Mike Hernandez, Technical Director The Voice Newsletter November 2023
ASCC members continue to work on numerous ACI Committees to monitor and influence the documents and present the contractor’s position. There are ACI committees on nearly any subtopic in concrete you can imagine. ASCC/ACI members have provided feedback on the work happening in the committees in which they are involved. For reference, I have added an asterisk (*) to the ten ACI committees which had the most ASCC contractor voting members in June of 2023 when the latest ACI Committee Membership list was compiled. The following includes the ASCC/ACI top ten with several added when substantial member feedback was provided.
117* - Tolerances: Continued to ballot revisions to 117-10(15). An impassioned request by an ASCC Member to include ASTM plastic concrete tolerance information so that contractors could reduce the quantity of documents they need won over the room. The information will be maintained and expanded to include more ASTM information. Subcommittee L-Laser Scanning Chair Leo Zhang with Conco said “117L subcommittee is working on a technote to provide the readers with some basic information about laser scanning for concrete.”
134* - Concrete Constructability: Hosted a session titled “Prescriptive or Performance? What is the State of the Industry and What are the Examples of a Positive Movement Towards Collaboration?” The committee also had a mini session on “Type IL Cement, A Step to Reducing Overall Global Warming Potential”, which included presentations from ASCC Members Jason Wimberly with Lithko Contracting, David Venegas with Vemac, Boyd Clark with CTL Group and co-moderators Keila Lombardozzi with DPR and Brian Carson with Nexgen Contractors. Attendees reported a packed room with 200+ people.
301 - Specifications for Concrete, Anthony DeCarlo with Dominion Concrete Services stated “301 will be adding an optional sustainability section to the document when the new 301 document is scheduled to be published in 2026.” Currently, the new language for this section is being worked on. Continued work on resolving negatives regarding revised or new language for each section of the specification document. Subcommittee S-Sustainability, Eamonn Connolly of McHugh concrete reports that there was a presentation by Colin Lobo of NRMCA on their new Carbon Budget Calculator. NRMCA and ASCC agree that total carbon budgets should be used instead of trying to reduce the CO2 emissions in every mix an equal percentage. Mr. Connolly added that there was discussion of life cycle analysis, in particular A5, construction stage emissions. ACI, PCA, NRMCA and ASCC are attempting to collect A5 data and are requesting member support for this initiative.
302* - Construction of Concrete Floors: Reviewed joint 302-ASCC survey results. It was standing room only with several hundred people in the room. Joe Neuber of Neuber Concrete commented, “My recollection of the meeting was the discussion on Type IL cement and the problems that the industry is having with the floor slabs throughout the country. Depending on what part of the country you are from seems to dictate the degree of issues encountered. There seems to be a lot of discussion concerning the different types of issues that the industry is encountering. It was generally agreed that there needs to be a standard for material. Amount of limestone in the Type IL and the fineness of the materials around the country. The general overall agreement is that in slabs on ground (especially ones poured out in the weather) have little or no bleed water and this is causing the top surface to dry and be ready to finish long before the mass of the concrete is ready which in turn causes surface defects, delamination, and shrinkage cracking.”
310* - Decorative Concrete: Chair Clark Branum with ASCC states, “committee was well attended, we spent most of the time resolving comments from chapter 6 on staining. We voted to accept several changes and adopted the new version of the chapter.” Clark’s term as 310 Chair has been extended by a year to April 2025.
310 0J* - Polished Finishes: Clark Branum with ASCC said, “A lot of the 310-OJ meeting was spent on a presentation on diamond tooling by Boride engineering. I’m working on a classification for polished concrete floors to submit to 302.”
330* - Concrete Parking Lots and Site Paving: Chair Jason Wimberly with Lithko Contracting stated, “330 is just completed responding to TAC comments on the SPEC. 330 will be hosting two mini sessions at the upcoming convention in New Orleans. The first session will present the data and a discussion of results from testing on multiple VEMAC projects to understand the impact on thermal swings to concrete slabs and pavements (hint: it is much more significant than previously thought and a likely culprit to many problems experienced by contractors daily). The second session will be the presenting of data from the full-scale field trials using four same-source Type I/II and Type IL cement concretes in SOG/Panels/Pavements in the Denver, CO market. Many concerns voiced by contractors have been quantified when able to conduct work in a full-size trial against previous Type I/II cements.”
347* - Formwork for Concrete: Continue to ballot new 347 specification document. Eric Peterson with Webcor reported that the 237-self consolidating concrete (SCC) committee is forming a joint innovation task group between its committee and 347. The joint task group is going to look at formwork pressure. Current guidance is assume full liquid head, which makes for long placing durations or robust formwork. SCC field testing indicates the real value is much lower.
360* - Design of Slabs on Ground: David Buzzelli with Texas A&M Concrete said “worked on resolving negatives.”
CLC* - Construction Liaison Committee: Reports from members on the activities of ASCC, TAC, EAC, PRO and ACI committees, which affect concrete construction. CLC is provided access to documents under TAC review for input. ASCC technical staff reviews as many as we can. A new ACI academic construction journal is being proposed to the ACI Executive Committee. If approved, they will be looking for an industry advisory board to participate. This is for university level school of construction management professors to have peer reviewed documents.
E703* – Concrete Construction Practice: Chair Kevin Hanson with Baker Concrete reported, “E703 is currently completing editorial review of the revised CCS-1 Slabs on Ground for eminent submission to the Educational Activities Committee. We are currently recruiting new members, specifically those with experience in decorative concrete, to champion an upcoming update to CCS-5 Placing and Finishing Decorative Concrete Flatwork.”
90-07* TAC Productivity & Constructability: First meeting was recently to discuss review of code documents. Members volunteered to review documents expected to be submitted to TAC this fall or spring 2024.
ACI Board of Directors: Anthony DeCarlo with Dominion Concrete Services reported, “New executive vice president Fred Grubbe was introduced to the board. Discussed the results of the P&D session regarding goals set forth in the ACI Outlook 2030. The Board approved a program to certify ACI fiber reinforced polymer reinforcing bar inspectors. Approved budget for fiscal year 2024.”
ACI Excellence Awards Gala: Congratulations to McHugh Concrete Construction for 2nd place in high-rise structures (over 15 stories) for The Reed at Southbank, Chicago, IL.
ACI PRO Contractor’s Day Lunch: Dan Baker, Founder of Baker Concrete & Jeffrey Coleman with Coleman & Erickson hosted a discussion on the lack of communication between designers and contractors. One take away about resolving issues with open communication instead of pursuing legal action by Mr. Baker was “you don’t sue the man you go fishing and hunting with.”
ACI PRO/ASCC Reception: Ceco & Conco have joined PRO and several other ASCC members have expressed strong interest. ASCC and ACI PRO held a joint reception at the conclusion of PRO day at the Convention, and it was very well attended. Photo with Ray Hefner, ASCC Executive Director, greeting Charles Nmai, with Master Builders Solutions and ACI’s 2022-2023 President, is below. Rick Yelton with World of Concrete is in the background.
