MOUNT VERNON, IA - The Tilt-Up Concrete Association (TCA) - a non-profit international organization that serves to expand and improve the use of Tilt-Up as the preferred construction method - has announced the call for entries for the 2009 Tilt-Up Achievement Awards Competition.

The TCA Awards Program recognizes outstanding site cast Tilt-Up structures and advances in technology, products and methods used in the Tilt-Up industry. Submitters must be a member of the TCA and are required to submit a one-page abstract of the project that includes the best photo as well as the top three reasons why the project is worthy of consideration for an Achievement Award.

The additional rules and categories for submission can be found at Tilt-Up Awards at www.tilt-up.org in a download (Adobe PDF) format and are summarized as follows:

Eligibility - The submitting company must be a part of the design/supply team and must be a TCA Member. Companies may enter their projects at any time during the year, now that submittals are continuously open. Projects are not to be limited to the past year of construction as many excellent Tilt-Up achievements continue to be discovered that have been built for years throughout the world.

Criteria - All projects are judged by the same criteria: aesthetic appeal, creativity of structural and architectural design, and setting new standards/advancing the industry. The points accumulated in each of these categories are averaged for all judges and then totaled with a weighting based on aesthetic appeal and creativity of structural/architectural design receiving 40 percent each and setting new standards/advancing the industry receiving 20 percent. The panel of judges, comprised of members from the core TCA member categories as well as invited industry representatives, are then given an extra rating of from 1 to 10 points to award projects at their discretion that are particularly successful or compelling.