore., is one of the first major federal
buildings of the 21st century.
 Designed
by the 2005 Pritzker Prize winning architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis
(Santa Monica, Calif.), the recently opened state-of-the-art,
$75 million building utilizes precast concrete systems for the
first three floors and includes a focal concrete stairway in
the atrium. The architectural solution, according to critics,
is a successful manifestation of all qualities that a courthouse
should possess: stature, transparency, and public access. The
270,000 square-foot building will include six courtrooms, chambers
for district and bankruptcy judges, offices of the U.S. Probation
Services, U.S. Pretrial Services and U.S. Marshals Service,
and space to be occupied by the General Services Administration.
The new courthouse is the centerpiece in the revitalization
of a brownfield area that was once a Chiquita fruit cannery.
The development was done under the auspices of the General Services
Administration (GSA) Design Excellence Program with the involvement
of DLR Group Executive Architects, KPFF Structural Engineers,
and J.E. Dunn Construction General Contractor.
Contact
Attila Beres
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| Cement Option Approved for
Sydney Tar Ponds Cleanup
On Sunday, January 28, the Canadian federal
government approved a plan for cement-based solidification
and stabilization of more than 700,000 tons of sediment contaminated
with hazardous constituents at the Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke
Ovens sites in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Officials had considered solidification/stabilization for
a majority of the project, with a portion slated for incineration.
Cement-based solidification/stabilization will now be used
for the entire site; no incineration is planned.
Most of the work will take place from 2008-2012, when sediment
will be mixed with cement and other binders. The project will
use an estimated 100,000 tons of cement. Another portion of
the site—the Sysco Cooling Pond—is already earmarked
for treatment with cement. Work could begin this fall on this
project, which has a cement potential of 5,000 tons.
Sydney Tar Ponds is the site of
a former steel plant, where 100 years of steel and coke production
left more than a million tons of contaminated soil and sediment.
Hazardous constituents include coal tars and poly-chlorinated
byphenyls (PCBs). The Canadian government committed C$400
million to remediate the site over 10 years.
PCA and the Cement Association of Canada have actively supported
cement-based solidification/stabilization for remediation
of the site.
Contact Chuck
Wilk at PCA or Colin
Dickson at CAC
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 December
PPI: Asphalt Prices Up 27 Percent in 2006
According
to the December 2006 Producer Price Index, asphalt prices rose
27.4% in 2006. Concrete products were up 10.1% for the year,
and steel prices increased by 9.2%. Lumber prices declined 5.2%
in 2006.
In December asphalt rose 0.3%, concrete was
unchanged, steel fell 0.4%, and lumber declined 0.6%.
Source: Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The information is provided
by PCA to aid in the promotion of concrete and cement-based
products.
More
information
Contact
Craig Schulz
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PCA Products,
Promotions Showcased at
World of Concrete
The World of
Concrete 2007 held in Las Vegas, January 22-26, provided PCA
with several opportunities to promote its services and products.
The PCA bookstore-type booth continued to be a popular exhibit,
selling nearly $24,000 worth of publications, DVDs, and CDs.
PCA technical support staff was on hand to guide visitors to
the most appropriate publication and to address their concrete
and cement concerns.
Sales were especially brisk on Thursday, January 25, when Bob
Harris, president of the Decorative Concrete Institute, was
on hand to answer questions on decorative concrete techniques
and applications. Harris is the host for PCA’s newest
DVD: The Art of Decorative Concrete. More than 50 meeting
attendees took advantage of this unique opportunity to “ask
the expert.”
Michelle Wilson, PCA's manager of education and product development,
presented two seminars during the meeting. On Tuesday, January
23, she led "How Today's Cements Affect Concrete Properties."
The program discussed the different properties and applications
of various cements as well as issues of availability and demand.
Wilson also presented “Top 10 Myths in Concrete Construction,”
providing a revealing look at ten popular but mistaken ideas
that still exist in concrete construction and based on a PCA
educational DVD.
