EDITORIAL COMMENT

  • When We Were Kings

    It has been quite a year, to say the least, as the construction industry was hammered by the uncertainty surrounding the residential marketplace, and the trickle-down effect now impacting the commercial marketplace.

     
  • Seek, You Shall Find

    As Hurricane Ike barreled toward the coast of Texas, many ASCC Conference attendees and roundtable participants—contractors just like you—grappled with weathering the storm, or getting out before conditions worsened.

     

FEATURES

Industry Trends Roundtable

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    Winds of Change

    Despite the impending threat of Hurricane Ike, a group of industry leaders gathered to examine a host of issues facing the concrete industry today, including surviving in today's economy, diversification, crew productivity, and more.

     

Other Articles

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    The Truth About BIM

    What is BIM, anyway? What most people in the construction world mean when they use this term these days is “building information modeling.”

     
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    Changing the Industry

    The five honorees who significantly influenced the concrete industry in 2008 weren't chosen by the sophisticated polling methods we've heard too much about during the presidential campaign. We didn't ask our readers to vote for their favorite candidate ei

     
  • Where's the Concrete Industry Going?

    Earlier this year, Concrete Construction had a conversation with four concrete contractors from across the United States to gauge the state of the industry today and where it appears to be going over the next year or so.

     
  • How Tall, How Fast, How Safe?

    Self-consolidating concrete (SCC) is a high-performance material designed to flow under its own weight, completely filling formwork, and achieving full consolidation, even in the presence of congested reinforcement.

     

DECORATIVE CONCRETE PROJECT OF THE YEAR

Winners

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

Annual Decorative Issue

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    Learning Decorative Concrete

    Watch leading artisans demonstrate the most innovative decorative concrete applications and techniques in integral color, stains, color hardeners, stamping, polishing, stenciling, overlays, sculpting, and more!

     
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    Medium-gloss finish

    Pure-Shine HS Floor Finish gives concrete, terrazzo, quarry tile, and other surfaces a glossy finish that lasts longer and requires fewer coats than other products.

     
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    Penetrating Sealer

    Trojan Masonry Sealer penetrating sealer fills the voids and coats the interior particles of the matrix to waterproof and reduce vapor transmission in concrete and masonry.

     
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    Acid stains

    This line of chemical stains—available in a range of shades—creates a variegated appearance on concrete substrates.

     
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    Defining the Market: Techniques and Products

    Decorative concrete work results from creativity and skill, learning the proper techniques, and using products that make a job even better.

     
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    Adding Art to Pervious

    Fundamental differences exist between flatwork made with pervious concrete and standard concrete. The surface texture differs noticeably, and when it comes to holding water, they're at opposite ends of the spectrum. But neither of those differences means that pervious can't be decorative.

     
  • Progress Pushing Decorative Concrete

    As Americans, we put a lot of emphasis on progress. The same goes for the concrete industry, where you and your competition view progress as king.

     

Slabs & Floors

  • Exceptional Floors

    The construction of suspended slabs that exhibit superior flatness and levelness can't happen without vision, planning, and execution.

     
  • Refining the Perfect Floor Slab

    There are many engineers in our industry that are experts when consulting contractors on how to build the perfect commercial floor slab. But in many aspects of the concrete industry, including floor slabs, time and technology can provide for even greater improvements.

     
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    Vapor Membranes

    The installation of vapor barriers is common practice for commercial buildings with on-grade floor slabs, especially when impermeable floor coverings or coatings are specified.

     
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    Teamwork for Success

    Placing and finishing lightweight concrete can be a tricky and risky task. Success requires teamwork from the owner, architect/engineer, general contractor, ready-mix producer, and concrete contractor.

     
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    Form Panels and Surfaces

    Choices for form substrates and surface finishes range from inexpensive CDX plywood that serves as both the substrate and the surface finish, to more expensive aluminum, steel, or plastic resin composite materials with exotic finished surfaces for multiple reuses.

     
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    Post-Tensioned Slabs

    Post-tensioned concrete is a term heard more and more in the construction industry today.

