Masonry

Hanley Wood has signed a letter of intent to purchase Mason Contractors Association of America’s (MCAA) Masonry Showcase.

"We are very excited about the opportunity to work with the leading masonry association," said Tom Cindric, Director of World of Masonry. "The masonry industry has been asking for one event and this combined event would make that request a reality."

The proposed transaction means that the MCAA will hold its annual convention concurrently with the World of Masonry, which will be held January 22-25, 2008 in Las Vegas. The World of Masonry is held each year within the World of Concrete, the commercial construction industry's largest annual international event.

The National Concrete Masonry Association Board of Directors has approved the development of two new membership categories – one for segmental retaining wall contractors and another for individual installers. These membership categories provide NCMA with the opportunity to enhance relationships and partnerships with those contractor companies and installer professionals that play a significant role in shaping the future of the industry.

The membership benefits and programs for the new categories are being developed now in order to be ready for promotion later this year.

The United States Air Force last week performed blast tests on six reinforced masonry wall panels as part of an effort to make better use of concrete in military and civilian government buildings.

The University of Alabama Birmingham Civil Engineering Department is analyzing data from the research under a grant from the National Concrete Masonry Association's Education and Research Foundation.

The Department of Defense is seeking a blast-resistant design to be used in military barracks, as well as in federal courthouses and other federal buildings as the government enhances its efforts to defend likely targets of terrorism.

Dennis Graber, director of technical publications for NCMA, said almost all overseas buildings constructed by the DOD are now concrete, and the federal government is looking to build more with concrete on the domestic front as well.

“All the federal buildings they want to do with blast-resistant construction,” Graber said. “They are targets as well . . . and there are a lot of private enterprises that are worried as well.”

The research is designed to determine the effects of foam, extruded and expanded, insulation in combination with the mass and robustness of various cement-based systems in mitigating the effects of blast pressure.

To date research has been conducted on a precast/prestressed sandwich panel. Additional research will include a tilt-up sandwich panel, several different ICF configurations and an insulated cast-in-place wall system. An eight-inch concrete masonry structural back-up wythes with four-inch clay masonry veneer and two-inch extruded polystyrene insulation board in the cavity performed well, Graber said.

“They did three separate tests and they kept moving it closer each time because it wasn’t stressing the masonry enough,” Graber said.

Concrete masonry trade groups believe they have received a boost to their efforts to influence building code requirements and regulations.

The boost comes as a result of the appointment of a key Portland Cement Association official as vice chair of the Standing Standard Project Committee 90.1, a standards committee of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

Steve Skalko, regional manager of code services for PCA, has worked closely with NCMA and the Masonry Alliance for Codes and Standards (MACS) throughout his 25-year career, and is expected to be a major ally and resource to the masonry industry in this role.

The committee controls the development of standards for most new buildings.

Concrete masonry professionals in New York state are participating in a quality assurance program designed to establish higher standards for building construction materials and, according to the New York State Concrete Masonry Association, pose “a major hurdle for other products that don’t meet the same high standard.”

Standards under the program, which is known as "F'm2000 -- The NYSCMA Assurance of Quality Program," are designed to exceed those mandated by New York building codes – in the process adding to building security, energy conservation and long-term savings.

Concrete masonry units are pre-qualified for the program through laboratory testing at the National Concrete Masonry Association headquarters in Herndon, Virginia, and submit to regular testing every two years, as well as quarterly tests for randomly selected members.

The NYSCMA hopes to bring benefits to its members by persuading the industry that concrete masonry units made available through the F’m2000 program offer superior quality as a result of testing and pre-certification. The group’s executive director, Nicholas F. Carparelli, said the units also offer advantages for design professionals.

“They will find concrete masonry in this program will provide more efficient design, improved economy of construction, and a level of strength they can count on regardless of the location of their project,” Carparelli said.

“These objectives are easily achievable by specifying F'm2000 certified block. Builders and specifiers can ensure they are building with F'm2000 certified concrete masonry, by looking for the F'm2000 service mark or contacting NYSCMA for a list of producers who are manufacturing block according to these tough standards.”

Cement industry associations have agreed to provide insulated cement-based wall panels for the U.S. Air Force Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, to test the blast-resistance of different concrete building systems.

Included in this research scope are several double wythe insulated masonry wall systems (NCMA and Brick Industry Association - BIA), two precast/prestressed sandwich panel systems (PCI), two tilt-up concrete sandwich panels (TCA), three different insulating concrete form wall systems (ICFA) and an exterior insulated cast-in-place wall (CHC). Predictive analytical models, laboratory testing and full-scale explosive experiments are the primary research components.

Through this study, they hope to be able to predict the blast response of these COTS wall systems for both new construction and retrofit structures. The research program will comprise three phases. The first phase will examine existing COTS insulated cement-based wall systems, designed with standard mix concrete to meet a specified wind load and seismic design. The second phase will examine several unique concrete wall systems. The third phase will look at any modifications that could significantly enhance the blast performance of phase one and two products.

The research began in 2006 with the evaluation of 30-foot precast/prestressed insulated sandwich panels. Although, the blast effects are still being analyzed, the damage observed appeared minimal. The next wall assembly test scheduled in 2007 will be the reinforced masonry systems. A third wall assembly planned later in 2007 will be either an insulated tilt-up sandwich panel wall or one of the three ICF wall systems.

Lycon Inc., Janesville, Wisconsin, completed a seven-plant deal for the M&M Concrete ready mixed, mortar and contractor supply businesses of Michels Corporation in Brownsville, Wisconsin. The transaction gives Lycon 16 ready mixed plants in Wisconsin, plus a concrete and masonry-related products division with Mortar Technologies bulk mortar franchise.