Precast Performs for Florida Expressway Expansion

Precast concrete segmental bridge construction allowed the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway expansion to be built without disrupting traffic and to stay within the budget while its aesthetics satisfied nearby residents and business owners.

The overpass in Tampa, Fla., used the span-by-span method of segmental construction.  Its 59-foot wide deck was constructed on single 6-foot diameter column bents located in the grassed 46-foot wide median between the adjacent lanes of traffic.   Simultaneous fabrication of the 3032 segments, while the foundations and piers were under construction, shortened the construction time significantly. A gantry crane lifted the full width segments into the placement location over the completed spans. 

Honored as a recipient of the 2008 PCA Bridge Awards, jurors applauded the designers for “building this difficult, but beautiful serpentine viaduct into the existing roadway section without disruption of traffic.”

The bridge is owned by the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority. FIGG Bridge Engineers served as project engineers and PCL Civil Constructors, Inc. was the precast concrete contractor.

February PPI: All Four Building Materials Post Declines

Prices for all four building materials declined in February, according to latest Producer Price Index.

Steel prices fell for the sixth consecutive month, decreasing by 6.1 percent from January. Asphalt prices dropped one percent from the previous month. Lumber prices hit new lows, decreasing by 0.9 percent.

Concrete prices decreased by 0.1 percent from the previous month.

Over the last year, steel prices have decreased 9.8 percent and lumber prices are down eight percent. Asphalt prices are up 21 percent, and concrete prices increased 4.8 percent for the same period.

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.
Contact Ninab Maradkel
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Free Webinar on Recycling Roads with FDR

PCA will present a free one-hour Webinar on recycling failed asphalt pavements using full-depth reclamation (FDR) with cement. The Webinar is scheduled for Thursday, March 26, 2009, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Central time.

FDR allows old deteriorated asphalt pavements to be recycled and stabilized with portland cement, creating a new base that will provide an excellent foundation for long-term pavement performance.

The one-hour Webinar will discuss applications, benefits, design, construction, testing, performance, and sustainability aspects of FDR as it relates to recycling failed flexible pavements. Participants will receive a free PDF of PCA's Guide for Full-Depth Reclamation (FDR) with Cement and earn one Professional Development Hour (PDH).
Register for the webinar.

Concrete Parking Lots Score High for Durability, Lower Maintenance Costs

Nearly 80 percent of recently surveyed parking lot decision makers believe concrete is superior to asphalt for producing longer lasting lots, according to a recent market research survey by PCA.  In addition, 61.9 percent of decision makers reported that in their area, asphalt has a higher long-term maintenance cost than concrete.

According to the survey, current concrete parking lots were considered superior to asphalt for promoting sustainability. The majority of the respondents indicated that concrete has a better appearance, better visibility at night, and lower life-cycle costs, as well as lower lighting costs.

The survey was completed by more than 570 parking lot decision makers such as contractors, owners and developers, and architects to measure their current attitudes and perceptions and to determine which pavement materials they use and why.
Contact Aleks Jedrzejewska

Reminder: Spring Board and Committee Meetings

Registration is now open for PCA's spring committee and Board meetings, April 27-29, 2009, at the Chicago Marriott O’Hare.

Most committees of PCA's Research and Technical Council and Market Promotion Council will meet, as well as committees of the Cement Association of Canada.

In addition, the Boards of PCA, CTLGroup, and the Cement Association of Canada; the Education Foundation; the Legal Counsels Committee, and the Government Affairs Council will hold meetings.

Deadline for hotel reservations and meeting registration is April 10.
Register for the meeting online
Contact Michelle Nyquist

Blog Highlights Sustainable Benefits of
Concrete Building

Kelly McGinnis, PCA’s program coordinator of sustainable development, was the featured guest blog last week for Construction Law Musings.  The blog, hosted by Chris Hill, a construction lawyer in Virginia, serves as a forum for legal and sustainability building issues.

McGinnis’ post discussed the benefits of building with concrete systems and how these systems have the ability to actually negate the initial environmental impact of cement manufacturing through concrete’s incredible durability and the long-term energy efficiency it provides.
Contact Kelly McGinnis
Read Construction Law Musings

Volunteers Cement Coral to a Damaged Reef

A team of nine volunteers recently dove 60 feet to the ocean floor with buckets of cement to reattach 103 corals sliced from a swath of reef larger than two football fields.

The Breakers Reef, among the best known and most popular U.S. reefs, is  about one mile east of Palm Beach, Fla. It is believed that last November a heavy cable between a tugboat and the vessel went slack, sank, and dragged across the bottom like a huge scythe, slicing everything in its path including portions of the reef.

The force of the cable was so great that one piece of hard coral is scarred with a perfectly straight and round deep groove, about 18 inches long and 3 inches in diameter, as if a slack cable ran across its surface.

To repair the reef, volunteers scrubbed the bottom of the broken coral and the spot it will attach to with a wire brush. A portland cement mixture was prepared on deck, then poured into a 5-gallon bucket and dropped to the ocean floor. Because of the high-alkaline level of the cement it could not come into contact with the outside skin of the coral, which is living tissue. Divers had to take care that the hand that handled the cement did not touch the coral or the hand that holds the broken coral, which ranges in diameter from 10 inches to 3 feet.

