At the spring meeting of the Concrete 2029 group (a collaboration of the American Society of Concrete Contractors and the American Concrete Institute’s Strategic Development Council), there was much discussion about why innovations are – or are not – adopted.
Laser screeds, modular formwork systems, and concrete pumps are productivity-boosting former innovations that are now mainstream. Ultrahigh-performance concrete, self-consolidating concrete, and high-strength steel haven’t quite taken off. So it seems new equipment is accepted, but there’s resistance to new materials. Perhaps that’s because materials must be specified or permitted by the designer, while equipment—means and methods—are the contractor’s decision.
If so, that points the finger at codes and specifications as the bottleneck. Minimizing that bottleneck is one priority for Concrete 2029, which wants to develop a Concrete Technical Operating System (CTOS). In a white paper being prepared by Jim Toscas, former leader of several important industry associations, the CTOS is meant to be new codes and standards “that provide for life safety, durability, resilience, sustainability, maintainability, and economy.” Rather than requiring the minimum necessary for safety, like the codes do today, requirements would incorporate durability, resilience, sustainability, maintainability, and economy. Getting the American Concrete Institute to adopt such a standard will be challenging, but that’s the goal.
How Competent are Your Frontline Leaders?
Adobe Stock / Monkey Business
We all know how a new foreman is found. A foreman leaves and you say to the best worker on the crew (or the one who’s bilingual): “You’re the new foreman.” It doesn’t matter if he or she has the temperament or training to lead a crew. He’s your guy, you trust him, and he’s a hard worker—he’ll get it. Sometimes that works out, or you think it works out. But then you start noticing little things…like quality issues leading to rework, safety problems, high turnover on that crew, or the job starts to fall behind schedule.
According to the Construction Industry Institute’s recent “Improving Frontline Supervision in Industrial Construction” report, “Both foremen and general foremen competency levels are below desirable levels. This is particularly true for foremen. Investment to improve these competencies may be one of the biggest opportunities the industry has to improve productivity and performance.” The report’s main recommendation: “that the capital projects industry collectively invest in training and educating frontline supervisors.”
