Heart Care in the Heartland
Pumps Up Health-Related Construction
Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States—a grim statistic that is creating a construction niche within the already booming institutional market as the health care industry builds hospitals focused solely on heart health.

PCA's Amy Trygestad, regional engineering manager, reports on three such facilities in the Midwest:

• St. John's Mercy Medical Center, St. Louis, Mo. (right), a nine-story, 340,000-square-foot, $140 million cardiac care and emergency center that opened last summer, is framed with a conventionally reinforced flat-plate concrete system.
• Center for Advanced Heart Care at the University of Kansas Hospital, Kansas City, Kan., opened last week. The six-story, 238,000-square-foot, $77-million building has a wide pan and joist concrete framing system.
• St. Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas City, Mo., broke ground last week. The seven-story, $145-million building will use a wide pan and joist concrete framing system.

Trygestad cites several concrete advantages for hospitals. A concrete frame's increased stiffness helps control vibration—a big concern in surgical areas. Concrete's reduced floor-to-floor height also allows for greater plenum space, which can accommodate the extra wiring and cabling for these high-tech facilities. A concrete frame also improves indoor air quality because it eliminates the need for fibrous fireproofing materials required by structural steel construction.

The Midwest projects are part of a national trend contributing to double-digit growth in hospital and health-related construction. In his forecast released last month, PCA chief economist Ed Sullivan calls for hospital and institutional building to increase by 15 percent in 2006 followed by a 6-percent gain in 2007. Aging Baby Boomers are driving demand, says Sullivan.
Contact Amy Trygestad

FDR Benefits Featured in
Advertising Supplement
The characteristics and benefits of Full-Depth Reclamation (FDR) with cement were highlighted in the October issue of 11 McGraw Hill Construction Regional Publications. "The Road Recycled," a 12-page insert bound into the magazines, provides an overview of FDR and includes an article on the use of a portable recycling machine to rehabilitate city streets in Brownwood, Texas.

PCA produced the national section; regional promotion groups had the option of producing a localized companion piece appearing in only those magazines covering their region.

McGraw-Hill’s regional construction publications reach 75,000 qualified, active construction professionals. Both printed and PDF versions of the section are available at no charge while supplies last.
More information

Workshop Targets High-Performance Concrete
PCA's Shri Bhide made a presentation on "Guide Specification for HPC for Bridges" to more than 150 engineers attending a workshop on high performance concrete and self consolidating concrete held last week at Rutgers University. The workshop was sponsored by Rutgers and the Federal Highway Administration

The presentation was based on PCA’s publication, Guide Specification for HPC for Bridges. The document is intended to serve as a guide for developing specifications for high performance concrete for individual projects in all 50 states whether produced by a ready mix supplier, a general contractor, or in a permanent plant of a precast concrete manufacturer.
Contact Shri Bhide
More on the publication

LRFD Educational Seminars Presented in Vermont, Maryland: Continuing the collaboration with FHWA, PCA on behalf of National Concrete Bridge Council, presented two Load Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) seminars in Timonium, Md., and Montpelier, Vt. The seminars were co-sponsored by the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Vermont Agency of Transportation respectively. PCA is assisting FHWA in the implementation of the LRFD Bridge Design Specifications throughout United States. After October 2007 all bridges receiving federal aid will have to be designed according to those specifications.
Contact Shri Bhide

St. Louis Group to Honor Local Concrete Professionals: The Concrete Council of St. Louis will hold its annual awards dinner next month, honoring leaders of the association and industry and recognizing projects that show the versatility and design aesthetics of concrete. The Council’s Award of Honor will be presented to Luke Snell, founder of the Department of Construction at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, and current chair of the ACI's International Committee.

Results From Last Week:
Buildings Tops Market Menu
Market size, growth potential, ability to capitalize on opportunities . . . all are factors in targeting construction markets for promotion of cement and concrete. Which construction markets are the best candidates for concrete promotion?
(1 =low priority; 5 = high priority)

• Buildings 3.23
• Single-family housing 3.12
• Streets and highways 3.08
• Parking lots 2.91
• Water resources 2.78
• Bridges 2.74

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