Husker Harvest Days

The NC&AA hosted a 70 ft x 40 ft lot just outside of Grand Island for the Husker Harvest Days. This 3 day event drew an average of 25,000 people per day. The exhibit showcased: Pervious concrete, decorative concrete, ICF’s, storm shelters, hog slats, and feed bunks. We had various radio advertisements with 96KX hosting a live broadcast. Thank you to all the members who put a lot of time in making this a very successful exhibit.

Booth photo LEFT, Promotion Committee members photo on RIGHT: Kirk Havranek, Paul Dravitzki, Joel Sedlacek, Tim Hegeholz, Jereme Montgomery

NEBRASKA CONCRETE &AGGREGATES ASSOCIATION

6000 Cornhusker Hwy, Lincoln, NE 68507

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Editor: Wes Cunningham (308) 237-3126

FROM THE PRESIDENT…Travis Mumford, President NC&AA, Arps Red-E-Mix, Fremont

The trees are turning colors, the corn is ready to be picked, and the Huskers have lost their first football game and it isn't even October yet... Where does time go??? This time of the year gets pretty hectic with everybody trying to get that last little project in before the snow starts to fly. Although it is a very busy time of the year, please do not forget to continue to participate in our association activities.

The NC&AA has been very busy planting seeds and preaching the word of concrete through out the state.

Recently the promotion committee participated in the Husker Harvest days out in Grand Island. Joel Sedlacek, Jereme Montgomery and the rest of the promotion committee constructed an excellent exhibit and promoted the many uses of concrete. I was extremely impressed and want to thank all who were involved with this promotional event.

Back in July a strategic planning session was held in Lincoln with Jereme, a few past presidents, the executive board as well as a few board members. Doug Burns conducted the one day session which was very insightful and gave the association a vision on where we want to go with Jereme and his promotional efforts. Although I wasvery disappointed in the number of attendees, I want to thank all whoparticipated. This was a very important meeting for the betterment of the association. I want to thank Doug Burns for his time and hope that he continues to conduct the strategic planning meetings for us in the future. He really did a great job. This kind of meeting should beconducted on annual basis. In closing, I want to thank you once again for the opportunity to serve as your president and wish you all a very profitable fall construction season.

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR… Jereme “Bird” Montgomery

Well, I can already tell that this letter is going to be much different than my last. So much has happened since then I hope I can summarize in one letter. Three months ago, I felt we had a fairly good handle on promotion. How we were going to promote, was the real question. We coordinated a strategic planning group to prioritize promotional techniques that we felt would benefit the association and its members the greatest. First, we distinguished and prioritized the functional areas of the organization. Promotion, Education & Training, and Communication are the functional areas discussed. From there the planning group “dialed down” with the key activities to make each area successful.

Since that meeting, I have really sensed an urge to take the association status to a different level. How many of us know what the acronyms are for ACI, AGC, NSSGA, OSHA, etc. I'll bet that there would be a pretty good chance that everyone reading this letter will score well. And everyone should also know the acronym NC&AA. It is time that Engineers, Architects, City and County Officials understand what the NC&AA stands for. Not just the acronym, but what we really stand for – Promotion, Education & Training, and Communication. It must be communicated not just through the Director of the Association, but through the members. I have had my greatest contacts, leads and ideas from members. Get the most of your membership…..and get active. One past president in the strategic planning meeting called it “name recognition”. To me, that summed it up pretty good. If the Association has “name recognition”, promotion will almost become second nature.

The Association was involved in a lot of activities over the last few months. Husker Harvest Days was a great success. The exhibits drew around 25,000 people a day. We guessed we touched around 3000 people over the 3 day event. Oh sure, there were some tire kickers but the tent drew a lot of interest from the stamped concrete that looked like wood, to the pervious demo, ICF’s, all the way to an excellent presentation of storm shelters. I definitely would think we would try this again next year. And a great, great thanks to everyone involved. We couldn’t have done it without you.

