Chemeketa Community College Replaces Failed Asphalt with Concrete

When an asphalt egress and exit road for Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Ore., was failing, local promoters recommended full-depth concrete or full-depth reclamation to repair the roadway.  The result was both.

Armed with the success of recent full-depth concrete streets in nearby Springfield,  coming in at or below comparable asphalt designs, the promotional efforts of PCA-NW and the ACPA-NW Chapter convinced the engineering firm of Group McKensie and the college to go with a 40-year no-maintenance design using cement treated base and full depth concrete.

The outcome was a design for 4 inches of cement treated base and 8 inches of full depth concrete on top.

Construction started in late spring of 2009 and was complete by mid-summer. Overall the project is four lanes, 8 inches thick, and, including the cement treated base, about 13 inches thick and 1,500 feet long. With newly added sidewalks and curbing, more than 3,000 cubic yards of concrete was used.

Education Fellowships, Economic Forecast Highlight Fall Committee Meetings

A total of 178 member company and PCA staff attended PCA’s Fall Committee Meetings last week—below normal levels but still good participation given industry downturn and cutbacks. The shortened two-day session on August 24-25 included meetings by most PCA committees plus the Executive Committee. Among highlights:

>The Executive Committee session focused on recent regulatory and legislative initiatives that are unfolding in Washington: The EPA-proposed NESHAP regulations (National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants), which require new or tighter controls on mercury, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter, and the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454), which would limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases through a cap-and-trade program.

>PCA’s Education  Foundation awarded three $20,000 research fellowships  to graduate students and their academic advisors following a session in which past recipients presented the results of their research. (See below.)

>Aris Papadopoulos (Titan) announced  the 2009 Sustainable Leadership Awards to honor outstanding projects and policies by public officials. (See below.)

>Ed Sullivan, PCA chief economist and vice president of economic research, presented his updated forecast for construction and cement. (See August 24 Executive Report.)

PCA Spring Committee Meetings are scheduled for April 26-28, 2010, at Chicago’s Marriott O’Hare.

U.S. Recession Impacts Canadian Cement Consumption

The deepening U.S. recession, global commodity and energy price weakness, combined with a less than confident Canadian consumer are offering more than enough recessionary drag on all provincial economies to impact Canadian cement consumption, according to a recent PCA forecast.

Global deterioration in trade has hit Canada hard, particularly with the U.S., its main trading partner. PCA expects total portland cement consumption will decline by 22.8 percent this year followed by a 3.1 percent decline next year.

Although the Canadian government has approved infrastructure stimulus funding, PCA believes the programs are developing at a pace that is too slow to have a meaningful impact in 2009.  Whatever stimulus funding does trickle out will at least prevent provincial growth from slipping further.
Contact David Czechowski

2009 Sustainable Development Leadership Award Winners Announced

PCA announced the winners of the 2009 Sustainable Leadership Awards last week at its fall meetings in Chicago. The awards honor individuals who have enacted policies or completed projects exemplifying creativity and best practices in using concrete and cement-based products for sustainable applications.

The 2009 Award winners, by category:

Leadership in Sustainability Policy
> Wayne Kennedy, county engineer, Coweta County Development and Engineering Department for the rebuilding of the Coweta County, Ga., roadway system using full-depth reclamation with cement
>Dale Ludens, engineering manager, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Facility Management Office for the first full-scale pervious concrete pavement project in South Dakota
>James McGraw, transportation committee chairman, Fairfield County, S.C., for the Fairfield County Road Improvement Program

Homes and Residential Building Projects
>Michael Nutter, mayor, City of Philadelphia, for the revitalization of the East Parkside community utilizing insulating concrete forms

Infrastructure Projects
>Queen Anne’s County Board of County Commissioners, Maryland, for their use of previous concrete at the Whitemarsh Park at Bloomfield Farm

Non-residential Building Projects
>City of Highland, Calif. For the LEED-Gold Highland Sam J. Racadio Library and Environmental Learning Center

Local award presentations will take place this fall.
Contact Patti Flesher

Research Fellowships Recipients Honored; Past Projects Presented at Fall Committee Meetings

PCA’s Education Foundation awarded three graduate students with educational fellowships at PCA's recent fall meeting in Chicago. The awards were presented by George Gregory, Essroc, Chairman, PCA Education Foundation.

