Written By: Mike Hernandez, ASCC Technical Director  Few words strike fear in a concrete contractor’s heart like: “This floor doesn’t meet tolerance.” A failed floor flatness/levelness (FF/FL) report can trigger owner dissatisfaction, costly remediation or back charges, project delays, and in the worst cases, litigation. Yet what often gets lost in the dispute is wh...

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Written by: Jim Klinger,  ASCC Hotline Operator Question:  In the June 2022 issue of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) "Concrete International" magazine, the monthly question-and-answer feature column titled "Concrete Q&A" considered the issue of incidental standing water in a mat foundation area being prepared (and inspected) to receive concrete the follow...

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Written by: Jim Klinger,  ASCC Hotline Operator Question:  We are attempting to close out a recent construction contract to build a reinforced concrete mid-rise (6 story) assisted living facility. During the course of construction, the typical 8-inch thick post-tensioned (PT) slabs were placed and finished in approximately 25,000 square foot (SF) pours; then tested with a proprie...

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As part of ASCC’s ongoing commitment to mental health and suicide prevention, I want to take a moment to remind our members of our partnership with the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention (CIASP) and encourage everyone to take part in the CIASP Banner Program. The CIASP is an incredibly active and passionate group that brings together contractors, associations, and safet...

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 If you’ve joined one of our monthly Safety Roundtables, you know the real value comes from the people who’ve been in the field for decades, those who’ve seen what works, what doesn’t, and why. This quarter’s discussion included conversation around wind-speed shutdowns for cranes and concrete boom pumps was a perfect example, reminding us that even widely accepte...

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Earlier this month, representatives from ASCC joined our partners from TAUC (The Association of Union Contractors) and the John R. Gentry Research Foundation (JGRF)—the foundation of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA)—for a site visit to Virginia Tech’s Helmet Lab in Blacksburg, Virginia. The visit was an opportunity to see firsthand how the funds our organi...

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As we close out the year, I want to take a moment to highlight an exciting step forward for our association and our industry. ASCC is officially launching the first phase of our Safety Benchmarking Initiative, a project that will give members meaningful insight into their safety performance, identify what truly drives improvement, and ultimately raise the bar for safety excellence across the concr...

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Assembly of concrete formwork can be one of the most physically demanding tasks done on a regular basis.  It often requires repetitive motions of swinging a hammer to fix forms in place.  The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) published Threshold Limit Value (TLV) for upper limb localized fatigue for recommendations for workplace tasks that require the u...

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I want to take a moment to thank every member company that participated in the first-ever Safety Awards program using FactorLab’s SmartTagIt platform. This new process represented a major step forward for ASCC, and the turnout was nothing short of outstanding. Through this digital submission format, we were able to see more than ever before: creative programs, forward-thinking initiatives...

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Written By: Jim Klinger, Concrete Expert Question:  We have an opportunity to bid a portion of the reinforced concrete scope on an upcoming industrial/manufacturing plant and adjacent support building project (e.g. parking garage and two steel office buildings) which is slated to break ground next month. The Owner is releasing the work in phases (aka "bid packages") driven by str...

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