CONTINUED…..

September, 2006

Newsletter

NEBRASKA CONCRETE AND AGGREGATES ASSOCIATION

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR… Jereme “Bird” Montgomery CONTINUED…

We also setup an exhibit for the AIA Fall convention promoting pervious concrete and the Associations Lunch & Learns. The AIA Convention was 2 days after the Husker Harvest Days. Big difference. I was in such a rhythm from promoting at the HHD’s I had to go from 5th gear to 3rd. Here, it wasn’t the quantity of people but quality. The Association also sponsored a breakfast which was greatly appreciated by many architects that specifically came to the booth to thank us.

On July 31st, the NC&AA hosted its annual golf outing. The tournament counted 96 players. For those of you who couldn’t make it to the NC&AA golf outing, sorry we missed ya. What a ride!

Oh yeah, the NC&AA is now a local sponsoring group for the NRMCA Pervious Concrete Contractor Certification. Our first certification training will be in Omaha on October 18th and 19th. We are also hoping to have enough interest to have our second certification training in the spring.

The Association is also assisting coordination of the NSSGA 2007 Dredging Seminar at the Quest Center in June. I will keep the Sand & Gravel producers informed as the seminar develops.

Up and Coming in the near future: CPA software presentation to the Lincoln Public

Schools ACI and NDOR Training NRMCA Pervious Concrete Contractor

Certification Pervious Concrete Presentation - AIA Western

Chapter NCCC Funding Meeting League of Municipalities Convention

(NCPA/NC&AA exhibit) Pervious Concrete Presentation – Papillion Creek

Watershed Project ACI Convention – Denver Scholarship Fund Shoot QC Conference

Whew, I need to get back in shape. Just typing this letter is making me winded. Talk to you soon.

NC&AA MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY CORRECTION PAGE 2:

Jereme Montgomery, Executive DirectorOffice: 402.325.8414Cell: 402.432.8883Email: jereme@nebrconcagg.com

Rochelle Hitz, Office ManagerOffice: 402.325.8414Email: rochelle@nebrconcagg.com

New corrected directories mailing week of 9/27/06

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Scholarship Fund Shoot

Friday October 13, 2006

Heartland Public Shooting Park,

ALDA NE

PLEASE REMEMBER TO REGISTER!

>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<

Quality concrete Conference

Wednesday, Jan 10, 2007 - Kearney NE

Thursday, Jan 11, 2007 - Omaha NE

>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<

NC&AA Annual Convention

Feb 22-23, 2007 – Kearney Holiday Inn

SAFETY COMMITTEEBy Dwight Williams

Co-Chair Safety & Environmental

Mine Safety Web Site

Safepro has developed a Metal/Non-metal Federal Mine and Quarry Safety Law Web site, which may be accessed at - http://minesafetylaw.safeproinc.com

The site is fully searchable with a user-friendly e-Manual (which is also available on CD). The company developed the site primarily for smaller firms, which need access to The Act, Standards, and enforcement policy during their twice-a-year inspections.

The site is membership based with daily and weekly rates. A free 24-hour test view of the site is available.

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPORTMIKE WILLMAN

The September meeting with the NC&AA Technical Committee and the Nebraska Department of Roads was held Friday September 22, 2006 in Omaha, NE. The minutes of the meeting are as follows:

1. NDOR Cement QA/QC Procedures:Wally Heyen said the NDOR is going to start random sampling cement from the approved products list once a month from about 15 projects. The random sampling will be limited to cement and blended cements at this time.

2. Ready Mix Plant Certification:Ready mix plants supplying NDOR projects will have to have NRMCA Certification or NDOR plant certification every two years. ASTM C-94 testing will be required for all portable plants. A consultant hired by the contractor with NDOR supervision will do the C-94 testing.

3. Revisions to the 2007 Spec Book:Wally stated that the air content for slip form concrete pavements would be raised to a minimum of 7.5% in front of the paver. In the event of air content lower than 7.5%, the addition of air entraining admixture to the load to bring the air content into specification will be allowed. The Ready Mix Producer may have to raise the air content before the paver, if the air behind the paver is less than 5.5%.

