“There are so many ways to add value to concrete these days: You can make it walk, talk, wiggle and wag. There are many admixtures at your service. There is flowable fill, self-leveling concrete, and stamped concrete. And with microsilica, you can make 20,000 psi concrete, and produce in the field concrete in the 12,000 to 14,000 psi range.”
— J.R.

The 2003 chairman of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) envisions sizeable progress in promoting performance-based specifications for concrete for both public- and private-sector customers. P2P, short for “Prescriptive to Performance,” is the catchy moniker NRMCA is using to describe its high-profile drive to move from recipe-based specs to those that are predictive of field performance.

“The P2P concept can help the industry take control over its mix designs, becoming a designer rather than being viewed as [just] a trucking provider,” says Jim Russ, 2003 chairman of NRMCA and senior vice president of Bethesda, Md.-based Aggregate Industries. “It will help us control our destiny far into the future,” adds the chairman-elect, who will take office at NRMCA's business meeting Feb. 1 during its national convention in San Diego.

The industry is tied to “cookbook” or recipe specifications, Russ tells Concrete Products. That has to change, he emphasizes: “[Recipe specs] are set within such a stringent framework that in actual practice they don't perform well. If performance-based specs are adopted, the industry will be in a position to meet the ultimate requirements of the owner or developer by controlling mix development and formulations that will work for the contractor.”

To date, end-result or performance-based specs have been used incrementally in the concrete industry. “In concrete, they've been used under certain circumstances, but we'd like to see more,” Russ says. P2P will be aimed at both the public- and private-sector consumers of ready mixed concrete. “We'll be targeting DOTs and other government agencies,” he reports. “But the private sector is just as much a problem to tackle because of conventional thinking in the engineering community.

“For example, water-to-cement ratio is a term I'd like to see disappear in time, because it becomes an artificial platform,” Russ contends. “Water is not the way to make concrete move, but those judgments are used all the time in building specs. Water-cement ratio can be very restrictive for the wrong reasons and can put everyone on a job at loggerheads trying to deal with it.”

A ramping-up of NRMCA's promotion efforts already is underway and will expand during Russ' tenure in 2003. A new vice president of marketing, Glenn Ochsenreiter, joined the staff in September 2002 and will spearhead promotion of ready mixed concrete, membership, and the use of association services. Ochsenreiter is especially involved in revitalizing NRMCA's parking area initiative, which seeks to attain 30 percent penetration of ready mixed concrete in parking area construction by 2005. Ultimately, he will be assisted by three national account managers.

The cementing of ties with state associations is also paramount to Russ' term at NRMCA. “My single most important accomplishment in 2003 would be to establish collaborative work plans between NRMCA and the state associations around the country, on a regional basis,” Russ says. “We're defining what our role needs to be with the state associations, what is the accepted interface, and what we can do to make sure our promotion, education and advocacy efforts are in sync with what the state associations are trying to accomplish.”

To this end, beginning in spring 2002, NRMCA initiated joint planning with state associations on a regional basis, looking at how NRMCA can better support those associations. “If we can come out of 2003 with eight plans in place, that would be outstanding,” Russ affirms.

Additionally, he will make a special effort to boost membership in NRMCA. “Pumping up membership does several things,” Russ explains. “It strengthens the association by bringing in more financial and industry support for the major initiatives, as it brings us closer to being the full voice of ready mixed concrete.”

Jim Russ served as 2002 chairman of the RMC [Ready Mixed Concrete] Research Foundation, which is critical to funding of many of NRMCA's programs, including support for P2P. But even as its long-term goal of $15 million comes in sight, Russ is unrelenting in pursuit of growing the foundation's endowment, which will assure research and education in the ready mixed concrete industry for decades to come. In fact, he wants to “up the ante” by $5 million.

“It's the next step, a vision in which the RMC Foundation reaches $20 million in funding by 2010,” Russ says. “[That sum] will ensure $1 million per annum for industry research and development.”

It's part of the new NRMCA chairman's “2010 Vision” for the association and industry. “It will enable us to advance programs in education and research which are only allowed by a 501c3 foundation,” he emphasizes.

Russ has been a long-time leader in NRMCA's drive to establish an endowment for research. “The low-hanging fruit has been gathered,” Russ tells Concrete Products. “Now we have to work to get additional help. It's hard work, beating the bushes, and getting as much face time with potential contributors as possible. The industry has been very good to have raised $13.6 million in two years.”

Another exciting industry development in the area of education is NRMCA's dedication last year of an adjacent education and conference center that has since been in near daily use for industry meetings and training programs. The renovated office building was dedicated in November as the RMC Research Foundation Education Center in tribute to the Foundation for its support in upgrading the audio-visual capabilities.

On the research side, NRMCA is negotiating with a major East Coast university to establish a consortium research center that will complement NRMCA's existing lab. “We've been working with them to create an international center for concrete research,” Russ reports.