Tetra Tech Environmental Consultants provided two volunteers and a 25-foot Catamaran with a work platform for mixing the cement. The Pinnacle Group and Callaway Marine Technologies came forward with equipment, fuel and divers. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources assessed the damage, expedited permits and loaned their coral experts.

Fiorato Recognized by ASTM International Concrete Committee

Fiorato was recognized “for meritorious and dedicated leadership to ASTM International Committee C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates and to the Society for service on the board of directors and as chairman of the board.”

An active member of ASTM International for almost 30 years, Fiorato is chair of Committee C09 and also leads the Executive Committee of the Cement and Concrete Reference Laboratory (CCRL) (ASTM C01.96/C09.96).  In addition to C09, he also works on Committees C01 on Cement and E36 on Laboratory and Inspection Agency Accreditation.  He served on the ASTM board of directors from 2001 to 2008 and was chairman of the board in 2006.

He received the Katharine and Bryant Mather Award in 2007 and C09 awards of appreciation in 2007 and 2008. 

Concrete Homes House Plans – Volume Five: This fifth edition of the plan book, from the publishers of Concrete Homes magazine, features 90 of today’s most popular home plans. Collected from two prominent design firms, they are specially designed to incorporate the benefits of high performance, above-grade concrete wall systems – energy efficiency, durability, safety, and comfort. Each offering is illustrated with a front elevation, floor plan, and basic statistics about the home. Contact and pricing information is provided (LT320; $9.00, no discount).
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ACI 318-08 and PCA Notes on CD: The ACI 318-08 Building Code (LT311) and PCA Notes (EB708) are linked electronically to help users apply the Code provisions. Code sections are linked to corresponding explanations in the PCA Notes.  Code requirements and equations used in design examples of the PCA Notes are linked to the corresponding Code sections. This CD-ROM is a valuable aid to engineers, architects, educators, contractors, building code authorities, inspectors, and others involved in the design, construction, and regulation of concrete structures (CD082; $199.50; PCA member price, $150.00).
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Clean Air Act Permitting Manual for Alternative Fuels and Raw Materials at Portland Cement Plants: One of the ways that the portland cement industry seeks to make the manufacture of cement more sustainable is using the waste and by-products of other industries as fuels and raw materials.  Wastes and by-products such as tires and plastics (fuels) or blast furnace slag and fly ash (raw materials) are beneficial, but must be managed and utilized in an environmentally conscious manner. This Guidebook provides examples of methods used for estimating the emission changes resulting from the use of AFRs as well as examples of construction permit conditions and operating permit conditions resulting from permitting (SN3083; PDF only; no charge).
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Fourth Quarter 2008 Survey of Portland Cement Consumption by User Group: PCA conducted a survey of portland cement consumption by user group. Sixteen markets were examined. Cement company respondents provided the portland cement tonnage for the following markets: Brick & Block, Fiber Cement Siding, Concrete Pipe, Concrete Railroad Ties, Concrete Roof Tile, Oil & Gas Well Drilling, Packaged Concrete Products, Precast, RCC-Paving, RCC-Water Resources, Ready-Mixed Concrete, SC-Paving, SC-Water Resources, Streets & Highways Contractors, Waste Solidification & Stabilization, All Other Manufacturers and Contractors. Information on cement kiln dust (CKD) for soil-cement paving and waste solidification and stabilization was also collected. This report includes data from surveys conducted during the past six years (MR120; $1,000, free to PCA members).
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One Block, One Mile, One World: Recycling Pavement With Full-Depth Reclamation: This mini-DVD includes a 6-minute video on the benefits and sustainable aspects of using full-depth reclamation (FDR) to rehabilitate deteriorated asphalt pavements. It features construction scenes from a project in Dallas and includes several testimonials highlighting the many sustainable aspects of FDR (DVD034; $5.00, no discount).
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Sedimentation of Pervious Concrete Pavement Systems: Pervious concrete provides a unique and effective means to address important environmental issues and support sustainable growth, but sedimentation that leads to clogging is a potential problem in serviceability. This study examined the sedimentation rates of pervious concrete with 20% porosity with three different soil types: sand, clayey silt, and clayey silty sand. Pervious concrete beam and cylinder specimens were exposed to sediments mixed in water to simulate runoff with heavy and typical loads of soil sediments. Results show that storage capacity will be minimally affected by sediment. Exfiltration rates, however, can be affected by sediment characteristics in some situations. A simple, economical test to estimate system exfiltration rates in such situations also was developed. The results of this study were used to develop design guidelines that complement the hydrological design of pervious concrete by considering the effects of sedimentation. The effects of realistic freezing rates on frost resistance of pervious concrete, including the effects of sedimentation also were examined. This thesis was developed as part of the educational requirements of North Carolina State University under a fellowship grant from the PCA Education Foundation (SN3104; PDF only; no charge).
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