With more than 150 ready mixed producers, industry affiliates, and federal and state officials on hand, 2005 RMC Research Foundation Chairman Hardy Johnson dedicated the International Center for Concrete Research during an April 28 open house. Located at the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association Research Laboratory in College Park, Md., the center is a cooperative effort of the University of Maryland, Middle Tennessee State University and NRMCA.

The center's launch marks the expansion of a facility once limited to mostly association research, but now also geared to perform contract work — for the RMC Research Foundation and other public or private clients — in pursuit of technologies that can be readily adopted throughout ready mixed production and concrete practice. Rapid technology development and transfer are among objectives behind the RMC Research Foundation, an independent entity formed in the early 1990s that has greatly stepped up activities on the heels of a $10 million-plus endowment campaign that NRMCA members kicked off four years ago.

Demonstrations during the daylong open house focused on hot-button materials and methods: placement of a pervious concrete pavement slab, for example, followed by spread and flow measurements of self consolidating concrete mixes. RMC Research Foundation officials also took the opportunity to outline work at ICCR supporting 1) P2P, an initiative promoting a voluntary shift from traditional prescriptive to performance-based specifications for concrete; and, 2) Concrete and Sustainable Construction, spanning research and education efforts to ensure adequate recognition of cast-in-place concrete under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. ICCR documents for P2P and the sustainable program include “Quality Management System for the Ready Mixed Concrete Industry” and “Ready Mixed Concrete Industry LEED Reference Guide” — both scheduled for release this month.

ICCR open house exhibits spotlighted past achievements and current capabilities of the original NRMCA laboratory; research in progress at the University of Maryland, including a display of a concrete canoe and toboggan; and demonstrations of innovative concrete technologies, such as decorative flatwork and wall panels.

Attendees included representatives from the Federal Highway Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Maryland State Highway Administration, National Association of Home Builders, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies. In a brief address, Maryland State Senate President Mike Miller encouraged growing partnerships between industry and academia as demonstrated by the new research center.

“This event builds on the great history of research at the laboratory in support of the ready mixed concrete industry,” said NRMCA President Robert Garbini. “We look forward to working with our academic partners in the International Center for Concrete Research and expect our cooperative research initiatives to provide significant benefits to the universities and the industry.”