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Sullivan Projects
Cement Intensity Increases in 2007
After three years of record-breaking cement
consumption, PCA predicts more modest increases through 2008
according to the 2007 forecast presented by Ed Sullivan, PCA
chief economist, at a press conference at the World of Concrete
2007 on January 24.
Although overall construction spending will decline by 2 percent
this year, cement consumption will increase by 0.3 percent thanks
to rising cement intensity—measured by tons of cement
per dollar of construction activity.
Driving the increases will be the continued recovery in the
nonresidential and public construction sectors and concrete’s
competitive price position versus asphalt.
More than 20 journalists attended the conference, including
reporters from Engineering News-Record, Concrete Products,
and Concrete Construction.
Sullivan also presented his forecast to a sold-out crowd at
WOC’s first "Concrete Producer's Economic Summit"
on January 24. The two-hour lunch program brought together experts
in the cement, trucking, residential building, and aggregate
industries for their views on the overall U.S. economy and the
outlook for the commercial, residential, and public works.
Contact Ed
Sullivan
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Research Advances
Precast Bridge Deck Panels
PCA's Shri Bhidé has been appointed
to the National Cooperative Highway Research Program Research
Project Advisory Panel for the “Cast-in-Place Concrete
Connections for Precast Deck Systems” project. This $750,000
research project intends to develop design and construction
guidelines for making durable and crack-free connections between
precast concrete bridge deck panels.
The full-depth precast deck panel systems speed up construction
and are applicable to a wide variety of common bridge types.
The improved performance of precast decks via improved joint
details will make this technology more attractive to transportation
planners. At the project review meeting held last week in Washington,
D.C., the final work plan was reviewed and approved. Researchers
at University of Minnesota and University of Tennessee are conducting
the project with assistance from consultants and bridge producers.
The project is scheduled for completion in 2009.
Contact
Shri Bhidé
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| Masonry
Today Newsletter, Winter 2006/2007: In this
issue: results of sensitivity testing of the mortar aggregate
ratio test and a new continuing education section about grouted
reinforced masonry construction (PL390; printed copies are
$1.50, less discount; PDF is free).
More
information
Solid Fuel Grindability: A Literature Review:
The most commonly used measurement of coal grindability is
the Hardgrove Grindability Index (HGI); however, many solid
fuels do not exhibit the grinding performance predicted by
this index. This review presents alternative measurements
of grindability from literature. The most promising may be
a revision on the standard HGI, in which a mill capacity factor
is derived from the number of mill rotations to crush coal
to a specific fineness (SN2986; PDF only; no charge).
More
information
Construction Spanish Pocket Dictionary: This
pocket-sized dictionary of Spanish terms commonly used on
construction projects includes hundreds of words and phrases
translated from English to Spanish and Spanish to English.
This dictionary is not written in textbook Spanish, but in
Spanish used on the job. Published by the American Society
of Concrete (LT302; $8.50; no discount).
More
information
Measurement Criteria: The Bridge Market 2006: PCA
surveyed decision makers in the bridge market in 2006 to measure
changes in their attitudes and perceptions of concrete and
competing materials. This research was conducted as part of
the measurement criteria research program, which strives to
measure the effectiveness of promotions by tracking market
share, promotional successes, and attitudes and perceptions
of decision makers (MR400; $250.00; free to PCA members).
More
information
Measurement Criteria: Soil-Cement and RCC Pavement Market
2005: PCA surveyed decision makers in the pavement
market in 2005 to measure changes in their attitudes and perceptions
toward soil-cement, roller-compacted concrete (RCC) pavements,
and competing base and subbase materials (MR461; $250.00;
free to PCA members).
More
information
Guide to Cement-Treated Base: Cement-treated
base is a general term that applies to an mixture of native
soils and/or manufactured aggregates with measured amounts
of portland cement and water that is compacted and cured to
form a strong, durable, frost-resistant paving material. This
document provides a basic guide on the use of cement-treated
base for pavement applications. A suggested construction specification
is also included (EB236; printed copies are $10.00, less discount;
PDF is $5.00, free to PCA members).
