Rebar-free, but steel-laden, HPC core shoulders 850-ft. Seattle tower

Sources: Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Lease Crutcher Lewis, and Wright Runstad & Co., Seattle; CP staff

A 58-floor mixed-use tower in Seattle has topped out after a 10-month schedule on the strength of a unique core wall system with requisite volumes of high performance concrete but no conventional rebar. Rainier Square Tower marks the debut of what local engineer Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA) dubs the Concrete-Filled Composite Plate Shear Wall (CPSW) system. In contrast to a conventional reinforced concrete wall with large diameter rebar, the system as engineered for the 850-ft. structure redirects steel to composite panels: Half- or ¾-in. thick plates, connected with 1-in. diameter steel cross ties running vertically and horizontally on 12-in. center grids. 

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ORGANIZATIONS – JUNE 2018

The American Concrete Institute has provided the ACI Foundation with an additional $360,000, earmarked for funding research in collaboration with the work of ACI committees. The one-time contribution follows ACI’s commitment in 2017 to up ACI Foundation support by providing $500,000 of annual mission funding and fully covering all operational expenses.

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Pumping giant Brundage-Bone gains mountain, desert turf in O’Brien deal

Sources: Brundage-Bone Concrete Pumping Inc., Denver; CP staff

Concrete pumping contractor Brundage-Bone has broadened its Rockies and Southwest market presence with the acquisition of O’Brien Concrete Pumping Inc., serving Colorado and Arizona residential and commercial customers with a fleet upwards of 70 machines. 

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