Tim Martin has joined CTLGroup’s Austin, Texas, office as principal engineer. With 20 years in pavement design and evaluation, he is a recognized expert in street and roadway analysis and problem solving. He has focused on research and development of pavement design guidelines incorporating the latest techniques using concrete, asphalt, and roadway materials, and managed a global portfolio of projects from design, evaluation and repair to pavement management systems at airports, ports, intermodel facilities and highways. He will lead CTLGroup’s Pavement Engineering Consulting Services across the transportation industry.
The Wisconsin Ready Mixed Concrete Association has elected 2014 officers: president, Matt Schmitz, Schmitz Ready Mix, Milwaukee; vice president, Steve Verrette, Gillett Cement Products, Gillett; and, secretary/treasurer, Bob Wells, County Materials Corp., Marathon.
WRMCA also named as producer directors Mike Fiorita of Prairie Materials, Milwaukee; Scott Glendenning of BARD Materials, Darlington; Wally Jankowski of Advanced Concrete, Waunakee; Brian Stefonik of Northern Lakes Concrete, Eagle River; Mike Tews of Carew Concrete, Appleton; John Thomas of Wisconsin Valley Concrete Products, Wisconsin Rapids; and, Scott Zignego of Zignego Ready Mix, Waukesha. Associate directors are Jason Chilson of W.R. Grace, Portage; Matt Flynn of Holcim (US) Inc., Eau Claire; Dave Kepler of Buzzi Unicem, Verona; Dan Large of Fiber Reinforcing & Consulting, Port Washington; Keith Nault of Solomon Colors, Waukesha; and, Gary Wallis, St. Marys Cement, Milwaukee.
Recognizing long-term contributions to industry practice, the Post-Tensioning Institute announced the 2014 PTI Legends of Post-Tensioning: Philip Arana, who was instrumental in introducing the design and use of unbonded post-tensioning for high-rise buildings in the Southeast United States and Latin America; Lucien Cloutier, who during 50 years in the industry held management positions with Con Force and served as manager of three post-tensioning companies—DSI, Freyssinet and a VSL J.V.—helping build the Prince Edward Island–New Brunswick Confederation Bridge in the Canadian Maritimes; and, H. Carl Walker, a structural engineer and parking consultant who has had a hand in the planning, design, construction, and restoration of 2,500-plus prestressed concrete parking structures over a career eclipsing 50 years.
Associated General Contractors of America and the proprietors of a new namespace recently created by ICANN, the controlling authority for the Internet, have announced a joint initiative to provide .build domain names focused on the construction industry. The name is one of several new top level domains launching in 2014 that provide an opportunity for companies to improve their web presence and internet marketing through offering new web addresses.
AGC will work with .build backers to help commercial construction companies register their new domain names at the best available prices. These targeted domains will become an integral part of any company’s web presence and Search Engine Optimization strategy in 2014. “Staying relevant online is a critical component for every business,” says AGC CEO Stephen Sandherr. “This will offer members a way to successfully compete for new business in the increasingly crowded online world.”
“Our industry had been slow to acquire their online identity in the early days of the .com focused Internet,” notes George Minardos, founder of .BUILD, based in Santa Monica, Calif. “The industry is well positioned to adopt a more relevant namespace that actually describes [its business].” The registry will be an online community dedicated to serving builders through enhanced search, website design, news, information and virtual markets, he adds.
The Construction Specifications Institute and Construction Specifications Canada released the 2014 updates to MasterFormat, their flagship product used to organize construction documents for commercial, industrial, and institutional building projects. Several significant revisions are included in this update, among them the addition of “selective demolition” sections to most divisions of the format, providing guidance for companies and project managers who need to incorporate demolition into their plans.
Additional changes in the 2014 edition include moving “Manufactured Planters” and “Site Seating and Tables” to Division 32 to better align with other site-based work and renaming their former Division 12 location to “Interior Public Space Furnishings” to address similar types of furnishings; and, expanding “Agreement Forms” in Section 00 52 00 to improve alignment with standard forms of agreement. The MasterFormat Maintenance Task Team conducts a biennial revision cycle process, publishing updates to the format every two years. Volunteers weigh input from industry supporters and proposals from individual users that were submitted through www.masterformat.com. The Task Team is comprised of appointees from CSI, CSC, ARCAT, ARCOM, Building Systems Design, Inc., Specification Consultants in Independent Practice, Digicon, and Canadian National Master Specifications.