The Concrete Producer articles from October 2004

The Concrete Producer archives from October 2004

Conventional timing.(Editorial)(Editorial)
October 1, 2004... We've been traveling a good deal as a family this fall, now that our sons are in college. New Orleans and Nashville are definitely great places to experience college life as an adult--once you get there. I've become better at traveling. And...

HPC bridge response favorable.(News)(high-performance concrete )
October 1, 2004... Outstanding progress has been made in response to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) executive director's challenge to build at least one high-performance concrete (HPC) bridge in every state by 2002. Only six states have not used HPC in...

Request for strength test data.(News)
October 1, 2004... ACI Committee 318 (Building Code for Structural Concrete) is revising the strength reduction factors [empty set] for structural design. The [empty set]-factors provide a safety factor for variability of material and construction. Professor...

WOC nears.(News)
October 1, 2004... It's not too early to start thinking about travel arrangements and registration for the 2005 edition of World of Concrete. The world's largest trade show devoted to concrete takes place Jan. 18-21; seminars begin Jan. 17. THE CONCRETE PRODUCER...

Upcoming conferences & events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
October 1, 2004... ACI Fall Convention The American Concrete Institute's Fall Centennial Convention, Concrete-A Century of Innovation, takes place Oct. 24-28 at the Hilton San Francisco. The event will include a full schedule of technical and educational...

Untangling the knots: a software developer's personal travails lead to a product for the construction industry.(E-Concrete)
October 1, 2004... Little did Eddie Rogers realize that work yields work. First, he converted his den into a bedroom for his daughter and then added a new room. But real work came when his experiences enabled him to come up with a new product to help contractors,...

Covering all the bases: an insulating cover for your mixer drum can serve as a quality control tool.(What's New)
October 1, 2004... These days, Bill McAnally sleeps a lot better a night. That's because he's found a way to cover all the bases during day. Now, when his dispatcher ships a load of ready-mixed concrete from his Catoosa, Okla., plant, McAnally knows the mix will...

Calculating axle loads: software matches the right trailer configuration to each load.(Fleet Factors)
October 1, 2004... It's difficult to match trailer configurations to the numerous products a precast plant must deliver. It's often a trial and error process that can take hours. Now, for less than the price of an overload fine, fleet managers can quickly take...

Dust warfare.(Fleet Factors)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Not all the technology the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers evaluates has to do with bombs, computers, or lasers. Protecting our troops and their equipment requires attention to many details, even as something seemingly low-tech as keeping the dust...

Cleaning slump block.(Problem Clinic)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Q. What are the most effective products to clean and to seal the older type slump block? I'm working on a 1977 vintage slump block home. A. Slump block is a concrete masonry unit with a rounded, rustic finish that is made to resemble mud...

Accommodating radiant heat in slabs.(Problem Clinic)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Q. We are a ready-mixed producer in northern Wisconsin. Several contractors we supply have placed in-floor heating in garage or basement floors. Two of these floors have cracked after turning on the heat. We have been told that this may be...

Concrete and heat transfer.(Problem Clinic)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Q. What is the R-value of normal weight concrete made with limestone aggregate? Is it expressed pet inch of concrete thickness? A. The resistance of a material to conduct heat energy from one surface to another is its thermal resistivity,...

Building bridges: we get our feet wet in the name of the environment more than our neighbors realize.(As the Drum Turns)(Hoover Concrete)
October 1, 2004... When the dispatcher phoned to warn me to bring my hip boots to the church job just outside of town, I should have known I was about to get waist-deep into trouble. He said the trucks were stopped and someone needed to get out allure right...

Ties that bond: PCI's chairman reflects on his family history during the association's golden anniversary.(Prestressed Concrete Institute)(Cover Story)
October 1, 2004... Fred W. Heldenfels IV knows a thing or two about history. The chairman of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute recites names and years from his own family's history without missing a beat. It's a rich history that dates back to the Civil...

Maturity meters for measuring strength: accurate field tests are coming-of-age.
October 1, 2004... Sometimes, it's hard to remember that much of what we know about concrete is based on science. For example, the "maturity concept" was proposed in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a technique to account for the combined effects of time and...

Good vibrations: external and internal vibrations are helping reshape an Ohio city's skyline.
October 1, 2004... Soon, commuters in Toledo, Ohio, will have a daily connection to the beauty and strength of concrete. That is if their journey uses the new bridge spanning the Maumee River. Even if they aren't commuting, the concrete will be hard to miss when...

What twin-shaft mixing can do for you: the technology is gaining market share throughout the world.
October 1, 2004... Everyone has a general idea what mixing means. But describing this is not so easy. The goal of any mixing process is to distribute materials with different characteristics, and usually in differing quantities, as evenly as possible. A new...

Sticking together for progress: the research will determine whether SCC adheres to steel strands.(Product Pulse)
October 1, 2004... Self-consolidating concrete (SCC) has rapidly become an important mix design for prestressed concrete producers in North America. While reports on compressive strength development, workability, and other engineering properties on SCC are...

PCI showcase on tap: PCI is again teaming with the FHWA for the National Bridge Conference.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute heads to the Peach State to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The Annual Convention/Exhibition and the PCI National Bridge Conference take place at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Oct. 17-20. "PCI and...

