Georgia Motel Available for Check-in
Quickly with ICFs

The versatility, speed, and strength of an insulating concrete form (ICF) system were key to building a110-unit, four-story Comfort Suite Hotel project in Tifton, Ga.

The crew of 12 completed walls and floors in only 12 weeks without an on-site crane. Decks and interior walls were poured simultaneously, using 2-½ inch vibrators with no adverse effects on the formwork. In a single 10-hour day, the crew poured about 400 cubic yards of concrete to complete more than 1,500 lineal feet of 9-1/2 foot-tall walls and 14,000 square feet of floors.

One reason for the speed is that this forming system supports itself—up to 4 stories with no shoring—and is so well aligned that the entire building is within ¼ inch for plumb, level, and in-plane, well below current allowable tolerances for concrete construction.

Walls of the building envelope are strapped and furred as to be ready for installing drywall and exterior finish and vapor and air barriers. The super-insulated construction exceeds fire codes and provides quiet accommodation for guests in spite of the hotel’s proximity to Highway I-75.

IntegraSpec ICF was the builder.
Contact Jamie Farny

Virginia Governor Honors Roanoke Cement Company

Roanoke Cement Company was honored last week with the Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence for Land Conservation at an event held at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va.  L. Preston Bryant Jr., Virginia secretary of natural resources, David K. Paylor, director of the Department of Environmental Quality, and Joseph H. Maroon, director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, presented the award to Troutville Plant Manager, Kevin Baird, and Lance Clark, environmental manager.

The award is given to leaders in the Commonwealth of Virginia who have made an outstanding contribution toward protecting and conserving the environment and whose actions have benefited the health and welfare of Virginia's communities and the state as a whole. This particular category of the Governor's Awards is intended to recognize exemplary land conservation programs within the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“We are proud to be the recipients of the Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence,” said Baird. “This signifies two decades of the plant's ecological achievements.”

Roanoke Cement Company was the winner of the Land Conservation Award for its dedication, continued open access and upkeep of the Andy Layne Memorial Trail, a part of the Appalachian Trail, and continued stewardship of Catawba Creek through annual cleanup activities and preservation. Roanoke Cement Company established a right-of-way for hikers to cross its property on the Andy Layne Memorial Trail, dedicated in March of 2001, for the legendary Appalachian Trail hiker.

Housing Recovery to Wait Until Mid-2010, Construction 2011

A recovery in housing starts activity must be preceded by a meaningful recovery of the sales pace, followed by a reduction in inventory.  According to a recent PCA Economic Research report, the conditions needed for this process to begin will not be in place until mid-2010.

Although resets of “traditional” sub-prime mortgages are expected to reach an apex in mid-2009, exotic mortgages will have a dramatic increase in resets mid-2009 through mid-2010.  Edward J. Sullivan, PCA chief economist, said this second wave of toxic resets will accelerate foreclosure rates and add to the large number of foreclosed homes in a crowded market.

“Increased foreclosures, coupled with deteriorating labor markets and tight credit conditions, will delay significant sales activity until mid-2010.  Improvements in housing starts are not expected to be significant until 2011,” Sullivan said. 

Single-family cement consumption is expected to decline to 5.3 million tons in 2009, compared to an estimated 11.8 million metric tons in 2008 – reflecting a 55% decline. A modest recovery to 5.8 million metric tons is expected for 2010. This sector is responsible for 96% of the total decline in cement consumption during 2005-2008 – reflecting roughly a 27 million metric ton decline in single family cement consumption.
Contact Ed Sullivan

PCA Offers Media and Spokesperson Training at Spring Meeting

To better equip and position the industry to address upcoming issues and marketing opportunities, PCA is offering a special session on media and spokesperson training as part of its spring committee and Board meetings, scheduled for April 27-29 at Chicago’s Marriott O’Hare.

The media  training session is on Tuesday, April 28, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.  Space is limited, and we are taking the first 40 people on a first come, first served basis. Please contact Michelle Nyquist (847.972.9168) to reserve a spot for you or a member of your staff attending the meeting.

