Utah-based slab treatment compound specialist Convergent Concrete Technologies bills its newest offering, the STRiON series, as a revolutionary new method of surface densification and hardening. Instead of silica, the formulation uses an ionic transfer process to disperse deep into concrete to make it more resilient, resistant to traffic, dustproof, easy to clean, and prepped for polishing. Applied to new or…
Read MoreSources: Construction Industry Safety Coalition, Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff
The 26-member Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC) has formally requested the Occupational Safety and Health Administration revise the Occupational Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica – Specified Exposure Control Methods standard (silica rule), thereby expanding compliance options and recognizing sub-threshold dust levels typical of masonry sawing and mortar mixing.
Read MoreSources: Occupational Safety and Health Administration; CP staff
Prestress Services Industries LLC (PSI), Columbus, Ohio-based producer of architectural or structural precast for building and transportation markets, will contest Occupational Safety and Health Administration-proposed penalties of $158,500 before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Read MoreSource: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
OSHA is soliciting industry perspective and comments on Table 1 of the agency’s Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard for Construction through October 14. Officials seek information on a) additional engineering and work practice control methods to effectively limit exposure to silica for listed equipment and tasks; and, b) other silica-generating construction equipment and tasks that the agency should consider adding to the table.
Read MoreSources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.; CP staff
NRMCA Executive Vice President, Compliance & Operations Gary Mullings and Vice President, Compliance & Regulatory Affairs Kevin Walgenbach review raw materials, plant conditions, housekeeping measures, worker protection, exposure monitoring and best compliance practices in “Guide for Silica Regulations and the Ready Mixed Concrete Industry.”
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LafargeHolcim Ltd. unit Holcim Deutschland formulated a series of high performance concretes for elements lining a 3.4-kilometer tunnel housing the world’s most powerful X-ray laser. Located near Hamburg, Germany, the European XFEL generates extremely intense X-ray flashes researchers from around the world use to map atomic details of viruses, film chemical reactions, and study the processes in the interior of planets.
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World of Concrete 2017 evidenced a mid-year enforcement timetable for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new respirable crystalline silica exposure threshold covering construction sites and general workplaces. Leading the charge for compliance at the January 17-20, Las Vegas gathering were exhibitors of sawing and drilling equipment—loaded with dust collection devices—along with peers promoting cementitious material conveying, handling or dispensing devices with which silica dust can reach agency-reduced levels.
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A joint Occupational Safety and Health Administration and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Hazard Alert defines dust control measures to protect workers from significant crystalline silica exposure during manufacturing, finishing, and installing natural and manufactured stone countertops, leading types of which bear 60–95 percent silica content.
For the third year in a row, we visit a pavement project VCNA Prairie Material helped convert from all asphalt to partial (base slab) or 100-percent roller compacted concrete. More than a routine switch, the Maryhill Cemetery maintenance shop (pages 28-31) marks the commercial debut of RCC Surface Pro, a silica agent emanating from the field of nanotechnology, where particles are measured in billionths of a meter.
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From the Federal Highway Administration’s Focus newsletter… Alkali-aggregate reactivity (AAR) can occur in concrete structures and pavements as both alkali-silica reaction (ASR) and alkalicarbonate reaction (ACR). FHWA’s new Alkali-Aggregate Reactivity Facts Book (Pub. No. FHWA-HIF-13-019) discusses both types of reaction but concentrates on ASR, as cases of ACR are more limited.
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