Arizona Cement Association Promotes Southwest's Largest Pervious Parking Lot

Glendale, Ariz., decided to help alleviate its growing commute time and promote bus use by building a Park & Ride facility near the University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals.  Interested in very durable and environmentally beneficial paving materials, Glendale turned to the Arizona Cement Association for assistance in evaluating an appropriate alternate to conventional asphalt paving.

After careful evaluation, Glendale project managers decided on a combination of pervious and conventional concrete.  A significant component of the decision was the result of a formal least-cost analysis between pervious concrete and conventional asphalt pavement.  A 20-year analysis period illustrated nearly equivalent costs between the two alternatives. 

Environmental advantages such as stormwater filtration, groundwater recharge, use of local materials and absence of hydrocarbons, although not included in the analysis, served to “cement” Glendale’s decision to use pervious concrete.   The pervious concrete alternate included costs of a stormwater retention pond and associated subdrainage system, usually not required with such a project. 

The first phase, nearing completion, contains 392 6-inch-thick pervious concrete parking spaces consisting of 3,000 cubic yards (140,000 square feet).  Bus lanes were constructed with 8-inch-thick conventional concrete.  Phase II consists of an additional 254 pervious concrete parking spaces, to be completed within three to five years.
Contact Stew Waller at Arizona Cement Association

McCarthy Named President/CEO of PCA

At its annual meeting on October 23, 2007, the Board of Directors of the Portland Cement Association (PCA) named Brian A. McCarthy president and chief executive officer.

McCarthy previously served as chief operating officer for the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), a trade association representing all sectors of the information technology industry. McCarthy led efforts to expand the group’s membership and its products and services. Today, CompTIA has members in more than 100 countries and has become the world’s largest provider of vendor-neutral IT certifications.

Prior to joining CompTIA in 1999, McCarthy was executive director of the International Reprographic Association, Printing Industry of Indiana, and the Master Printers Association of Illinois. He is a graduate of University of Illinois.

McCarthy succeeds John P. Gleason, Jr., who retired earlier this year after the serving as PCA president since 1986.
Contact Brian McCarthy

Town Hall Meeting Highlights Board Session

PCA held its Fall Meeting in Pinehurst, N.C., October 20-23. In addition to PCA's Board of Directors and Government Affairs Council, the Boards of the Cement Association of Canada and CTLGroup met. Among highlights and significant actions:

• The Board elected a slate of officers including new PCA President/CEO Brian McCarthy. (See above.)
• The Board approved a 2008 operating budget of $25.39 million dollars.
• The dues rate was set at 16.5 cents per ton on U.S. shipments and 7.5 cents per ton in Canada.

On Monday, October 22, the Board conducted an open forum on several technical and promotional issues facing the industry. At a Town Hall Meeting, Satish Sheth (CEMEX), chair of the Research & Technical Council, and Dan Harrington (Lehigh), chair of the Market Promotion Council, moderated discussions on four topics:

• Limestone in Cement: Where Do We Go From Here?
• Masonry Promotion: What Should PCA's Role Be?
• Future of the PCA-ACPA Partnership
• Effectiveness of the Regional Promotion Groups

The next Board meeting will be held in conjunction with PCA's Spring Committee Meetings, at Chicago's Marriott O'Hare, April 27-30, 2008.

Additional Cement Declines Forecast

Despite recent Federal Reserve actions, the sub-prime crisis will adversely impact investment spending and public spending through 2010, leading PCA to again adjust its cement consumption forecast.

At his presentation at the PCA Board Meeting last week, chief economist Ed Sullivan announced that PCA now expects 2007 cement consumption to decline 6.9 percent, followed by a 2.5 percent decline in 2008. 

Sullivan believes that as the economy weakens due in large part to the sub-prime crisis coupled with increased energy costs, overall nonresidential construction will experience declines, negatively affecting cement consumption.  The housing market, according to the PCA forecast, is not expected to rebound until mid-2009.
More in the PCA newsroom

Chicago Latest Stop for Pervious Concrete Series

PCA and the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association have teamed with Land Development Today magazine to continue a successful series of regional pervious concrete seminars.

The latest, held Friday, October 26 in Chicago, included a half-day of classroom instruction followed by a live demonstration of pervious concrete paving at PCA's Skokie office. More than 30 people attended.

To date PCA-NRMCA has held 10 seminars promoting the benefits of pervious pavements and educating engineers, contractors, architects, and public works officials on its properties and construction.

Pervious concrete is recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a best practice for stormwater management.

Attendees earn 6.0 Professional Development Hours (PDHs). This seminar is registered with AIA Continuing Education System.

Four more seminars are scheduled this year.
More information or to register

Call for Entries:  Holcim Sustainable
Construction Awards

Projects from all across North America are now eligible to compete for the widely recognized Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction. The Holcim Awards recognize projects that meet current needs for housing and infrastructure without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

The Holcim Awards, an international competition, is an initiative of the Swiss-based Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction to celebrate innovative, future-oriented, and tangible sustainable construction projects from around the globe.