More
information
Solidification/Stabilization with Cement: This
compact disk contains a 10-minute video plus a collection
of technical and promotional materials on solidification/stabilization
from PCA, Cement Association of Canada (CAC), and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (CD021; $25.00, less discount).
More
information
RCC Dam Saves City’s Sole Source of Water
Supply: This two-page case study describes the
replacement of an earth and gabion dam with a new roller-compacted
concrete dam to save the sole source of municipal water supply
for the city of Franklin, Ky. (PL465; printed copies are $10.00
for a pack of 25, no discount; PDF is free).
More
information
County Uses FDR with Cement to Upgrade Unpaved
Roads: This two-page case history describes
the use of full-depth reclamation (FDR) with cement to upgrade
unpaved roads in Fairfield County, S.C. The construction process
is a modification of that used to reclaim failed asphalt pavements.
The existing surface of gravel and native soil was blended
with cement and water and compacted, creating a new cement-stabilized
base. This process saved the county $70,000 per mile, compared
with construction of new asphalt pavement (PL621; printed
copies are $10.00 for a pack of 25, no discount; PDF is free).
More
information
Phoenix-Award-Winning Kendall Square Rises From
Cement-Treated Brownfields Site: Case history
describes an award-winning brownfields redevelopment in Cambridge,
Mass. The Genzyme Building in Kendall Square was constructed
on a former manufactured gas plant site. In-situ cement-based
solidification/stabilization was used to remediate the site.
An award-winning “green” building constructed
on the site is now the headquarters of an international biotech
company (SR854; printed copies are $10.00 for a pack of 25,
no discount; PDF is free).
More
information
Residential Catalog: This catalog
contains state-of-the-art educational and promotional resources
on residential concrete construction for contractors, homebuyers,
architects, engineers, code officials, and developers (MS416;
$9.95 for a pack of 50).
More
information
The Art of Decorative Concrete:
DVD provides an overview of the rapidly growing field of decorative
concrete, hosted by Bob Harris, internationally renowned concrete
artisan and president of the Decorative Concrete Institute.
Harris explores the processes and materials used to generate
beautiful textured and colored concrete driveways, patios,
walkways and interior floors. Techniques include stamped and
stained concrete, microtoppings, polished concrete and exposed
aggregate (DVD022; $5.95, no discount).
More
information
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PCA's education and
training group will conduct the following courses at PCA's Skokie,
Ill., facility. Customized and off-site courses are also available.
For more information or to register, contact Julie
Lisiecki.
|
Concrete:
Principles & Practices
February 12-15, 2007 |
Aggregates
and Chemical Admixtures for Use in Concrete
March 5-6, 2007 |
SCMs
and Ternary Blends in Concrete
March 7-8, 2007
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| Troubleshooting:
Solutions to Concrete Field Problems
March 19-21, 2007
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Mill
Grinding
March 19-21, 2007 |
Kiln
Process
March 26-29, 2007 |
Cement
and Concrete Overview
April 16-17, 2007
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PCA
Spring Committee Meetings
February 26-28. 2007
Phoenix, Ariz.
More
Information |
National Concrete Masonry Association Annual
Convention
February 20-24, 2007
Orlando, Fla.
More
information
|
Manufactured
Concrete Products Exposition
February 22-24, 2007
Orlando, Fla.
More
information
|
Hardscape North
America
March 7-10, 2007
Nashville, Tenn.
More
Information |
PCA
Spring Meeting
March 18-20, 2007
San Diego, Calif.
More information
|
12th
International Congress on the Chemistry of Cement
July 8-13, 2007
Montreal, Quebec
More
information
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Executive Report is distributed free of charge to members
of PCA and to individuals interested in PCA activities or
the cement, concrete, and construction industries.
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View or download
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Skokie, Illinois 60077
847.966.6200 info@cement.org
500 New Jersey Ave. N.W.
7th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20001
202.408.9494 fax 202.408.0877 |
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©2007 Portland Cement Association
All rights reserved
The Portland Cement Association conducts market development,
research, education, and government affairs work on behalf
of
its members—cement companies in the United States and
Canada.
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