Technical

Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter July 2020 ASCC is looking to advance the implementation of constructability concepts for concrete construction. Case studies by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) cited cost reductions of between 6 and 23 percent, benefit/cost ratios of up to 10 to 1, and significant schedule reduction. Now we want to hear from ASCC concrete contr...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter June 2020 ACI Concrete International has featured a Q&A section at the end of the magazine for years. Recently, some of the Q&As are originating (see titles in italics) from the ASCC Contractor Email Forum. There have been a great number of these articles of value to contractors. Because of that, I have listed specific Q&A of...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter May 2020 Since 1996, ACI 301 “Specifications for Concrete” provided an option in which the specifier could require the contractor to submit a plan for wet-weather protection activities. The specification language for ACI 301-16, 5.1.2 Submittals is shown below. During placement of concrete, unless protection is provided, ACI ...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter April 2020 The ASCC Hotline has been in existence for about 50 years, taking calls on business, contracts/specifications and technical issues. The success of the Hotline is not about the person answering the calls, but the contractors that call in. As contractors call, more information is obtained about an issue or project, which collect...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter February 2020 Gym floors in schools—the battle between the concrete contractor and gym floor installers was the beginning of the ASCC Position Statements. Concrete contractors were meeting the F-numbers stated in the project specifications but the gym floor installers were not happy with the concrete surface. They did not like the ...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter January 2020 We need your assistance. Ward Malisch and I are working on a draft of an article on rubbed finishes. Over the past 50 years, there has been much confusion about a rub finish and how it is accomplished. In addition, concrete curing specifications requiring forms to be left in place for 3 to 7 days, and a trend toward stronger...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter December 2019 Background: ACI 117 has never specified tolerances for welded wire reinforcement (WWR), stating in the Mandatory Requirements Checklist that “tolerances for fabrication, placement, and lap splices for welded wire reinforcement must be specified by the Specifier.” Without WWR tolerances in ACI 117, ACI 301 in the...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter October 2019 American Society of Concrete Contractors (ASCC) organized a study to evaluate laser scanning for F-numbers. The study was conducted on a construction site in Walnut Creek, CA, October 6 and 7, 2018. Eight participants (each comprising one to three individuals) scanned portions of the project, and their measurements were comp...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter September 2019 Some time ago, an architect from Washington D.C. called to ask about polished concrete. Rather than answer his questions directly, we referred him to a CPC member. That CPC member developed a relationship with the architect and ended up doing some work for him. Recently, ASCC received requests from the facilities managemen...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter July 2019 310 Decorative Concrete, a joint ACI-ASCC committee currently chaired by Clark Branum of Diamatic USA, is best known for producing ACI 310R-13 “Guide to Decorative Concrete”. But subcommittee 310-0J, chaired by Pat Harrison of Structural Services Inc, and assisted by many CPC members, has developed a new document &l...

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