The Holcim Awards competition is open to anyone involved in planning, design, or development of a sustainable construction project, including architects, planners, engineers, or project owners. All building projects are eligible for the competition if the project has not commenced execution prior to June 1, 2007.

A special category of the awards competition is open for project visions at a conceptual level, during an early stage of design, or with a low probability of execution. In addition, the “Next Generation” category is open for professionals younger than 35 years of age. Juries will award three Next Generation prizes at the regional level.

Prize money will total $2 million for the 2008-2009 competition. Nominations and entries in the competition will be accepted until February 29, 2008.
More at www.holcimawards.org.

Evaluation of Potential Concrete Deterioration Related to Magnesium Chloride (Mgcl2) Deicing Salts: This literature review and research report investigates magnesium chloride pavement deicers’ effects on concrete. Chloride-based salts containing sodium, calcium, and magnesium make up the majority of salts that are used to melt snow and ice. Although these salts are useful, they all have negative side effects such as automobile corrosion, attack on pavement infrastructure, and impact on the environment. This study focused on investigating the impact that MgCl2 has on pavement infrastructure (SN2770; no charge; PDF only).
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Laboratory Evaluation of Fatigue Behavior of Thin Bonded Overlays on Roller-Compacted Concrete Pavements: This research addressed the behavior of bonded concrete overlays on roller-compacted concrete (RCC) pavements. Hot mixed asphalt is the main overlaying material used with RCC pavements because it is easy to place and has a low initial cost. Recent trials had proven that placing a bonded concrete overlay is feasible, but no studies had been conducted to predict future performance (SN2872; no charge; PDF only).
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Test Methods for Water-Soluble Sulfate in Soils: This publication provides data on water-soluble sulfates in soils measured using four commonly referenced test methods (USBR, CSA A23.2-3B, Caltrans 417, and ASTM C1580). These data were used to evaluate the potential assignment of exposure class based on the test method used. Five soil samples were evaluated. Based on the findings in this test program, suggested improvements to ASTM C1580 are outlined (SN3016; no charge; PDF only).
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Model Development for the Evaluation of Cost-Effectiveness of Concrete Framing Systems for Low-, Mid-, and High-Rise Buildings: The investigation presents the development of a new streamlined model to quantitatively compare the cost-effectiveness of a lateral-load-resisting system for low-, mid-, and high-rise concrete buildings. Apartment buildings with moment-resisting and shearwall framing systems are investigated. In addition to their vertical dead and live loads, these buildings are designed against lateral forces generated from 90 mph and 150 mph wind speeds and maximum considered earthquake spectral response for short period (0.2 seconds) and one second. Eighteen apartment buildings were modeled and designed. A model for selecting a cost-effective moment-resisting or shearwall framing system will be a valuable tool for all decision makers (SN3032; no charge; PDF only).
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Masonry Does Not Burn: The need for increased minimum requirements for fire protection in buildings is discussed. Three important aspects of fire protection emphasized are 1) new relaxed code requirements allow areas between fire separations to be larger than ever permitted before 2) fire sprinkler reliability is less than 90% for many occupancies, and 3) misconceptions on initial cost of masonry construction. Strategies for improving minimum code requirements are suggested. This four-page reprint from “The Story Pole” is useful for communicating the need for increased fire protection to the masonry industry, building designers and owners, and code officials (RP441; $30.00 for a pack of 50, no discount).
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2007 State Forecasts: This publication contains a four-year forecast of portland cement consumption for each state and a summary of key economic and construction indicators. It also includes a current national outlook for construction markets and the economy (ER372).
Contact economic research at PCA
econinfo@cement.org

Strut-and-Tie Model for Structural Concrete Design: This reprint from the October 2007 issue of Structural Engineer magazine is a part of the PCA Professional Development Series. Each part of the series gives the reader an opportunity to earn continuing education credits (CEUs) by reading a specially focused, sponsored article. This article discusses the strut-and-tie model in concrete structures. Upon reading the article and completing the quiz, the reader should be able to understand the basic principles and related ACI 318-05 Code requirements (RP439; no charge; print or PDF available).
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Exploring the Environmental Attributes of Concrete: In partnership with Environmental Design & Construction this advertising supplement features articles and case studies exploring the environmental attributes of concrete and examining concrete’s role in green building design and LEED certification. Topics include: building today to conserve the future; concrete contribution to green buildings; concrete pavement without runoff; concrete in disguise; students thinking sustainable concrete; and cement manufacturing taking an aggressive approach to sustainability (RP442; $20.00 for a pack of 25, no discounts).
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Fourth Quarter 2006 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 Tie, 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, and 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 over the past six years. Survey forms were sent to all member and non-member companies in North America. All totals include both U.S. and Canadian data (MR120; $1,000, no discounts).
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