Newsletter

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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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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Written By: Joe Whiteman, CSP, CHST, Director of Safety Services August is recognized as National Traffic Awareness Month—a timely reminder of the critical role traffic safety plays on and around our jobsites. For concrete contractors, managing traffic hazards extends beyond the open road; many of our most significant risks occur where public roadways meet active construction zones. The m...

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Greater Degree of Collaboration on Next Generation of Blended Cement Written By: Michael Hernandez, Technical Director Excited to announce that ASCC has already received agreement from more than ten of the largest cement manufacturers in the U.S. to openly communicate, through ASCC, with member contractors about any future blended cement introductions. Each new blended cement will be unique ...

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From: Phil Diekemper, Executive Director – PRO: An ACI Center of Excellence for Advancing Productivity  Poorly coordinated and/or incomplete design drawings result in inaccurate bids, and they force contractors to complete the needed coordination and design through multiple requests for information (RFIs). The disjointed process leads to delays, added costs, change orders, and a gene...

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Tom Pelo, Jeff Huff, Tarek Khan, and John Luciano (Retired) Master Builders Solutions Admixtures US LLC – June 2025 Introduction Given the recent interest in low-embodied carbon concrete (LECC), there are new cementitious materials, multiple supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) and admixture chemistries available to reduce the embodied carbon content of concrete. For example, Typ...

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Jim Klinger, Concrete Construction Specialist The Slab Newsletter July 2025 Question:  We just returned to our office from a mandatory project kick-off meeting with major project stakeholders, including the Owner (a well-known, high-profile winemaker), the architect, the structural engineer, and the general contractor (GC). Based on a few of the meeting discussion topics, we now find ou...

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Jim Klinger, Concrete Construction Specialist The Slab Newsletter June 2025 Full Disclosure: On 18 May 2025, Dr. Ward Malisch--The Original ASCC Hotline Operator--passed away after a long battle with cancer. The following morning, a memorial tribute summarizing and showcasing Ward's extensive concrete industry accomplishments--including his significant contributions to the ASCC--was publ...

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