Webinar Archives

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Concrete is the foundation for everything we build. Concrete is an integral part of homes, businesses, schools, offices, churches, roads, and bridges. The concrete industry is in need of people who aren't afraid of hard work. A career in the concrete industry not only pays well but gives individuals the chance to build something that will stand the test of time. Right now, there is a growing need for concrete contractors, equipment operators, ready mix concrete truck drivers and quality control personnel. #ConcreteTough is a Nebraska based workforce recruitment campaign that exposes youth to the concrete construction industry. This message is communicated through participating in various career fairs, concrete 101 programs, and presented to numerous schools on the different careers the concrete Industry offers. Attendees will learn ways that they can incorporate concrete career awareness into their own workforce recruitment efforts.

A short overview of the new Concrete Industry Management degree at South Dakota State University will also be included with this webinar.

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This presentation will focus on alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in concrete.  A brief background of the reaction mechanisms and ways to prevent the reaction will be covered.  The reliability of standard test methods, within the context of current standards (ASTM C1778 and AASHTO R80) will be highlighted. In addition, several current research projects and international efforts in the area will be highlighted. 

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The tilt-up industry remains characterized as a budding or growing delivery method for new construction.  This dominant method of design and construction has a rich history of more than a century of influence and nearly fifty years of dramatic growth and unmatched solutions.  This presentation will move through the concepts of the traditional tilt-up building and address the principle design requirements and challenges faced. The presenter will be James R. Baty II, F.ACI, F.TCA (Tilt Up Concrete Association).

No credits will be awarded for viewing recordings of the webinar. 

The webinar is being sponsored by the Iowa Ready Mixed Concrete Association, the Minnesota Concrete Council, the North Dakota Concrete Council, the South Dakota Ready Mix Association, and the Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association. 

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WJE carried out independent studies related to the 2018 collapse of the FIU Pedestrian Bridge in Miami. Most significantly, WJE developed and tested full-sized specimens to evaluate the significance of the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB’s) finding that the construction joint between the northernmost diagonal and deck was left in an as-placed condition, rather than intentionally roughened as required by the project specifications. The webinar also describes WJE’s independent review of shear friction strength in accordance with the AASHTO Code.

The presentation describes the details of the experimental program that demonstrated that, had the construction joint been roughened as required by the project specifications, the collapse would not have occurred. Contrary to NTSB’s findings, the contractor’s failure to roughen the surface was the primary cause of the collapse.

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With increasing discussion about the need to control global warming, engineers are starting to pay attention to how they can reduce the environmental impact of their work. This presentation will review what actions have been taken in recent years to reduce carbon footprint in concrete construction, as well as offer some thoughts on what actions can be taken today, and dream a little about the future.

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Concrete is used in nearly every structure we build today, including buildings, bridges, homes, and infrastructure. With greater emphasis placed on sustainability, design professionals are faced with the challenge of meeting traditional design criteria with evolving criteria that support green building and efforts to reduce impact on climate change. When looking at the environmental impact of a building, it is important to assess every stage of the environmental life cycle, from material extraction and product manufacturing to building operations and maintenance through to end-of-life. Concrete offers many environmental attributes that help reduce the overall environmental life cycle impacts of a building. This learning session explores how life cycle assessment can be used to measure and lower the environmental impacts of concrete buildings.

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Why do good people and organizations act unethically? Architects and engineers may confront ethical dilemmas in many forms during their professional practice, especially in the public arena. Many think that only unethical people do bad things, and that ethical people generally do not do bad things. However, the reality is that is often not the case, and this presentation will discuss why good or ethical people often act unethically. In this program, attendees will examine the Minnesota Rules of Professionalism and Ethics and examine examples of ethical dilemmas in professional practice. Specific case studies will be used to provide a foundation for an analysis regarding how the fostering of ethical diversity and thinking about one's personal ethics within organizations can prevent the slippery slopes that lead to administrative evil or unethical behavior.

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The webinar covers Minnesota's cement/concrete trends and where the market is headed in the next few years. We will examine economic growth scenarios that may unfold under differing assumptions regarding COVID-19. Where are the growth opportunities? Will there be structural changes to the construction market following the recession? The presenter is Dave Zwicke who is Sr. Director of Economic Analysis at the Portland Cement Association.

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With the increased focus on sustainability initiatives in construction, prescriptive requirements in specifications often restrict the concrete producer’s ability to optimize concrete for sustainability without compromising functional performance for project needs. The presentation will discuss these impacts and outline the development of a guide performance specification by ACI Committee 329.