Admixture reduces cement needs.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... Glenium 3400 NV is a new high-range water-reducing admixture developed specifically to provide performance benefits in precast concrete applications. A Master Builders brand product from Degussa Admixtures, it will meet ASTM C 494 requirements...

Measure color precisely.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... You no longer need to use subjective visual methods to determine color difference with the HunterLab MiniScan XE Plus. The portable color measurement instrument quickly and easily quantifies the color of concrete and raw materials. It can be...

Water reducer saves costs.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... Allegro 122 from Axim Italcementi Group is a new high-range water-reducing admixture line for the precast/prestressed concrete industry. It produces super high-strength, highly workable, and self-consolidating concrete in a variety of...

Remove concrete buildup.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... Form Cleaner 240 Rust Remover from Cresset Chemical Co. removes rust from steel forms, iron railings, and other objects. The thick, pasty gel or "jelly" quickly dissolves rust, promotes bonding of paints, protects treated forms from rust, meets...

Strong, robust trailer.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... Nelson Manufacturing Co.'s Double Tee Transport Trailer is designed specifically to haul precast double tees. The stretch trailer opens to the length of the beam. A rocker assembly is built into the front of the trailer to prevent cracking of...

Heavy-duty mixers.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... Liebherr Concrete Technology's Twin Shaft Mixers and Ring Pan Mixers are available from a 1/2-yard up to 6-yard sizes, with output depending on the series model and options selected on the units. Ring pan mixers can have one to three gates for...

Pigments for reliable coloring.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... Grace Construction Products is changing the color of concrete with its Hydrotint liquid pigments. Hydrotint enables concrete producers to integrally color concrete quickly, safely, and reliably through the Chameleon PC-based dispensing system....

Highly accurate color dispenser.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... Dynamic Color Solutions Inc. has added the Model 1000P-5 High Accuracy Liquid Color Dispenser to its current line of dispensing equipment. The new machine's features include a 5-gallon domed bottom polyethylene measuring vessel (about 70 pounds...

Pan mixers with wash-down systems.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... The Model 150 1 1/2yard, Turbin XL pan mixer features a high-pressure automatic wash-down system, in addition to its performance proven belt drive and transmission system and low-profile design. The mixer from Mixer Systems Inc. is available in...

Seal cracks, pores, and capillaries.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... RADCON Formula #7 is a biochemically modified solution that provides long-term waterproofing and durability benefits to concrete. The product from Radcrete Pacific penetrates into concrete and reacts with free calcium and water to form a...

Cost analysis: rebar versus mesh.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... Connecticut Steel Corp. has finalized a detailed cost analysis of four poured-in-place projects and one precast project. Analysis includes typical everyday performances all across the country with side-by-side comparisons. The material is...

Brick system lowers panel costs.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... Innovative Brick Systems announces its new addition to the Mbrick family of embedded thin brick systems for concrete panels. The MDura Multicast Liner offers the same, fully embedded cove joint as the flagship product, the Versa Liner. The...

Planning system for precasters.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... ELiPLAN for Microsoft Windows is an enterprise resource planning system by Elematic developed to meet precasters' needs. A high-performance client-server system with an unlimited Oracle database, ELiPLAN can include as many plants and users as...

Bend your own mesh.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... Steel is expensive and so is the freight to transport it. Why take delivery of pre-bent mesh when you can bend your own at your jobsite? Mesh benders from Elk River Machine Co. are designed to bend the full range of mesh in virtually any width...

Vibrators for quality impact.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... Brecon Vibration Technology Inc.'s SL-Series of vibrators operate at a synchronous speed. All vibrators are controlled by the same frequency inverter for an even concrete compacting effect. Besides reduced noise, a completely homogeneous...

Poured-in-place system for energy-efficient walls.(PCI Exhibition Products)
October 1, 2004... Dow Chemical Co. offers the Styrofoam T-Mass Poured-in-Place (PIP) system to meet the growing needs of poured wall contractors, residential builders, and more stringent code requirements, and to address consumer interest for moisture-resistant,...

Not lost in translation.(Bookshelf)
October 1, 2004... We're really impressed with the handy English-Spanish Jobsite Phrasebook. It's conveniently organized by task, and covers the tasks most frequently handled by Hispanic tradespeople, including concrete, framing, drywall, and roofing. The book...

Finishing concrete with color and texture.(Bookshelf)
October 1, 2004... Here's where you can learn how to create decorative surfaces on cast-in-place concrete slabs. More than 210 detailed photographs illustrate the possible rich variations in color and texture. This updated guide includes a new chapter on white...

Concrete in transit.(In The Mix)
October 1, 2004... PCA announced the winners of its third Concrete in Transit Awards, a biennial competition honoring excellence in the design and construction of public transit facilities. Concrete had to be used either as a system-wide feature or as a principal...

Paying tribute.(In The Mix)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Concrete played a big role in calling attention to the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway in Maryland. A sign was recently erected on Interstate 70 in Frederick County, with the help of the Maryland Ready Mix Concrete Association and others....

Constructing their future.(In The Mix)
October 1, 2004... Winners have been selected in the ConstructMyFuture.com annual workforce development scholarship program. Recipients are Toni Haider ($1500), a senior at West Fargo High School, West Fargo, N.D.; Lucas Walloch ($1000), a senior at New Berlin...