| Ontario mainstay St Marys CBM dispatched its 1939 International D-40-mounted mixer, with six-cylinder, 89-hp engine and 1.6-yd. Rex drum, to the Sheraton Centre Toronto, where C09 members commenced committee centennial observances. |
A group of 150 members and stakeholders commemorated ASTM Committee C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates’ 100th anniversary amid recent committee week activities in Toronto. Chairman Steve Parker (Chryso Inc.) and past chairs Doug Hooton (University of Toronto) and Tony Fiorato (PCA, CTL, Slag Cement Association) weighed in on Committee C09’s progress, credibility and vast influence on concrete practice
“C09 has been leading the way in developing concrete standards that have had an enduring impact in the global construction, industrial, transportation, defense, utility and residential realms,” ASTM International notes. “In the century since C09’s founding, concrete has emerged as the most widely used manmade product in the world, integral to the construction of houses, office buildings, bridges, sidewalks, super highways and dams, among other structures. The work of C09 has been instrumental to the success of concrete, ensuring quality, durability and sustainability, and always advancing the application of new technologies in the industry.”
The committee focuses on standards for constituent materials of concrete, excepting cement, plus test methods and practices. With more than 1,400 members hailing from 62 countries and serving on 50-plus subcommittees, C09 maintains upwards of 180 standards. Published in the Annual Book of ASTM Standards, they focus on all aspects of concrete, leading to technological developments in areas such as ready mixed concrete, self consolidating mixes, chemical admixtures, supplementary cementitious materials, and pervious slabs. Where appropriate, C09 standards emerge in concert with those of the American Concrete Institute, including ACI 318: Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete.
The committee’s first standard remains one of its most important: ASTM C94/C94M, Specification for Ready-Mixed Concrete. Approved in 1933, the inaugural version covered many topics involving the mixing and hauling of ready-mixed concrete that are still relevant today. As technology has changed, C09 officials note, so has C94 whereby it remains a pre-eminent standard in the concrete industry.
“Looking at C09’s book of standards doesn’t tell the complete story of the committee’s success and accomplishments over the past century,” notes longtime member and Texas Aggregates & Concrete Association President Richard Szeczy. “To produce the defining concrete industry documents stakeholders around the world rely on every day has taken countless hours of dedicated effort and cooperation from thousands of international experts. Over the years, C09 has embodied everything that is great about the ASTM process.”