DCC Community Project, Hanson, KYMay 13 – 17, 2013

Cement & Concrete Day on the Hill Washington Court Hotel, Washington, DCJune 5, 2013

Concrete Executive Leadership Forum The Breakers, Palm Beach, FLJuly 25 – 28, 2013

Industry CalendarARDEX Americas, Aliquippa, PALargo Concrete, Inc., Tustin, CAMcGriff, Seibels & Williams, Atlanta, GAOhio Concrete, Columbus, OH

New Members

2025 S. Brentwood Blvd., Suite 105, St. Louis, MO 63144 Tel: 314-962-0210Website: www.ascconline.org E-mail: ascc@ascconline.org Fax: 314-968-4367

President’s Message

What My Dad Couldn’t Teach MeMy dad retired from the phone company after a career of over 45 years of service. He didn’t know a lot about concrete con-tracting but he taught me some of the basics: work hard, be ethical, be polite, be fair.

Here’s my top 10 list of what he couldn’t teach me:1. Read the fine print on your subcontracts.2. You can’t do everything by yourself.3. Learn from the people around you.4. Don’t grow too fast.5. Don’t focus on the bad things that hap-

pen to your business.6. Keep a high level of energy and passion.7. Set examples.8. Stay away from people that hurt your

business.9. Set quantifiable goals.10. Stay positive.

Mike Poppoff

Annual Conference, Columbus, OHSeptember 12 – 15, 2013

ACI Fall Convention, Phoenix, AZOctober 20 – 24, 2013

World of Concrete, Las Vegas, NVJanuary 21 – 24, 2014

MAY 2013

President’s Message

Executive Director’s Message

Decorative Concrete Council

Safety & Risk Management Council

Limits on Pour Sizes — Balancing Cost, Schedule and Quality

ACI Awards to ASCC Members

Committee Week Update & Photos

Contents AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CONCRETE CONTRACTORS

Even though my dad didn’t teach me those 10 items, I still value them. When I first joined ASCC I met other contractors that learned the business from their fathers—some came from 4 or 5 generations of concrete contractors (Joe Prus). At the time, I admired that they had their business foun-dations set for them. Their fathers had taught them many of these values. Their businesses were well established and profitable. I felt a step behind because I had worked hard just to establish our company locally, and had very few mentors from whom I could learn the ins and outs of the industry.

In a way, ASCC has been like a father figure for the past 18 years. I have found mentors in staff people like Ward and Bruce, and in contractor friends and asso-ciates from all over the country. In my con-versations with successful ASCC contractors, I have been privy to information I would have never found on my own.

My son joined our business in 2008. He was raised with a float in one

hand and a trowel in the other. In our office we have pictures of him barely two years old helping Dad with a pour. My dad may have not been there to teach me the finer points of running a business, but I fully intend to be there for Matt now and for many years to come: giving him instruc-tion when he needs it and quite often when he doesn’t, listening to his ideas for how to bring our business into the future, planning with him, and supporting him.

ASCC is a huge part of that support! Matt is lucky to have ASCC from the begin-ning. He’s already in a MIX group and has been to several ASCC events. ASCC and his Dad are both here to make sure he has every advantage from the start.

MIX Orientation meeting lead by Gary Burleson in April. “Together” they formed the 13th MIX Group.

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Decorative Concrete CouncilMary Laws - Helmig, Premium Audit Manager, CNA

Decorative Concrete Contractors – Collaboration is Key to the Correct Insurance PremiumIn collaboration with your insurance carrier and agent to understand the details of your operations, decorative concrete contractors can be correctly classified for Workers’ Compensation and General Liability insurance.

Your insurance carrier’s underwriting and premium audit departments can assist in explaining the basis of the classification process and rate promulgation. And, your insurance carrier’s premium audit department can be very helpful in explaining the various rules around maintaining proper payroll breakdown records, overtime records and subcontractor certificates of insurance.

There are a variety of classifications, both for Workers’ Compensation and General Liability that could apply to a decorative con-crete contractor.