     

RESIDENTIAL CONCRETE

Features

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    The 2009 New American Home

    For the sixth straight year “The New American Home”—the official home of the International Builders Show (IBS) owned by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)—is a concrete home.

     

Technology Brief

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    Concrete Roof Tiles

    In the middle of 19th-century Bavaria, a mixture of cement, sand, and water was first used to form roof tiles out of concrete.

     

Other Articles

  • Adopted Residential Fire Sprinkler Mandate

    Fire sprinkler mandates will be part of the 2009 International Residential Code (IRC) and will be required in all one- and two-family homes and townhouses that build to the code as of Jan. 1, 2011.

     
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    Building in Harm's Way

    Flood stage in the Cedar River is at an elevation of 12.0 feet. Major flooding begins at 16.0 feet and the all-time record of 20.00 feet was reached in 1851 and again in 1929. The river crest of 31.12 feet in 2008—caught thousands by surprise.

     

NEWS & EVENTS

  • Bridge Debuts New Technology

    Construction on the first bridge with a permanent installation of hybrid-composition beams (HCBs) recently was completed.

     
  • New Forecast Predicts Decline

    The latest Portland Cement Association (PCA) forecast has projected significant weaknesses for the construction industry through 2010, due to the economy.

     
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    TCA Dedicates Industry Award

    The Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA) announced the dedication of the Distinguished Engineer of the Year award in honor of Dave Kelly, at its annual meeting in October.

     
  • Research Projects Fuels the Industry

    The Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) announced five research projects designed to benefit the industry and provide students with valuable experience.

     
  • PCA Evaluates Nation's Bridges

    A recent Portland Cement Association (PCA) report analyzed the National Inventory Data and concluded that for all classes of road or highway systems, reinforced and prestressed concrete bridges have a lower rate of structural deficiency than steel bridges.

     
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    News and Events November

    FIGG Engineering released a commemorative book titled “Bridging the Mississippi: The New I-35W Bridge” and Concrete Technology Tours announced.

     

ERLIN & HIME ON CONCRETE

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    Ending the 2008 Year, Gratefully

    Over a span of almost four years, we have completed more than 40 column articles, and now find another year's end approaching.

     
  • Mortar and Stucco—Somewhat Companions

    They are concretes of a sort, masonry mortar and stucco, that is. They both contain portland cement and aggregates, but then they separate into distinct compositions and purposes.

     

TOLERANCES

  • Between Rocks and Hard Places

    The ACI Tolerances committee spent a grueling three and a half hours in St. Louis on Nov. 4 working through 45 comments from the Technical Activities Committee (TAC) on revisions to ACI 117, Specification for Tolerances for Concrete Construction and Materials. The TAC review is one of the last...

     
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    Target Practice

    When you take an idea from the lab to the field, there always are hurdles to overcome. Even with the best of planning, the time comes for a reality check, and this fall Colin Milberg is again dealing with such an issue.

     

AGGREGATE VIEW

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    Opportunity Exists Out There

    Contractors who know what's available to them, use it and will tough it out; some will even prosper. The member benefits provided by industry organizations, publications, networking with peers and business associates, publications, the Web, and educational opportunities—all of these are resources...

     

SAFETY MATTERS

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    It's a Gas

    Propane, also known as liquefied petroleum (LP) gas, widely is used on construction sites.

     

DECORATIVE CONCRETE

Other Articles

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    Lithium Silicate Densifiers

    Lithium silicate chemical hardeners for concrete have been growing in market share in comparison to sodium or potassium silicates, increasing in direct proportion to diamond-polished floor work. So why are lithium silicate densifiers sales increasing?

     
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    Carving Concrete

    Overlay cement for vertical applications is used for troweled finishes, stamped and textured masonry unit patterning, and hand-carved decorative applications.

     

JOBSITE PRODUCTS

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    Multireactive Release

    Duogard Citrus is a multireactive form release agent for various types of forms.

     
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    Architectural Form Release

    Nox-Crete PCE form release agent is designed for architectural concrete.

