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Author: |
Grant Lee |
Created: |
7/7/2009 12:54 PM |
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Industry-related issues are identified and explored to give some insight into perceptions held about precast reinforced concrete pipe and boxes. |
By Grant Lee on
9/8/2010 8:36 AM
Concrete pipe associations have a responsibility to create opportunity for their member firms and their employees to update and expand knowledge of precast concrete drainage products that includes design, quality control, production, testing, handling and installation. Associations also extend these learning opportunities to designers, specifiers, regulators, contractors, teachers and students. At the same time, associations work in many ways to bring knowledge to elected representatives through government relations programs that often include lobbying. Of all the audiences that can take advantage of association-driven education programs, which audiences seem most receptive to knowledge about standards, specifications, design, applications and innovation? Why? Which audiences appear to have little interest in education programs offered by associations?
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By Grant Lee on
8/10/2010 10:17 AM
Standardized procedures and training of inspectors is required to determine pipeline and culvert performance. Post installation inspection and testing is needed to verify conformance with design, determine initial condition and performance, verify pay items and requests, set a baseline for future inspections, and verification of structural strength of installation. Post installation inspections are often part of a performance-based specification.
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By Grant Lee on
7/10/2010 7:47 PM
Markets are increasingly influenced by new products and materials originating anywhere on the planet.
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By Grant Lee on
6/4/2010 11:58 AM
There is a difference. For many, it takes a long time to develop an understanding that there are differences in the terminology associated with specifications and standards. Many people sell products and services to the built environment, who are not engineers, technicians or technologists, and never had any exposure to standards and specifications before entering the workplace. It may also be fair to say that very few people engaged in selling products or providing services have little knowledge about how standards and specifications are developed, although they are heavily referenced in the marketplace when competing for sales or projects. The concrete pipe industry is specification driven, and its products and services are produced to standards that are widely accepted. Sales and marketing staff of member firms of the Canadian Concrete Pipe Association are subject to continuing education about the standards associated with the production and testing of concrete pipe and competitive products, and the specifications (standard and customized) used by client groups, government agencies, and local municipalities. Provincial and National Building Codes reference standards. Ontario is the only provincial jurisdiction that publishes its own building code. Plumbing under the OBC includes a drainage system (See http://www.ocpa.com/_resources/CPJ_Spring2010.pdf).
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By Grant Lee on
5/3/2010 3:04 PM
There are many products used to construct the drainage infrastructure that we depend upon, and those products have very specific service lives. The challenge of matching service life of materials and products to design life of projects is top of mind with public works officials who must work with, among other things, limited funding, changing standards and specifications, new products and materials, changing technology, political action, and changing weather and climate regimes.
For decades, corrugated metal pipe (CMP) culverts have been installed under most highways and local roads. With a service life that does not often reach the design life of the roads they service, failures are reported by media before scheduled maintenance and replacement can take place. Although failing CMP culverts have been attracting media attention over the past decade, public works officials continue to monitor culverts and cross drains of all materials to initiate repairs and replacements before failure occurs. From safety and economic perspectives, it is important to replace failing and failed culverts as soon as possible to protect associated structures from premature failure.
Conducting a life cycle cost analysis of culvert product and material prior to road reconstruction or construction of a new length of local road or highway, can reveal many of the issues that tend to be overlooked in designing a culvert pipe or box. Issues include traffic delay costs that most often far exceed the actual construction costs. Therefore, any initial savings that occurs by installing a pipe with a lower life expectancy is quickly exceeded by subsequent replacement installations and user delays. By quantifying the additional costs of emergency replacement, it is clear that an inspection/maintenance program provides an attractive cost benefit. It also shows that pipe materials with a longer life are more cost effective than materials with lower life expectancy, even if initial installation is more expensive.
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By Grant Lee on
4/5/2010 8:12 AM
The last decade of the 20th Century, and early years of C21 witnessed a flurry of mergers and acquisitions in the cement, precast and thermoplastic pipe industries. There are now signs that business models are shifting to concentrate on one-stop shopping for all materials and products, and the marketing of sanitary and storm sewer products as complete systems.
What is your opinion on this apparent shift to servicing the needs of municipalities, agencies, developers, and contractors? Is it wise to present businesses as the single source for all needs, or best to focus on core competencies? Is there a danger that single source businesses will promote the use of products with cheaper capital cost at the expense of more expensive capital cost products that would be the best product for the application? Is the acumen of competition among materials and products being diminished in the buried infrastructure marketplace?
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By Grant Lee on
3/3/2010 9:46 AM
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), not life cycle cost analysis, is a tool used to evaluate the potential environmental impact of a product, process or activity throughout its entire life cycle by quantifying the use of resources ("inputs" such as energy, raw materials, water) and environmental emissions ("outputs" to air, water and soil) associated with the system that is being evaluated. LCA is a component of Sustainable Development which is supported by the concrete pipe industry.
Do you believe that LCA is a tool that is understood by industry and governments?
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By Grant Lee on
2/3/2010 11:05 AM
The applications for precast concrete boxes go far beyond the common application of roadway culverts and small bridges. The ways they can be used for projects keeps expanding.
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By Grant Lee on
1/2/2010 6:03 AM
Concrete is one of the world’s most commonly used building materials. In its simplest form, concrete is a mixture of paste and aggregates.
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By Grant Lee on
12/3/2009 9:16 PM
In regions susceptible to massive flooding and wildfires, the application of concrete pipe and boxes for culverts and associated storm sewers makes sense because concrete culverts don’t burn, they resist buoyancy, have installation savings, are strong and durable, can be used for stormwater retention, and producers are nearby to supply products in a hurry.
If the decisions to use materials and products that corrode quickly, incinerate, or float away are not technical in nature, then the public deserves an answer from their elected officials why their taxes are being used to support temporary roads, sewers and culverts.
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