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8/1/2008
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Of the 20,000 current ACI members, about 20% are from more than 100 countries outside North America. Our individual international members are involved in the work of ACI committees. ACI international activity is also conducted through our International Partners—16 concrete-related organizations committed to cooperation and collaboration with ACI—and the ACI chapters located in 30 countries. Here is a glimpse of ACI’s international activities that I participated in during June and July of this year. One common factor in every country we visited was that many other countries were involved simultaneously in each of the events. We participated in the 20th Symposium on Nordic Concrete Research and Development, June 8-11, in Bålsta, Sweden. The Nordic Concrete Federation, comprising the concrete associations of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, organized the event. These symposiums have been taking place every third year since 1953. At Bålsta, more than 90 papers were presented on concrete research being conducted. ACI gave a keynote address on international cooperation such as that taking place in Latin America, and also described the current ACI member benefits especially for students. Many of the students present were not aware of free ACI student e-membership. We also exchanged ideas for further cooperation with Arne Hellstrom, President of the Swedish Concrete Association (SCA), and Johan Silfwerbrand, symposium organizer and President of the Swedish Cement and Concrete Research Institute. The very informative presentations highlighted the amount of research being conducted on concrete and cement in the Nordic countries. Norway alone will be investing 25 million Euros ($39 million U.S.) from the government on concrete research alone over the next 8 years—including many cooperative projects between material producers, designers, and construction companies. One presentation that drew a lot of interest was made by Linda Persson, a member of Bettan, a network for women founded in 2004 within the SCA to encourage their participation in the concrete construction industry. She presented the project "Konkret Vision," which was inspired by Volvo’s "Your Concept Car—by women for modern people." This project was financed by the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building, and Planning and by the Development Fund of the Swedish Construction Industry. We hope to include more in a future issue of CI on this interesting project, based around the idea of "Your Concept Home," which uses concrete as the main building material and is designed entirely by women. The next meeting destination was Manaus, Brazil, for the Fifth ACI/CANMET International Conference on High-Performance Concrete Structures and Materials, June 18-20. This conference was sponsored by IBRACON, the Canada Center for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET), and ACI. Researchers from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Uruguay, and the U.S. made presentations. ACI Special Publication 253 is a compilation of the conference papers. For 2002, 2005, and 2008, ACI Committee 318 has produced an official Spanish version of the ACI 318 Code. The 2008 Spanish version "Requisitos de Reglamento para Concreto Estructural (ACI 318S-08) y Comentario"; was published just a month after the English version appeared. ACI has signed agreements with Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile for the local printing of this document. An official translation into Spanish of ACI 301-05 has just been finished by the same 318 Subcommittee that made the official translation of ACI 318. Similar agreements were signed for printing of this document locally in Latin America. At the beginning of July, James Wight, Chair of ACI Committee 318 for the 2005 and 2008 versions of ACI 318; John Glumb and Doug Sordyl from the ACI staff; and I participated in seminars on ACI 318S-08 that took place in Quito, Ecuador; Cali, Colombia; Lima, Peru; Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and San José, Costa Rica. This was an excellent opportunity to share common experiences on code development and structural concrete design and construction in all these countries. Luis E. García American Concrete Institute luis.garcia@concrete.org Back to Memo List
Of the 20,000 current ACI members, about 20% are from more than 100 countries outside North America. Our individual international members are involved in the work of ACI committees. ACI international activity is also conducted through our International Partners—16 concrete-related organizations committed to cooperation and collaboration with ACI—and the ACI chapters located in 30 countries.
Here is a glimpse of ACI’s international activities that I participated in during June and July of this year. One common factor in every country we visited was that many other countries were involved simultaneously in each of the events.
We participated in the 20th Symposium on Nordic Concrete Research and Development, June 8-11, in Bålsta, Sweden. The Nordic Concrete Federation, comprising the concrete associations of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, organized the event. These symposiums have been taking place every third year since 1953. At Bålsta, more than 90 papers were presented on concrete research being conducted.
ACI gave a keynote address on international cooperation such as that taking place in Latin America, and also described the current ACI member benefits especially for students. Many of the students present were not aware of free ACI student e-membership. We also exchanged ideas for further cooperation with Arne Hellstrom, President of the Swedish Concrete Association (SCA), and Johan Silfwerbrand, symposium organizer and President of the Swedish Cement and Concrete Research Institute.
The very informative presentations highlighted the amount of research being conducted on concrete and cement in the Nordic countries. Norway alone will be investing 25 million Euros ($39 million U.S.) from the government on concrete research alone over the next 8 years—including many cooperative projects between material producers, designers, and construction companies.
One presentation that drew a lot of interest was made by Linda Persson, a member of Bettan, a network for women founded in 2004 within the SCA to encourage their participation in the concrete construction industry. She presented the project "Konkret Vision," which was inspired by Volvo’s "Your Concept Car—by women for modern people." This project was financed by the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building, and Planning and by the Development Fund of the Swedish Construction Industry. We hope to include more in a future issue of CI on this interesting project, based around the idea of "Your Concept Home," which uses concrete as the main building material and is designed entirely by women.
The next meeting destination was Manaus, Brazil, for the Fifth ACI/CANMET International Conference on High-Performance Concrete Structures and Materials, June 18-20. This conference was sponsored by IBRACON, the Canada Center for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET), and ACI. Researchers from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Uruguay, and the U.S. made presentations. ACI Special Publication 253 is a compilation of the conference papers.
For 2002, 2005, and 2008, ACI Committee 318 has produced an official Spanish version of the ACI 318 Code. The 2008 Spanish version "Requisitos de Reglamento para Concreto Estructural (ACI 318S-08) y Comentario"; was published just a month after the English version appeared. ACI has signed agreements with Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile for the local printing of this document. An official translation into Spanish of ACI 301-05 has just been finished by the same 318 Subcommittee that made the official translation of ACI 318. Similar agreements were signed for printing of this document locally in Latin America.
At the beginning of July, James Wight, Chair of ACI Committee 318 for the 2005 and 2008 versions of ACI 318; John Glumb and Doug Sordyl from the ACI staff; and I participated in seminars on ACI 318S-08 that took place in Quito, Ecuador; Cali, Colombia; Lima, Peru; Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and San José, Costa Rica.
This was an excellent opportunity to share common experiences on code development and structural concrete design and construction in all these countries.
Luis E. García American Concrete Institute luis.garcia@concrete.org
Back to Memo List
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