2012 Golden Trowel Competition Sees Three World Records Set

Birdwell & Associates of Lakeland, Fla., played a key role in setting two of the three new world records that were among the winners of seven Golden Trowels presented at the annual Golden Trowel awards ceremony at the World of Concrete. In addition, four Silver Trowels were awarded for 2012.

Entries from three countries (Australia, Canada and the United States) were among the winners. The awards were presented on Thursday, February 7, 2013

Overall, Birdwell took home four awards at this year’s ceremony, giving them a total of 23
awards over the history of the competition - second only to the 25 won by Fricks Floor Systems of Ft. Worth, Texas. All of the other 2012 awardees were first-time winners in the competition.

Presented by The Face Companies of Norfolk, Va., Golden Trowels are given annually in
recognition of the flattest and most level floor slabs placed in the world.

The three world records for concrete floor flatness/levelness were awarded in the categories:

• Somero Laser Screed wide bay (large placement)
• Somero Laser Screed narrow bay (small placement)
• Hand Screed Form-to-Form

Rogers Concrete of West Swan, Western Australia set a world record for levelness in its
112,612-square-foot project for Masters Ellenbrook of Ellenbrook, Western Australia. Competing in the Somero Laser Screed wide bay (large project) category, Rogers Concrete achieved overall F-Numbers of FF 101 and FL 91. In projects this large, it is quite difficult to keep the numbers high day after day. This is a world record FL Number for projects of this type.

Birdwell teamed with Carolina Floors of Rock Hill, S.C., and Skene Concrete of
Cartersville, Ga., to set a world record on a project for Pharr Yarns in Clover, N.C. The 2,329-square-foot slab was entered in the Hand Screed Form-to-Form category. The F-Numbers of FF 151 / FL 127 represent World Records for both FF and overall F-Numbers for this type project.

Birdwell and Skene combined their efforts for another world record on a project for Rigby's
Family Entertainment Complex in Warner Robbins, Ga. The two contractors achieved the
best flatness/levelness ever achieved in a Golden Trowel entry in the Somero Laser Screed wide bay (small project) category. Their 21,708-square-foot installation measured FF 123 / FL 123, which are both the highest FL Numbers and highest combined F-Numbers ever for this type project.

The same two contractors claimed a Silver Trowel on the same project in the Wet Screed/Hand Screed category, achieving FF 90 / FL 74 on a 12,580-square-foot slab.
That entry was the second-best ever received in the Wet Screed/Hand Screed category, beaten out only by this year’s Golden Trowel-winning project for Gingin Yard of Perth, Western Australia. The finishing contractor for that project was Perth’s Tuss Concrete, which achieved FF 134 / FL 101.

Tri-Con Concrete Finishing Co, LTD of North York, Ontario, Canada won a Golden Trowel for
the 18,000-square-foot NFL spec ice rink slab that it placed over Styrofoam on the third floor of the Ryerson Athletic Centre at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario. This very challenging installation, including a dry-shake hardener, measured FF 70 / FL 50.

Smykal Construction of Wild Rose, Wis., garnered a Golden Trowel in the Narrow Strip category for its 19,500-square-foot placement for Emmi Roth in Platteville, Wis. The
FF 171 / FL 95 was the second-best ever achieved in the Golden Trowel competition, just
missing a world record themselves.

Messerly Concrete of West Haven, Utah’s installation at the Center for New Media at the Salt Lake Community College in Salt Lake City achieved FF 114 / FL 79, which won the Golden Trowel for the Somero Laser Screed narrow bay category. Messerly took home a Silver Trowel for its 109,750-square-foot Fed Ex Distribution project in Salt
Lake City, achieving FF 92 / FL 51 in the Somero Laser Screed wide bay (large project) category.