FARMINGTON HILLS, MI - The concrete industry's Strategic Development Council (SDC) has announced its upcoming Session #29 meeting this spring to address several issues and initiatives facing the concrete industry.
The one-and-a-half-day meeting will be held at the Queen's Landing Inn and Conference Center, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, March 10-11, 2011. Topics and highlights of the meeting will include:
- Cracking: Building on the interest of SDC members, this developing "Industry Critical Technology" (ICT) will be examined from various facets including prevention, mitigation, and repair via technologies such as concrete mix components, reinforcing, fibers, and techniques;
- Paving the Way for a More Sustainable Concrete Infrastructure: The session will feature the roadmap developed as an outcome of the "International Summit on Cement Hydration Kinetics and Modeling." The SDC could be the forum to help energize this roadmap;
- Nuclear Standards: Two immediate needs for the concrete and nuclear industries are the revitalization of the nuclear inspector program and the harmonization of concrete standards between the American Concrete Institute and American Society of Mechanical Engineering;
- Building Information Modeling: SDC's BIM initiative continues with a roadmap for the identification and implementation of specific tactics and actions. This effort is based on the recently completed BIM Strategic Plan facilitated last year by the SDC, outlining steps for the accelerated development of Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs) for interoperability standards;
- Vision 2020: In 2012, it will be eight years since Vision 2020 was endorsed by nine concrete related associations, with eight years to go until 2020. Recognizing this is an appropriate time to take stock of what's been done, what is planned, and what should be adjusted, participants will work on planning for two workshops in 2011 to update the repair industry's Vision 2020;
- Sustainability: Interesting activities in this area include an update on the continuing fly ash situation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and an interesting approach to commercialization of newly developed technologies such as "green cements;" and
- Technology Showcases: Technology Showcases are presentations that highlight innovative products and technologies with the potential to transform the market for concrete.
SDC membership consists of concrete industry leaders and exists to identify industry critical technologies and issues that affect the concrete community. The organization creates and implements various strategies that facilitate an efficient and effective transition into these progressive concrete technologies.
More information about the upcoming SDC meeting can be found at www.concreteSDC.org.