Craddock Communications will conduct the training. Craddock has been a consultant to national specialty organizations, EPA, biotechs as well as several Fortune 50 corporations. Bobbie Lawrie, the principal, has more than three decades of experience working with the media, first as a broadcaster, and since 1984 as a media trainer and consultant. She has conducted two training sessions for PCA Skokie staff and RPGs that have proven very successful and popular.

The skills provided at this event are invaluable for media interactions and easily transferable to other presentations, especially legislators.
Contact Michelle Nyquist

New Streamlined Seminar Offers Planning Tools

"Practical Application of PCA Economic Forecast & Market Assessments,” providing marketing and corporate planning professionals the tools to fully understand and utilize PCA's market and economic data, is now being offered as a one-day course.

Attendees will gain insight into how PCA creates the projections and the risks and turning points contained in each economic forecast. The seminar will show how market professionals can monitor macroeconomic indicators to determine if PCA projections are on track.

The seminar will be held May 20, 2009, at PCA headquarters in Skokie, Ill. Cost is $295 for PCA members and $750 for non-members. All attendees will receive several PCA Economic Research publications including the 2008 Annual Yearbook.
Register on line at www.cement.org/learn.

Senate Slams Door on Fast-Track Budget Procedure for Climate Bill

The Senate last week all but closed the door on the possibility of passing climate change legislation through the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process.  It approved, 67-31, an amendment to the fiscal 2010 budget resolution from Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) that would put major hurdles in the use of reconciliation for the purposes of moving a cap-and-trade bill.

Twenty-six Democrats voted with Senate Republicans in favor of the amendment.

The Johanns amendment states that the reserve fund for climate and energy legislation in the budget resolution cannot be used if climate change is moved through the reconciliation process. That means the revenues created by a federal cap-and-trade program could then not be used as offsets for federal spending.
 
Many top Democrats—including Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.)—had repeatedly said that they do not believe reconciliation is an appropriate way to move such legislation.
Contact Deidra Ciriello

NRMCA Elects New Officers at Annual Convention

The National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) elected a new slate of officers at its annual convention held last month in Orlando. Association membership chose Henry Batten, Concrete Supply Company, Charlotte, N.C., as chair of the Board of Directors, succeeding Frank Craddock of Cemex in Houston.

Tim Becken of Cemstone Concrete Products, Mendota Heights, Minn., was elected vice chair and Karl Watson, Jr., of Cemex, West Palm Beach, Fla., is now NRMCA secretary/treasurer.

Mr. Batten has been with Concrete Supply Co. since 1998 in various capacities, including chief financial officer, vice president of finance, and executive vice president. He participates in the Carolinas Ready Mixed Concrete Association through committee work and is a member of the Construction Financial Managers Association. He has served on NRMCA's Operations Environment and Safety, Business Administration, and Legal Activities committees.

Response Verification of a Reinforced Concrete Bearing Wall Building Located in an Area of High Seismic Hazard: This report discusses the results of an investigation performed to evaluate the seismic response of the draft example of a seven-story bearing wall reinforced concrete residential building proposed as a design model by PCA. The report focuses on the seismic shear force demand on the walls. The study considers the effect of the effective flange width as well as the effect of unintended coupling between walls through the slab. These two effects were found to have an important contribution on the shear force demand in the seven-story building slice tested at University of California San Diego on the Large High-Performance Outdoor Shake Table (SN2961; no charge; PDF only).
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The Compatibility and Performance of Cementitious Materials and Chemical Admixtures: In concrete technology, the behavior of fresh concrete has become less predictable with the use of cementitious materials and admixtures. These complex materials, if incompatible, often lead to three predominant concerns: delay in set, early stiffening, and improper air entrainment of concrete. The purpose of this thesis was to assess three evaluation test methods developed to detect potential incompatibility issues prior to construction stages. These rapid tests applied to cement paste included the foam index, mini-slump cone and isothermal conduction calorimetry (ASTM C 1679). Their results were compared to standardized test results. The procedures used to perform the rapid tests led to inconsistent results when compared to standard test results. However, the rapid tests were able to predict certain properties of cementitious systems which are not evaluated by standard tests.  This thesis was developed as part of the educational requirements of the University of Toronto under a fellowship grant from the PCA Education Foundation (SN3106; no charge; PDF only).
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