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Concrete is My Business
Concrete is my business.
My future welfare and the well-being of my family
depend on the quality of work I do.
Out of all the construction materials of earth,
I have chosen to specialize in concrete.
I have done this because I feel that concrete
is a material of integrity.
Mixed and placed with understanding hands, concrete will not fail. Therefore, the work I do well now
will survive and serve long after I am gone.
Concrete walls impound billions of gallons of water for relief of a thirsty desert, or hold safer from spoilage and rodents,
millions of life giving grain.
Concrete bridges the broadest rivers
and holds back devouring floods from cities and towns.
Concrete towers rear their proud heads toward the blue.
Concrete shafts and tunnels pierce the back depths of the earth or penetrate beneath the waters.
Concrete builds a safe pathway for the miracles of steel, chromium and glass which link our cities and towns.
For my customers a concrete home will protect and
safe-guard their loved ones from the dragons of fire
or the rending violence of storms day and night,
in all seasons, in all climates.
Concrete is strong.
For the architects whom I serve, concrete is a design medium with which they can create structures of beauty and charm,
of rare delicacy and sturdy utility.
Future generations will enjoy the things we of today have wrought of concrete for it is a material that will last.
Because I respect and love this material, I can serve my country, my community and those to come after me by doing my work intelligently and honestly, thus creating useful things that endure.
Concrete is my business. I am proud of it.
-This is an excerpt from from the program from Mark Bottorff's Celebration of Life, on January 18, 2013. Mark discovered this when participating in an American Concrete Contractor Event. He had it framed and it hung proudly in his office. We lost a good friend and concrete contractor in Mark Bottoroff (Bottorff Construction). CPG continues to offer our prayers and thoughts to the Bottorff family and business associates.-
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Seminars, Conferences and more!
With the new year comes a new conference season! There are many opportunities for continued education and fact finding. CPG sends out via a separate email, the Calendar of Events, (usually the same day as this newsletter). If you are not receiving the Calendar of Events please contact the CPG business office.
The CPG Calendar of Events includes many related concrete events besides our own CPG specific events. The Calendar of Events is sent out to non-members in addition to our members. The CPG newsletter is sent out to members only.
If you are aware of other trade association events that are related to the concrete industry, please let the CPG staff know. We are happy to add association information. Members who have activities you want listed may also send in information to our staff. Please submit information a minimum of 45 days in advance of the event.
The most current Calendar of Events is always listed on the front page of our CPG Website, the Quick Links to the right of this column also has a link to the current edition.
Here's just a FEW Events from the Calendar, don't miss the rest!
- KS ACI Chapter Awards Dinner Program Click Here
- Scholer Peterson Concrete Concrete Click Here
- Eat Concrete Day in Topeka, Serve Frozen Concretes to Legislators, Click Here for details
- MO/KS Chapter American Concrete Paving Association, Portland Cement Pavement Conference, Click Here for details
- Kansas Legislative Luncheon, Topeka Country Club, Topeka, KS, Click Here for details
- Missouri Transportation Construction Coalition Legislative Drive-In, Jefferson City, MO, Click Here for details
- Missouri Concrete Associations Conference, Intercontinental Hotel, Kansas City, MO, Click Here for details
- Missouri Concrete Conference, Rolla, MO, Missouri University of Science & Technology, Click Here for details
- CPG Decorative & Polished Concrete Committee Meeting, March 6, 2013, 1pm, CPG offices, RSVP Click Here
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Kansas Concrete Farm
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photo by Tom Dorsey, Salina Journal
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C.J. Ballou lives on the farm his grandfather built in 1926, north of Delphos, in Ottawa County, Kansas. His grandfather, a huge fan of concrete, built many a useful farm item out of concrete by hand as he needed them. Items include a barn, "portable" water stock tank, chicken house , garage, concrete wood stove, arches in the grape arbor, sidewalk to the outhouse, patio, railings, all built with a hoe and a mortar box. He was a great believer in cement," Ballou said, "because of the permanence, I think." Timber was sparse, so concrete was a natural fit.
In the 1920's the Portland Cement Association (PCA) noticed he was using great quantities of cement. They sent a reporter and camera to the farm to document the activities. The PCA brochure, "How Concrete Made a Good Farm Better" featured Ballou's concrete creations. It listed 42 ways Ballou used concrete, including the unusual portable stock tank.
Source: The Smartbrief & the Salina Journal January 2013
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ASR (Alkali Silica Reactivity) Webinar & Info
FHWA Presents New ASR Publication & Webinar
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently published " Alkali-Silica Reactivity Surveying and Tracking Guidelines (FHWA Publication FHWA-HIF-12-046)," a comprehensive document that provides guidelines for state highway agencies (SHA) to follow when managing transportation infrastructure affected by alkali-silica reaction (ASR). The guidelines have been written with SHA engineers, inspectors, and consultants in mind, enabling these individuals to collect, quantify, and rank typical signs of ASR in a simple, efficient manner.
The guidelines are collectively referred to as STAR (Surveying and Tracking of Alkali-Aggregate Reaction) and primarily focus on bridges, pavements, and tunnels, although similar approaches can be followed for other transportation assets. Given that routine inspections are not detailed enough to capture many signs of ASR, the guidelines attempt to bridge the gap between existing infrastructure management systems and tools specific to the diagnosis of ASR.
FHWA is also conducting a webinar series through its Alkali-Silica Reactivity (ASR) Development and Deployment Program to provide information on ASR prevention and mitigation techniques to engineers and practitioners. The webinars will consist of three separate training sessions in February 2013 and are free of charge.
The webinars will consist of three separate training sessions and cover the following:
- Part I (February 6) - Fundamentals of AAR, Symptoms of AAR, AAR Test Method
- Part II (February 13) - Prevention of ASR, AAR Specifications
- Part III (February 20) - Diagnosis and Prognosis of AAR, Repair Methods
Source: PCA & FHWA
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Updated Concrete Residential Design Standard
An updated residential design standard, is available, the Portland Cement Association's (newly updated second edition of) Prescriptive Design of Exterior Concrete Walls for One- and Two- Family Dwellings. It provides a simplified approach to the design of concrete footings, foundation walls, and above-grade walls for use in detached one- and two-family dwellings. The revised standard coordinates with the criteria of the 2010 edition of American Society of Civil Engineers' Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures and the 2011 edition of the American Concrete Institute Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete.
The new design criteria in PCA 100-12 are being incorporated into the Standard for Residential Construction in High-Wind Regions (ICC 600) from the International Code Council (ICC). PCA has also submitted a proposal to add criteria into the 2015 edition of the ICC International Residential Code.
The prescriptive approach of this updated standard allows anyone to more easily design in concrete for residential applications. As residential construction activity continues its recovery and as home buyers, communities, and others look to new construction or to repairing property damaged by increasingly violent weather events, the resilience offered by concrete homes becomes more attractive and more cost effective.
The new document is available as a PDF in the PCA Bookstore. PCA anticipates the release of companion design software by midyear.
Source: PCA
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CPG Mission Statement:
The Concrete Promotional Group is a trade association to support the local construction community in the use of quality concrete construction means and methods. It provides education, reference material and sales/marketing support to the professional community.
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Sincerely,
CONCRETE PROMOTIONAL GROUP
Staff, Officers, Board of Directors, Committee Chairmen
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"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." Aldous Huxley 
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