Seat walls, architectural concrete walls, etc. would most likely be classed as codes 5215 (residential) or 5213 (commercial) /91560 -- Concrete Construction

Concrete stamping, concrete overlays and colored concrete would be most likely classed as codes 5221/92215 - Flat Concrete/Ground Supported Concrete

Concrete resurfacing would be classed based on the method being used. Codes 5474/98304 (exterior) or 98305 (interior) - Painting would be used if the coating is applied by brush, roller or sprayer. Codes 5221/92215 - Flat Concrete would be used if the coating is applied by trowel or squeegee. The preparation of the surface, including removing stains, tire marks, filling cracks, shot blasting or grinding would be included.

Concrete polishing would most likely be classed as codes 9014/94590 - Floor Waxing

Concrete dye would most likely be classed as codes 5474/98304 (exterior) or 98305 (interior) - Painting as it appears to be applied via sprayer, roller or brush

Concrete countertops, sinks, etc, would most likely be classed as codes 5348/99746 - Tile, Stone, Marble, Mosaic or Terrazzo Work Interior

Work with your insurance agent to utilize your insurance carrier’s underwriting and premium audit resources. They can play a key role in ensuring that you are correctly classified, which is instrumental in making sure you are paying the correct premium for your insurance coverage.

Bev GarnantWe completed another MIX Orientation meeting last month and formed our thirteenth MIX Group. Thanks so much to Gary Burleson, Etico Construction Group, Phoenix, who traveled to St. Louis to facilitate the meeting, and to the gentlemen who took time from their businesses to look into what I know will be a rewarding and gratifying experience.

The members who came together were a great group of guys, all with different stories, but, of course, facing the same challenges and opportunities all concrete contractors encounter.

One story stood out as a testament to the power of ASCC and this particular member benefit. One of the attendees had been to a previous MIX orientation in 2009, also facilitated by Gary. I remember this contractor well because of the struggles he was facing. He was literally sleeping only four hours a night. The rest of his time was spent racing across the state from one job to another, then attempting to grab a few hours in the office. He was seeing very little of his family and his business was collapsing around him as he tried to wear every hat, and none well.

The MIX Group he joined at that orientation met for two-and-a-half years before disbanding. But while they were together, this man kept his commitment to the group and to himself, to learn everything he could and to put it into practice. I remember when he told me early on that he had hired a comptroller, and whenever I would check on him, things were gradually improving. Last summer he and his wife were at the CEO Forum and he was having his most profitable year ever.

He attended last month’s orientation, hoping to join a new group. He shared his story with a few additions. He and his family took a nine-day vacation last year. He has breakfast and dinner with them every day. 2012 was their most profitable year, beating a “most profitable ever” 2011. He credits all of this to his MIX Group and the commitment from his employees.

Not wanting to lose that resource, he was anxious to find a new group and to share what he’s learned with others. He’s now part of group #13 and will be facilitating that group. They’re lucky to have him and he’s wise to understand that we are “Stronger Together.”

Executive Director’s Message

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OSHA General Duty Clause – When is the Duty “General”?Introduction As employers are aware, OSHA enforces safety and health compliance through two methods, the use of:

1. written regulations that address specific hazards [e.g., 29 CFR 1910 (General Industry), 29 CFR 1926 (Construction), etc.] and

2. the General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1) of the Act).

Compliance with the General Duty Clause is challenging because it does not specify precisely what employers are required to do to comply. Recently, OSHA lost a decision involving a citation it issued under the General Duty Clause because it improperly attempted to expand the scope of the General Duty Clause and utilize certain general information in an equipment manufacturer’s manual and an ANSI approved standard to create a “safety” or “hazard” warning where none existed.

General Duty Clause Requirements In order to prove a General Duty Clause violation, OSHA must establish the following elements:

1. a condition or activity in the workplace created a hazard,

2. the employer or its industry recognized the hazard,

3. the hazard was likely to cause death or serious physical harm, and

4. a feasible means existed to eliminate or materially reduce the hazard.

Unless the agency can establish each element, the citation cannot be supported. In the recent case, Secretary of Labor v. K.E.R. Enterprises, Inc., d/b/a Armadillo Underground, OSHRC Docket No. 08-1225 (hereinafter “Armadillo’), the agency failed to meet this burden.

Armadillo Decision The employer in Armadillo was an underground utility excavation contractor working at a site in Naples, Florida. The Company was installing pipe and utilized a mechanical joint restraining gland that was manufactured by Sigma Corporation (“Sigma”) to connect sections of the pipe. The process required employees to tighten certain bolts prior to a hydrostatic pressure test on the pipe. After tightening the bolts, the hydrostatic pressure test was performed and the pipe attached to the retraining gland exploded, injuring several employees.