Note: The ready Mix Producer is not responsible for the air content behind the paver.

4. Binary, Ternary and Quaternary Cement Evaluations:

Moe Jamshidi distributed the preliminary test results on seven different 47-B mixes with combinations of type I-II, and type I-PF cements containing different proportions of slag, type C, and type F fly ash. The mixes with I-PF cement (25% type F fly ash) performed very well. The mix with type I-II cement and 20% Class F fly ash and 20% slag also seemed to perform well.

5. 2005 CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS:

Mike Willman presented the NDOR and ACI Certification dates for 2006 – 2007. The dates will be on the NC&AA web-site in the next few weeks.

If there are any questions or for more information please contact Mike Willman, 402.649.5068.

State News

SAFETY COMMITTEEBy Dwight Williams

Co-Chair Safety & Environmental

MSHA Publishes Proposed Rule to Raise Mine Safety PenaltiesThe U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) published a proposed rule today in the Federal Register to raise civil penalties for violations of the Mine Safety and Health Act. MSHA also announced public hearings to solicit comments on the proposed rule.

“This updated civil penalty structure provides increased incentive to mine operators to comply with federal safety laws to protect the safety of America’s miners”, said David G. Dye, acting administrator of MSHA. “We anticipate that these stronger penalties will induce mine operators to improve their safety and health programs, which prevent hazards from endangering the safety of America’s miners in the first place.”

Fines assessed in 2005 would have been nearly tripled had the proposed penalty structure been in effect. In its economic analysis, MSHA estimates that most mine operators will improve compliance efforts as a result of the proposal, which would ultimately reduce the number of violations cited and the total fines assessed.

The proposed rule MSHA published today incorporates the MINER Act provision that imposes a maximum penalty of $220,000 for flagrant violations, and $4,000 for repeated similar violations. The proposal would also establish a penalty of $5,000 to $60,000 for operators who fail to notify MSHA within 15 minutes of death, injury, or entrapment with reasonable risk of death at a mine.

Under this rule MSHA proposes to eliminate the current $60 single penalty assessment for non-serious violations that are corrected in a timely manner. Under the proposal, MSHA would use a formula system for processing most violations; however, penalty amounts would increase. MSHA has restructured the proposed schedule to reflect higher penalties for mine operators who have a history of repeated violations of the same standard. The proposed rule retains MSHA’s authority to issue special assessments to increase penalties for certain violations.

MSHA announced six public hearings on the proposed rule to solicit input from stakeholders and the public. The public hearings will he held at the following locations:Sep 26 @ the Mine Safety and Health Administration, 1100 Wilson Blvd., 25th

floor conference room, Arlington VASep 28 @ the Sheraton Birmingham, 2101 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. North, Birmingham, ALOct 4 @ the Hilton Salt Lake City Ctr, 255 South West Temple, Salt Lake CityOct 6 @ the Hilton St. Louis Airport, 10330 Natural Bridge Rd, St. Louis, MOOct 17 @ the Charleston Marriott Town center, 200 Lee Street East, Charleston, W. VAOct 19 @ the Pittsburgh Airport Marriott, 777 Aten Road, Coraopolis, PA

Requests to speak at the public hearings may be made by telephone at (202) 693-9440, fax at (202) 693-9441, or mail t MSHA, Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances, 1100 Wilson Blvd., Rm. 2350, Arlington, VA 22209-3939. MSHA’s proposed rule to update the penalty structure for mine safety violations is available at www.msha.gov.

PROMOTIONAL EFFORTSOn September 15th the NC&AA sponsored an exhibit for the AIA Nebraska / Central States Region Fall Conference. There were just short of 50 exhibitors with the Association also sponsoring the breakfast. The Association showcased Pervious Concrete with an emphasis on our Lunch and Learn programs. There was a lot of positive feedback on the need for Pervious Concrete. This activity was definitely good for the Association to introduce ourselves to the Architectural market.

