Concrete Products covers the issues that attract producers of ready mixed and manufactured concrete focusing on equipment and material technology, market development and management topics.
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GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS CP STAFF EPA STORMWATER FRAMEWORK SPOTLIGHTS PERVIOUS SLAB, PERMEABLE PAVER SOLUTIONS The Environmental Protection Agency's new Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Waste- water Planning Approach Framework assists the agency's regional offices, states, and local governments to develop voluntary storm and wastewater management plans and imple- ment integrated approaches to reduce pollu- tion and the impact of overflow events. EPA developed the framework with publicly owned treatment works, state water permit- ting authorities, local governments, and non- profit environmental groups. The document (which can be found at www.epa.gov/ npdes/pubs/integrated_planning_frame- help communities as they develop plans that prioritize their investments in storm and wastewater infrastructure. The framework also highlights the impor- tance of controlling and managing storm and wastewater releases into the nation's waters. When wastewater systems, many of which are aging, overflow they can release un- treated sewage and other pollutants into local waterways. These overflows can carry a variety of harmful pollutants that can threaten communities' water quality, includ- ing bacteria, metals, and nutrients, and can contribute to disease outbreaks, beach and Contractors and OSHA battle aggressive driving Through its Alliance partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Ad- ministration, the Concrete Sawing & Drilling Association has released a Best Practice document, CSDA-OBP-1009 Ag- gressive Driving and Road Rage, to help concrete professionals avoid confronta- tions in their daily commutes. "Many CSDA contractors travel around the country in work trucks, and sometimes they and other road users do not understand the extra time needed to maneuver such large vehi- cles or the distance required to bring these vehicles safely to a stop," says CSDA Safety Committee Chair Kellie Vazquez. "By not understanding these factors, drivers can quickly become ag- gressive toward each other. In extreme cases, something as simple as not using a turn signal can result in an act of road rage. We felt it was important to educate the industry about how to steer clear of these situations." The tenth document the CSDA-OSHA PERMEABLE PAVEMENT PHOTO: Concrete Products work.pdf) was finalized in May and re- leased last month. It outlines new flexibility to pursue innovative, cost-saving solutions, like green infrastructure—in- cluding pervious concrete, permeable paver or porous asphalt pavements—and will shellfish bed closings, and fishing or swim- ming advisories. Stormwater discharges can also contain many of these pollutants, and municipalities are often faced with difficult choices about how to direct their funds to solve the most critical problems first. Alliance has released since 2006, and the third road-related Best Practice, CSDA-OBP-1009 details factors that can lead to aggressive driving and road rage, then explains some of the ways employers and employees can reduce instances of either occurring during their time on the road. Copies of the Best Practice documents can be downloaded from www.csda.org or www.osha.gov, or obtained from CSDA, 727/577-5004; info@csda.org. Spancrete tests pervious precast Spancrete Industries has deployed a new patent-pending system to help manage stormwater runoff at Milwaukee's Garden District Neigh- borhood Association Farmers Market. In addition to potentially alleviating the city's runoff management challenges, the Spancrete system will have the ability to reduce con- struction timeframes and lessen the need for repairs. Since the sec- tions are precast, on-site cure time is eliminated, thus allowing construction crews to simply set the sections into place. Also, as the sections are produced in a controlled environment, quality issues that generally accompany field-placed pervious concrete are eradicated. "We are looking forward to the results of the Spancrete tests," said Dan Willems, Spancrete vice president of precast operations. "If this system performs like we believe it will, this precast pervious concrete system will have endless applications. This truly is building innovation." 10 | JULY 2012 WWW.CONCRETEPRODUCTS.COM