     
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    Earth-Friendly Release Agent

    Bio-Release EF is an earth-friendly concrete form release agent that contributes to LEED EQ Credit 4.2.

     
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    Biodegradable Release Agent

    This soy-based reactive release agent is biodegradable and offers high coverage rates.

     
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    Vegetable Form Release Agent

    Farm Fresh is a organic chemical release agent that uses the latest in micro-emulsion technology.

     
  • Soy-Based Release Agent

    Crete-Lease Bio-Tru is a soy-based form release agent that allows for easy stain-free removal of forms and formliners from hardened concrete.

     
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    Tough vapor barrier

    Providing resistance to air and moisture transmission, the Air-Shield is suitable for new construction and restoration.

     
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    C. Underslab barrier

    VaporBlock Plus is a resilient under-slab barrier designed to restrict radon and methane gases from migrating through concrete slabs.

     
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    Durable Vapor Retarder

    Viper VaporCheck, an under-slab vapor retarder, is manufactured using cross-woven polyethylene.

     
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    Vapor barrier

    Stego Wrap vapor barrier uses multilayer extrusion and a blend of prime virgin resins to provide nearly zero permeance, with a high degree of puncture resistance and tensile strength.

     
  • Blocking Moisture

    Membranes placed under concrete floor slabs—vapor barriers—work to retard transmission of water vapor. Glenn Tench, director of marketing with W.R. Meadows Inc., says vapor barriers should be chosen on puncture resistance and toughness.

     

PRODUCTS SOLVING PROBLEMS

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    Data Backup

    T. B. Penick & Sons, a general contractor in San Diego, Calif., recently hired San Diego-based technology consulting firm RestorWare to help develop a solution for its data backup capabilities.

     
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    Sealing Up All Cracks

    The Provencher Bridge, completed in 2003 in Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada, was experiencing excessive cracking in its concrete deck.

     
  • Cleaning Up the Air

    When two sculptures were built for the new I-35W St. Anthony Falls Bridge in Minneapolis, the decision was made to use a new form of concrete—photocatalytic concrete—a mixture that removes carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides, and sulfur dioxide from the atmosphere.

     
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    Moisture- And Static-Free Concrete Floors

    In 2003, the OKI Telecom management team invested in a protective electrostatic discharge (ESD) flooring system to eliminate static electricity from the production floor at its Suwanee, Ga., facility where the company manufactures automotive electronics, cellular phones, and personal communications...

     

PROBLEM CLINIC

  • Concrete Versus Rocket Exhaust

    I'm working on a project for a rocket engine test facility where the exhaust goes down a concrete-lined trench. How can we make the concrete more heat resistant?

     
  • Grinding Questions From a Novice

    I am the building manager for a large church on the East Coast. We recently have contracted with a company to grind and overlay about 5000 square feet of our church.

     
  • Did Salt Finish Affect Color?

    I am the building manager for a large church on the East Coast. We recently have contracted with a company to grind and overlay about 5000 square feet of our church.

     
  • Seeking Soil Cement Information

    Would you please provide us with information on soil cement? Specifically, we are looking for product information and how it is purchased--by ton, weight, truck load? We also need pricing information.

     
  • Glass Spheres for Lightweight Job

    I would like to consider using the small glass spheres described in an article I found on your Web site. However, I cannot locate the company that was reclaiming glass from the waste stream and recycling it into this lightweight aggregate. Can you provide any information?

     
  • How the W/C Affects Concrete Strength

    I've heard many times that changing the water-cement ratio in concrete has a large effect on its strength. The question is, why?

     
  • Evaluating Durability of a Structure

    As we are more and more concerned with durability, how do we measure it on a given structure after a year or after 5 years?

     

CONTRACTOR TO WATCH

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    Sundt Construction

    Founded in 1890 by a Norwegian ship carpenter who immigrated to the United States, Sundt Construction has grown to be a successful general contractor with 1500 employees.

     

WOMEN IN CONCRETE

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    Keeping Companies Safe

    Craig Safety is an OSHA, DOT, and EPA regulatory management company that provides OSHA and DOT compliance services and products.

     

Other Articles