Citation OSHA issued a citation under the General Duty Clause for (1) failing to follow certain installation instructions in the Sigma man-ufacturer’s manual for the restraining gland, and (2) failing to install the restraining gland in accordance with an ANSI approved, American Water Works Association (AWWA) standard relating to rubber gasket joints for ductile iron pressure pipe and fittings.

The Administrative Law Judge carefully reviewed the Sigma manufacturer’s instructions and the AWWA standard and found that there were no specific safety hazards or warnings referenced in these materials regarding the installation of the bolts on the gland and that OSHA introduced no evidence that either Armadillo or its industry “recognized” any hazard relating to these manufac-turer’s instructions or ANSI standard. Thereafter, the Judge vacated the citation. On appeal to the OSHA Review Commission, the Judge’s decision was affirmed.

Analysis Based upon this decision, employers who receive General Duty Clause citations should carefully scrutinize the basis for the cita-tion to determine if OSHA’s specific underlying source of authority (in this case references to parts of a manufacturer’s manual relating to the bolting process and an ANSI approved standard) contain any type of safety or hazard warnings that would put the employer on notice of an actual safety “warning” or “hazard.” If not, OSHA will have difficulty establishing that the employer or its industry “recognized” the hazard.

General Duty Clause Liability Employers cannot ignore potential General Duty Clause liability, while a Serious Violation contains a potential penalty of $7,000, the General Duty Clause can also be utilized for Willful or Repeat citations which can carry penalties up to $70,000 per violation.

Mark A. Lies, II, Seyfarth Shaw LLPSafety & Risk Management Council

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From an engineer seeking advice about a contractor request:

A basin slab is approximately 14,000 square feet and the contractor wants to place this 2 ft thick mat in 1 pour. It is approximately 1000 cy of concrete. The mat is reinforced with 2 layers of #6 reinforcing bars at 6 inches on-center each way. The design calls for construction joints about 30 feet on center. I have seen larger pours than this for a mat but never for a water retaining structure. I am very concerned about the structure cracking (then leaking) due to shrinkage. Has anyone done a mat this size in one day for water retaining structures? Any advice on it?

From an another engineer giving advice:

What are you getting for this reduction in quality? Make them follow the specifications: (1) Thirty feet between joints, (2) Pour slab in a checkerboard pattern and (3) Wait 14 days between adjacent pours. If it leaks, the contractor will never admit his changes created the leaks.

How the ASCC Hot Line would have responded:

We recommend that the basin slab-on-ground be placed in one pour without construction joints to balance the cost, schedule and quality provided to the owner. First, cost and schedule. As opposed to placing the mat all in one day, placing it in 30 ft squares in a checkerboard pattern with a 14 day wait is likely to increase the cost by 50 to 100% and increase the schedule by 2 to 3 weeks. You are hoping that the trade-off to this increased cost and schedule is less cracking and leaking.

The leaking that occurs in water-retaining structures, in order of magnitude, is from (1) construction joints, (2) cracks and (3) through the concrete. The 30 ft construction joint requirement creates about 700 lineal feet of interior construction joint. In our experience, the construction joint is an expensive item and typically leaks from about 10 to 50% of the joint length. It is also more difficult to repair than cracks.

Based on ACI 350 “Code Requirements for Environmental Engineering Concrete Structures” the #6 at 6 inches on-center each way is adequate for slabs with construction joints at 30 ft. This Code does allow slab placement beyond 40 ft if the appropriate tempera-ture and shrinkage steel is provided. To allow for a single pour, the top steel should be increased to #8 at 6 inches on-center each-way. This increase in reinforcing steel provides the same crack control for the one pour as the #6 at 6 inches on-center does for the 30 ft construction joint requirement. The slight increase in steel cost is more than offset by the reduced cost of placing in one pour.

As for checkerboard placement, ACI 302 “Guide for Concrete Floor and Slab Construction” since 1980 and again in the 1989, 1996 and 2004 editions, recommends against using the checkerboard method as “experience has shown, however, that shrinkage of the earlier placement occurs too slowly for this method to be effective”. Thus the checkerboard approach increases cost but does not provide any benefits.

