US-98 Bridge Exceeds Expectations with Concrete

One of the last bridges in Oregon to receive design considerations from Master Bridge Builder Conde McCullough was the Spring Creek US-97 Bridge.  Also known as Collier’s Promenade, the bridge is flanked on both sides by the Collier Memorial State Park in south central Oregon, 30 miles north of Klamath Falls.

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) selected precast pre-stressed concrete beams to support the cast-in-place deck. 

A concrete mix that included type III cement, silica fume, fly ash, and high range water reducers produced a workable concrete that also met the strength and durability requirements of the project.  The high-performance concrete reached compressive strengths exceeding 13,000 psi.  When combined with pre-stressing strands jacked to 1,600,000 pounds it exceeded the project and owner’s expectations.

The bridge included a structural pipe that was incorporated into the top of the beams to carry and hide utilities, and a walkway underneath the bridge.

The US-97 bridge was a recent winner of the Oregon Concrete and Aggregate Producers Association's "Excellence in Concrete" awards.

April PPI: Steel Prices Continue Slide

Prices for all four building materials declined in April for the third consecutive month, according to latest Producer Price Index.

Steel prices posted the sharpest decline, falling 6.9 percent from March and marking the eighth consecutive monthly decline. Asphalt was down 3.0 percent from the previous month.  Lumber declined by 0.7 percent, and concrete prices were down 0.3 percent.

For the last year, steel prices decreased 25.4 percent, asphalt is up 10.5 percent, concrete prices increased 2.8 percent, and lumber is down 10.7 percent.

Source: Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. PCA provides this information to aid in the promotion of concrete and cement-based products.
Contact Ninab Maradkel
More information

Webcast and White Paper: Paving the Way for
Economic Recovery

In a half-hour Webcast on May 13, Brian McCarthy, PCA president and CEO, discussed how a paradigm shift in the cost of building materials has made concrete the clear cost-effective and sustainable choice in building the road to economic recovery.

The $787 billion Economic Stimulus Plan in the U.S. provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebuild our nation's infrastructure, said McCarthy. With $28 billion in funds targeted to building our nation's highways and bridges, it is incumbent on decision-makers to spend this money wisely—to create jobs, reduce energy consumption, and build a solid foundation for the future.

This is the first in a series of four infrastructure-related Webcasts.  Additional topics scheduled include the economic impact of stimulus funding and a legislative update.

The Webcast is recorded and available for viewing. A companion white paper is available as well.
Click here to view the Webcast.
Click to download the white paper.

Undergraduate Faculty Workshop Scheduled for July

PCA and the Center for Advanced Cement-Based Materials (ACBM) will present the next Undergraduate Faculty Enhancement Workshop, July 13-14, 2009, at the PCA headquarters in Skokie, Ill. Teaching the Materials Science, Engineering, and Field Aspects of Concrete will address the issues of adding and expanding coverage of concrete materials properties in undergraduate and graduate courses and laboratories.

This workshop series is designed to bring representatives from industry, research, and academia together to provide innovative methods of teaching in laboratories and classrooms as well as to provide materials for teaching support.
More at www.cement.org

Call for Abstracts: Concrete Bridge Conference

Abstracts are due by July 15, 2009, for the 2010 Concrete Bridge Conference sponsored by the National Concrete Bridge Council (NCBC), a coalition of allied industry associations including PCA.

The theme of the 2010 conference, to be held February 24-26 in Phoenix, is “Achieving Smart, Safe, and Sustainable Bridges.”  The conference is the premiere national venue for the exchange of ideas and information on all aspects of concrete bridge design and construction.  Hundreds of bridge engineers, including department of transportation and highway agency officials, attend it.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration and NCBC jointly sponsor the conference.
Submit abstracts at www.nationalconcretebridge.org
Contact Sue Lane

ACPA Presents Pavement Type Selection Webinar

The American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA) will present a Webinar entitled “Pavement Type Selection,” May 21 at 1-3 pm CDT.

