World’s Largest RCC Dam "Raise" Scheduled for San Diego County   

The San Diego County Water Authority last week certified the environmental impact report to raise San Vicente Dam by 117 feet, creating the largest dam raise in the United States and the largest in the world using roller-compacted concrete (RCC).

The project would require 800,000 cubic yards of RCC plus a significant amount of conventional concrete for upstream facing. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2009 and to be completed in late 2012.

The $568 million project, to be built on top of the existing San Vicente Dam in Lakeside, Calif., will expand the reservoir to hold an additional 52,000 acre-feet of water for use during emergencies and another 100,000 acre-feet of water to supplement imported supplies during dry periods.

San Vicente Dam, along with two other reservoirs, is part of the Water Authority’s Emergency Storage Project to provide up to six months of water if a natural disaster such as an earthquake cuts off the region’s imported water supplies.

In addition, the new 100,000 acre-feet of water for carryover storage will allow the Water Authority to store water during wet periods for use during subsequent dry years. In total, the additional 152,000 acre-feet of water in San Vicente could meet 40 percent of San Diego County’s needs for a year.

A team of engineers from MWH and URS Corporation are designing the dam raise.  Mike Rogers of MWH’s San Diego office is the lead design engineer for the project.
Contact Fares Abdo

Report Links Traffic Congestion to Wasted Fuel and Greater Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Traffic congestion in the United States wastes three billion gallons of fuel and contributes 27.2 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, according to a Flash Report released last week by PCA’s economic research department. The overall economic impact of traffic delays adds up to $80 billion per year.

For more than 25 high-growth metro areas, the PCA report tracks the levels of congestion and the impacts of traffic delays in three ways: wasted fuel, added carbon dioxide emissions, and economic impact.

The report also projects statistics in 25 years. By the year 2032, the U.S. population is expected to reach 363.5 million persons, adding an estimated 49 million drivers and 58 million vehicles to America’s highways. Wasted fuel from traffic delays will more than double, to 6.5 billion gallons. Carbon dioxide emissions traced to congestion will increase to 60 million tons. The report projects that without improvements to our roads and highways, wasted time and higher transportation costs will result in a cumulative economic impact of $150 billion annually.
More at the PCA newsroom.

Sustainable Leadership Awards
Deadline Extended

PCA will extend the deadline for the annual Sustainable Leadership Awards.  The new deadline is June 30, 2008.

The Sustainable Leadership Awards honor government leaders who advance sustainable development in their communities through the use of concrete and cement-based products.

Four categories will be recognized. The Leadership in Sustainability Policy Award honors public officials who advance policies that promote the concept of sustainable development by advocating for and promoting the use of concrete and cement-based products in their communities.

Additionally, three award categories honor specific projects in three areas: Homes and Residential Building, Non-Residential Building and Infrastructure.
For more information and to access the nomination form

New Apparent Use Reports Track Cement and Concrete Consumption

PCA announced the availability of the spring series of reports on the apparent use of portland cement and ready-mixed concrete. The reports track cement and ready-mixed concrete use from 2003 to 2007 at the state, county, and metro area. State and county forecasts from 2008 to 2012 are also now included in the trend report.

New to this edition: an improved apparent-use model, new residential use factors, and a simplified pricing structure that bundles the forecasts with the trend reports:

The 2007 Trend and Forecast Analysis on Apparent Use of Portland Cement by County report incorporates the five-year (2003-2007) historical data derived by the PCA apparent use county demand model along with the PCA market research forecast of cement consumption by state and county (2008-2012). Based on time-series analysis of each county’s estimated consumption as a percent of its state’s total shipments, county projections are derived.

The 2007 Trend and Forecast Analysis on Apparent Use of Ready-Mixed Concrete by County report presents a five-year (2003-2007) historical perspective of estimated ready mixed concrete consumption by county and metropolitan area, as well as the PCA market research forecast of ready-mixed concrete by state and county (2008-2012).

The new reports also include maps of 2007 portland cement or ready-mixed concrete use at no extra cost.  These color/data driven maps depict geographical intensity of consumption. Based on time-series analysis of each county’s estimated consumption as a percent of its state’s total shipments, county projections are derived.

The new reports also include maps of 2007 portland cement or ready-mixed concrete use at no extra cost.  These color/data driven maps depict geographical intensity of consumption.

The 2003-2007 Trend Analysis on Apparent Use of Portland Cement and Ready-Mixed Concrete, State Summary sheets are now also available (and free to PCA members).

PCA’s Web site includes prices, a complete list of reports, and sample reports.
Visit www.cement.org or contact Ninab Maradkel

2008 Concrete Bridge Conference
Held in St. Louis

The 2008 Concrete Bridge Conference (CBC) was held May 4-7, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. This event is the premier national venue for the exchange of ideas and information on all aspects of concrete bridge design and construction.

The Conference featured an extensive technical program of more than 120 presentations and an exhibition of consultants, material and service suppliers, and associations. In addition, attendees were able to participate in a tour of the local I-64 bridge construction. Four precast, prestressed concrete I-girder bridges in different stages of construction were visited.

The conference was attended by bridge professionals including FHWA, state DOT, and consultants. The 2008 CBC was held in conjunction with the Post-Tensioning Institute’s Annual Conference.  The two conferences have a total attendance of 500.

The Federal Highway Administration, National Concrete Bridge Council, Missouri Department of Transportation, and the American Concrete Institute were cosponsors of 2008 CBC.  PCA organized the event.
Contact David Bilow

Zwicke Rejoins Economic Research

David Zwicke has returned to PCA's Economics Research Group as manager and senior economist. His responsibilities include all state and regional economic, construction and cement analysis and forecast.  During the past year, Zwicke  worked for First Industrial Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust firm, conducting regional analysis for commercial investments.  Before that, he handled data and high frequency reporting for PCA.

Zwicke has a bachelors degree in economics from Northern Illinois University.
Contact David Zwicke

NextGen Home Wins Recognition

The NextGen "First to the Future" Demonstration Home in West Seattle has won the Washington State "Residential Concrete ICF Home of the Year" award for 2008.

The home was built using an insulated concrete forms (ICFs) system provided by AMVIC.  The structure received both the BuiltGreen™ and Energy Star Northwest™ certifications.

In addition, the NextGen home is the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest to also receive the Institute for Business & Home Safety's, Fortified...for safer living® designation.

Cooling Pond Project Complete at
Sydney Tar Ponds Site

The Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens Site in Nova Scotia is Canada’s largest contaminated site clean-up project.  One of the first portions of the project to be successfully remediated has used cement-based solidification/stabilization.    

The cooling pond was an old circular reservoir, built in 1912 to hold water once used in the steelmaking process.  Sediment in the cooling pond was impacted by Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPHs), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), and metals. 

S/S treatment of the cooling pond sediment  involved mixing 6,100 metric tons of cement into 29,000 cubic meters of contaminated sediment.
Sydney Tar Ponds Agency and Public Works and Public Works and Government Services Canada have created a PowerPoint presentation showing photographs of the site as the projected progressed.
(View or download the presentation.)

Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens Site is the place of a former steel plant, where 100 years of steel and coke production left more than a million tons of contaminated soil and sediment.

The Canadian government committed C$400 million to remediate the STPCO site during a 10-year period.  This includes the solidification/stabilization of nearly 600,000 cubic meters of contaminated sediment and soil with portland cement within the actual tar ponds.   Hazardous constituents within the tar ponds include coal tars and poly-chlorinated byphenyls (PCBs). 
Contact Colin Dickson at Cement Association of Canada or Chuck Wilk at PCA.