ACI 350 requires the elapsed time between casting adjoining units to be at least 48 hours and states that if the elapsed time between adjoining placements is very short, there will not be adequate dissipation of shrinkage and heat of hydration effects in the first placement. The 2 ft thick mat is not thick enough to be considered mass concrete and heat of hydration effects should be minimal.

Bruce Suprenant, Technical DirectorLimits on Pour Sizes — Balancing Cost, Schedule and Quality

CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION8 0 0 - 3 3 1 - 0 6 6 8

SAFETY8 6 6 - 7 8 8 - 2 7 2 2

A S C C m e m b e r s h a ve a c c e s s t o t h e s e t o l l - f r e e n u m b e r s f o r a s s i s t a n c e .

H O T L I N E Q U E S T I O N SDECORATIVE

CONCRETE8 8 8 - 4 8 3 - 5 2 8 8

Recommendations In order to avoid OSHA liability (and more importantly an accident with employee injury), the employer should consider the fol-lowing recommendations:

review manufacturer’s manuals to identify specific safety or hazard warnings and incorporate them in employee safety policies and procedures

review industry consensus safety standards applicable to the employer’s industry and identify safety recommendations to be incorporated in employer safety policies and procedures

once the policies and procedures are developed, conduct employee training, with documentation, and enforce compliance with discipline up to and including termination, again with documentation.

Congratulations to the following ASCC members and staff who were ACI award recipients at ACI’s Spring Convention.

Honorary Membership – Ward Malisch“for his lifelong contribution to the advancement of concrete construction through teaching, research, writing, and speaking and for his leadership at ACI”

This is the Institute’s highest honor, recognizing persons “of eminence in the field of the Institute’s interest, or one who has per-formed extraordinary meritorious service to the Institute.”

50-Year Membership – Ward Malisch

Fellows – Kim Basham, Peter Craig, John C. Glumb, Warren E. McPherson, Joseph E. Neuber, Jr., Scott M. Tarr, Wayne W. Walker

Arthur R. Anderson Medal – Charles K. Nmai“for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of concrete admixtures and corrosion protection of reinforcing steel”

Henry C. Turner Medal – Colin L. Lobo“for the many contributions to the concrete industry through his work in ACI Committees that have resulted in better concrete for pavements and structures”

ACI Certification Award – Bruce A. Suprenant“for outstanding and enthusiastic service in developing, supporting, and promoting ACI Certification Programs”

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ACI Awards to ASCC Members

Webinars (webinars begin at 3:00 p.m. CST)Date Topic Presenter

June 12, 2013 Preventing Distracted Driving Wayne Kirkland, CNAJuly 10, 2013 Admixture Basics and High-Performance Concrete

Technologies for ContractorsCharles Nmai, BASF Construction Chemicals

Members no charge. Non-members $35; MC, Visa, Amex only. Call 866-788-2722 to register.

45 members attended 10 meetings over 3 days with time for business, food and fun! Thank you all for your time and dedication to ASCC.

As for dissipation of shrinkage, curing is expected for at least 7 days, therefore, there will be minimal moisture loss and without moisture loss, minimal shrinkage. In addition, a 2 ft thick mat exposed only at the top surface will not lose moisture very fast.

ACI 209R-92 “Prediction of Creep, Shrinkage, and Temperature” provides information on how much shrinkage can occur in a time period for a given slab thickness. If the concrete surface is cured for 7 days and then dried for 7 days, the 7 days of drying allows 15% of the shrinkage to occur for a 6-inch thick slab. ACI 209R-92 provides correction factors for other size members, and for a 2 ft thick slab drying from only the top surface for 7 days results in a predicted drying shrinkage of 1%. We don’t believe that wait-ing 14 days to achieve a 1% reduction in shrinkage provides the owner with benefits that offset the increase in cost and schedule.

The ultimate indicator of quality will be the leak test. We assume that a leak test has been specified in accordance with ACI 350.1-10 “Specification for Tightness Testing of Environmental Engineering Concrete Containment Structures.” The cost of crack repair is expected to be minor to meet the leak test requirement. We believe the best value and quality for the owner is place the slab in one pour, increase the top steel, and have the contractor repair the necessary cracks to meet the leak test.