Trench and Excavation National Emphasis Program (NEP) – What You Need to Know Joe Whiteman, Director of Safety Services   2-2019 Recently OSHA has doubled down on trench and excavation hazards. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that fatalities resulting from trench and excavation activities in 2016 were more than the two previous years combined, at a staggering 23 l...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter November 2018 ACI’s newest committee, 134, Constructability, has been providing contributions to a constructability column in ACI Concrete International. Members of 134 include Jim Cornell of JN Cornell Associates as chair, Bruce Suprenant, TAC contact, and Bev Garnant as a voting member, along with the following ASCC contractor me...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter July 2018 I hope you’re familiar with the ASCC on-line learning through the webinar series. ASCC offered 10 webinars in 2017 and has offered four in 2018. They are a great opportunity to learn from experienced presenters. While you might be aware of the ASCC webinars, ACI also offers online training through its ACI University. ACI ...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter June 2018 The concrete industry relies heavily on the results of concrete compressive strength tests to determine specification compliance or to allow construction activities such as form removal or post-tensioning to take place. While testing the strength of concrete is a simple test and controlled by an ASTM standard, the measured resu...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter April 2018 ACI-ASCC 117 joint tolerance committee met in Salt Lake City last month to discuss our favorite topic—how realistic are the tolerances? And of course, everyone has an opinion. The unfortunate problem is that there is no rationale presented for the tolerances in the document. The committee wants to change that problem wit...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter March 2018 Yes, every concrete contractor has felt the dreaded pain of back charges. Concrete contractors can face back charges that are unfair, including: No prior notice of defective work No time to investigate whether the work is defective No time allowed to fix the work No documentation that the cost of the back charges a...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter December 2017 ACI 306R-88, “Guide to Cold Weather Concreting”, addressed multiple cycles of freezing and thawing by recommending that the concrete reach a compressive strength of 3500 psi prior to that exposure. ACI 201-77, “Guide to Durable Concrete”, also addressed the issue by stating: “Before being expos...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter November 2017 Ward Malisch answered this question about welded wire reinforcement (WWR) tolerances in the October 2010 VOICE. Since then the answer has changed. See both the 2010 and the 2017 answers below. QUESTION: What is the tolerance for deflection in 2.9x2.9, 2.0x2.0, and 1.4x1.4 welded-wire reinforcement (WWR) that is specified...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter October 2017 A lot has happened within CPC in the short time from May Committee Days in St. Louis to the September Annual Conference in Phoenix. What started in May got kicked around and discussed in depth in Phoenix: slab and polishing contractors working together on documents. At the Annual Conference, there were two roundtable discuss...

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Bruce Suprenant, Technical Director, The Voice Newsletter September 2017 When rain falls on fresh concrete, concrete contractors get blamed for not checking the weather conditions and not planning the concrete placement to avoid rain. But tell that to concrete contractors in Seattle or Miami. The rainy season in Seattle includes six months, October through March, with15 days of rain or more, pl...

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