The session covers the background of pavement type selection in the Federal Aid Highway program and the opportunities that competition in the marketplace presents to public agencies, as well as a brief background of how this policy came to be. The Webinar also will include some discussion of alternate bidding and life-cycle cost analysis.

Registrants may be eligible for 1.5 professional development hours (PDHs) for successful completion of an examination after the Webinar.
Contact Debbie Becker at 847-972-9802
Register online

‘Concrete is Love’ Gear Available from CafePress

Tee-shirts, tote bags, and other items emblazoned with the retro, flower-power graphic “Concrete is Love, Pour It On” are available at a CafePress online store. The merchandise is ideal for promotions, award programs, events, and other concrete industry programs.
Visit the Concrete is Love Online Store

Holcim Awards Honor Sustainable Construction

On May 8, the Holcim Foundation of Sustainable Construction announced the winners of its worldwide competition out of thousands of submissions from all continents.

The Gold winner was for a river remediation and urban development scheme in Fez, Morocco.  The remediation of heavily-polluted river Fez would revitalize the ancient heart of the city. The approach includes a series of interventions to renovate traditional tanneries, create public spaces and pedestrian zones, and restore wetlands as well as biodiversity.

The Holcim Awards Silver went to a low-impact greenfield university campus in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The project avoids massive land reclamation on an island in the Mekong Delta and aims for harmony with all elements of the surrounding ecosystem: flooding rice fields, mangroves, winds, and seasonal changes.

A rural planning design for a suburban village in Beijing, China received the Global Holcim Awards Bronze.

The “Innovation” prize was awarded for a self-contained day labor station in San Francisco that establishes informal stations where day laborers can meet and wait for casual work. The “Innovation” prize is a global recognition for a project that demonstrates a strong element of creativity or inspiration.

The winners share $2 million in prize money and were selected from 15 finalists from all continents, following a series of five regional competitions with almost 5,000 sustainable construction projects and visions from 121 countries. The Holcim Awards aim to promote innovative, future-oriented, and tangible sustainable construction projects and reinforce stakeholder awareness of the importance architecture, engineering, and construction have in achieving a more sustainable future.
More at www.holcimfoundation.org

PCA Education Foundation Selects 2009 Research Fellows

The PCA Education Foundation selected three graduate students for educational fellowships at the association’s recent spring meeting in Chicago.

The 2009 recipients are (listed by university, student, professor, research title):

> Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; Charles Hope; Professor W. Spencer Guthrie; Title: Full-Depth Reclamation Using Cement Slurry and Microcracking
> University of New Brunswick, Fredericton; Sean Hayman; Professor Michael D.A. Thomas; Title: Durability of Concrete Exposed to Potassium Acetate
> University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind.; Ali Ozdagli, Professor Yahya C. Kurama; Title:  Nominal Shear Strength Limits for Short Diagonally-Reinforced Coupling Beams

The students and their professors will be honored at an Awards luncheon in August during the PCA Fall Meeting in Chicago and the 2010 spring convention of the American Concrete Institute.

The PCA Education Foundation Research Fellowship identifies and rewards outstanding masters and doctoral students in the fields of engineering and physical sciences who are studying areas that advance the science and technology of cement and concrete.  PCA’s Education Foundation presents the students with $20,000 each for university and study costs.
Contact Steve Kosmatka

ASTM Developing Standard for Sustainable Mixture Proportions for Pervious Concrete

Once approved, a proposed new ASTM standard will aid concrete producers in developing sustainable and durable mixture proportions for pervious concrete.

The proposed new standard, WK23367, Test Method for Evaluating the Surface Durability Potential of a Pervious Concrete Mixture, is being developed by Subcommittee C09.49 on Pervious Concrete, part of ASTM International Committee C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates.

The goal is to provide producers a tool to assess the impact of different raw materials on the potential durability of concrete.  The standard will also quantify how well a concrete mix would resist raveling, the most common failure mode for pervious concrete.

All interested parties are invited to join in C09.49’s activities. Committee C09 meets June 14-17 during June committee week in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
For technical Information, contact Matthew Offenberg, secretary of C09.49, 404-379-0258