Nashville’s civil rights struggle has been eloquently portrayed the past year in the “Witness Walls,” a set of fragmented concrete sculptures bearing imagery from the Nashville Public Library.
Read more: Gate Precast etches iconic scenes into Music City Witness Walls
The Brick Industry Association, Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute and National Concrete Masonry Association’s 2017 Hardscape North America awards program recognized 16 winning and 20 honorable mention projects. Sponsored by Belgard and Pavestone, the program was open to residential and commercial walkways, patios, pool decks, outdoor kitchens, driveways, commercial plazas, streets, and other applications of concrete, clay or porcelain pavers and segmental concrete retaining wall units.
Read more: Hardscapes leave asphalt jungles, creosote timbers in rearview mirror
St. Louis-based Tarlton Corp. received the 2017 Quality Concrete Award from the Concrete Council of St. Louis and American Steel Fabrication for its concrete transformation of the original wooden bridge that connects a main walking path through the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Climatron.
Read more: Tarlton updates iconic bridge with wood-like precast deck
Concrete Cloth GCCM (Geosynthetic Cementitious Composite Mat) proves its mettle in the Myra Falls Ditch Lining project, where engineers have upgraded storm water diversion infrastructure for a Vancouver Island zinc and copper mine. The challenging installation covers 11,125 square meters of a material equal to high water velocities (> 18 meters per second) and profile variances to accommodate the remote terrain. A flexible, cement-impregnated fabric that hardens on hydration to form a thin, durable, waterproof and fireproof layer, Concrete Cloth also lends itself to ease of repair in a remote location if future damage should occur due to falling trees or boulders from the hillside above the ditch.
For the last two years, more than 100 students from Washington University in St. Louis’ Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the International Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (InCEES) have worked with industry partners including Wieser Concrete, LafargeHolcim and Gate Precast, to design, fabricate and construct CRETE House for the 2017 Solar Decathlon.
Read more: CRETE House showcases efficiency, market appeal of concrete
