Michelle Wilson, Portland Cement Association
The Voice Newsletter February 2024

The Portland Cement Association was proud to work with the American Society of Concrete Contractors in co-hosting our first industry session at World of Concrete, Best Practices in Pre-Construction for PLC (Type IL) Projects, in Las Vegas on January 24.

The event proved successful in providing real-world examples and insight through panel-style discussions between material suppliers and contractors of three recent projects using portland-limestone cement from across the country – Florida, Indiana, and California: 

Project 1: Ferguson International Center, Bloomington, Indiana

Special applications: architectural concrete (color), cantilevered post-tensioned deck

• Concrete Contractor— Weddle Bros. Building Group, LLC, Michael Hemmerling, VP
• Concrete Producer— Irving Materials Inc. (imi), Chad Clark, Director of Quality for IN/OH
• Cement Supplier— Heidelberg Materials, Mike Collins, Technical Services Manager

Project 2: Component Operations Jacksonville Facility, Jacksonville, Florida

Special applications: Industrial floor slab, tilt-up concrete, polished concrete

• Concrete Contractor— Concrete Strategies, Kyle Kammer, Director of Quality
• Concrete Producer— Preferred Materials, Inc, Bill Knauf, QC Manager, PMI Concrete North Region
• Cement Supplier— Ash Grove, Lindsey Costin, Market Development Engineer, Ash Grove South

Project 3: Fashion Valley Mall, San Diego, California

Special applications: Architectural concrete, color and seeded-aggregate and acid-etch finish

• Concrete Contractor— T.B. Penick & Sons, Inc, Victor Klamaske, Vice President
• Concrete Producer— CEMEX, Ed Luce, Director of Technical Services
• Cement Supplier— CalPortland Company, Sydney Zaragoza, Technical Manager

Common themes of success with each project include:

• reading and understanding the project’s specifications;
• collaborating early and often with the project team;
• trial batching until the concrete performance matches expectations; and
• performing mockups to test the concrete’s behavior.

Following the event, attendees shared they were most impressed with the expertise of the panels, wide range of projects that were discussed, and hands-on experience.

PCA is committed to working with ASCC and NRMCA and their members to provide education and industry resources on PLC and low carbon concrete.

For more information on the use of PLC, visit greenercement.org. For more information on the industry session and future outreach, contact Michelle Wilson at mwilson@cement.org.