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

> The Durability of Concrete Exposed to Potassium Acetate, University of New Brunswick, Sean Hayman, Professor Michael D.A. Thomas
> Nominal Shear Strength Limits for Short Diagonally-Reinforced Coupling Beams, University of Notre Dame, Steven Barbachyn, Professor Yahya C. (Gino) Kurama
> Full-Depth Reclamation Using Cement Slurry and Microcracking, Brigham Young University, Charles Hope, Professor W. Spencer Guthrie

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.
More information on PCA's Education Fellowship Program.

Fellowship Project Results Presented

Five past recipients of PCA's Education Foundation grants presented the results of their research in a fellowship session at PCA's Fall Committee Meetings on Monday, August 24.

The presentations were:
> Optimization of Soil Cement Mixtures for Cold Weather Construction, University of North Carolina, Nicholas DeBlasis (student); John L. Daniels (professor) – presented by Benjamin Bowers
> Ultra-Accelerated Assessment of Alkali-Reactivity of Aggregate, Georgia Institute of Technology, Jun Chen (student); Kimberly Kurtis (professor) – presented by Amal Jayapalan
> Development of Plastic Rotation Capacity Prediction Models for Intermediate Reinforced Concrete (RC) Frames Based on Beam-Column Connections Subjected to Seismic Lateral Loading, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Jaehong Kim (student); James M. LaFave (professor) – Presented by Jaehong Kim
> Prediction of Cementitious Materials-Chemical Admixture Compatibility and Performance, University of Toronto, Lindsay Lashley (student); R. D. Hooton (professor) – Presented by R. D. Hooton
> Development of a Simple and Fast Test Method for Measuring Durability of Portland Cement Pervious Concrete, University of Tennessee, Qiao Dong (student); Baoshan Huang (professor) – Presented by Qiao Dong
More information on PCA's Education Fellowship Program

MTC Presentations Focus on Challenges Facing the Industry

The Manufacturing Technical Committee (MTC) held their annual fall meeting and fall technical session last week in conjunction with the PCA Joint Fall Committee Meetings. Highlights of the meetings included a variety of presentations focusing on challenges facing the industry.

Bob McIlvaine, president of the McIlvaine Company, discussed mercury control in the power industry and looked at critical lessons that the cement industry can take away from those experiences.

Ron Landreth, Albemarle Corporation, discussed "Potential Solutions for Mercury Control in the Cement Industry," and looked at real-world cement plant applications of sorbent injection technologies. Landreth also covered a hybrid approach using inline particulate control devices (baghouse) in conjunction with sorbent injection.

The committee also heard an update from Paul Tennis on recent changes to cement specifications ASTM C 150 and AASHTO M 85 as well as the harmonization of those two standards. Tennis’ talk focused on what these latest changes mean for manufacturers.
Contact Rick Bohan

DOE to Hold Cement Industry Workshop

The Industrial Technologies Program within DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will hold an Industry Stakeholders Workshop on Cement Energy and Carbon Dioxide (CO2)  Reduction Opportunities.  The day-and-a-half workshop will take place at the San Mateo Marriott San Francisco Airport from September 29-30, 2009.

This collaborative DOE-industry effort is designed to develop a national perspective that identifies the opportunities, barriers, and pathways to significantly increase energy efficiencies and reduce CO2 emissions from the cement production process.  This endeavor will support the Administration’s near- and long-term energy and environment goals. 

The workshop will bring together representatives from the cement industry, academia, and the national laboratories as well as environmentalists, venture capitalists, and environmentally conscious entrepreneurs.  Pre-registration is required
Visit www.sentech.org to register