Photo: Sara Kay, Executive Director AIA Nebraska and Central States Region; Merrill Elam, Jury Chair, AIA, Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects announcing this year's awards.

NE Concrete & Aggregates Association at AIA Fall Conference, September 15, 2006. Booth showcased Pervious Concrete and Lunch and Learns.

State News

800-746-1553Immediately Reportable Accidents and Injuries

The immediate notification rule 50.10 directs you first to try to contact the district at all times. You should prepare for this by asking the District Manager to provide you with telephone numbers for contacting appropriate district personnel during non-business hours. Using the direct district number during non business hours will prompt a pre-recorded message that will give you the numbers for the MSHA district personnel. The rule goes on to say that if you cannot contact the district, you must use the 24/7 MSHA headquarters toll-free number. 800-746-1553Rocky Mtn. District Office: Denver (303) 231-5465District Field Office: Topeka (785) 295-2636

Immediately Reportable Accidents and Injuries are:1. A death of an individual at a mine;2. An injury to an individual at a mine which has a

reasonable potential to cause death;3. An entrapment of an individual for more than

thirty minutes;4. An unplanned inundation of a mine by a liquid or

gas;5. An unplanned ignition or explosion of gas or dust;6. An unplanned mine fire not extinguished within

30 minutes of discovery;7. An unplanned ignition or explosion of a blasting

agent or an explosive;8. An unplanned roof fall at or above the anchorage

zone in active workings where roof bolts are in use; or, an unplanned roof or rib fall in active workings that impairs ventilation or impedes passage;

9. A coal or rock outburst that causes withdrawal of miners or which disrupts regular mining activity for more than one hour;

10. An unstable condition at an impoundment, refuse pile, or culm bank which requires emergency action in order to prevent failure, or which causes individuals to evacuate an area; or, failure of an impoundment, refuse pile, or culm bank;

11. Damage to hoisting equipment in a shaft or slope which endangers an individual or which interferes with use of the equipment for more than thirty minutes; and

12. An event at a mine which causes death or bodily injury to an individual not at the mine at the time the event occurs.

Under the currently proposed Standard you have a Maximum of 15 minutes to report an on-site disaster to MSHA.

SAFETY COMMITTEEBy Dwight Williams

Co-Chair Safety & Environmental

EPA Incorporates NSSGA Recommendations in Final Particulate Matter Rule

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 21—In a nationally broadcast teleconference today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson and EPA's Acting Assistant Administrator for Air & Radiation Bill Wehrum announced the agency's final rule on regulation of airborne particulate matter, essentially confirming that the nation's producers of crushed stone, sand and gravel have a negligible impact on air pollution.

The revised 2006 standards address two categories of particle pollution: fine particles (PM2.5), which are 2.5 micrometers in diameter and smaller; and inhalable coarse particles (PM10), which are smaller than 10 micrometers and larger than 2.5 micrometers.

EPA has decided to retain the existing 24-hour PM10 standard of 150 µg/m3. Due to a lack of evidence linking health problems to long-term exposure to coarse particle pollution, the agency revoked the annual PM10 standard.

"This is good news for aggregate producers nationwide," said NSSGA president & CEO Joy Wilson. "NSSGA's extensive air research that met EPA's stringent criteria, has demonstrated that the aggregates industry is not a major source of coarse particulate matter. This decision by EPA today reinforces the point that today's rigorous national standards for PM 10 are adequate to protect public health."

The agency selected the levels for the final standards after reviewing thousands of peer-reviewed scientific studies about the effects of particle pollution on public health and welfare. External scientific advisors and the public examined EPA's science and policy review documents. The agency also carefully considered public comments on the proposed standards. EPA held three public hearings and received more than 120,000 written comments.

Additionally, the 2006 standards tighten the 24-hour fine particle (PM2.5) standard from 65 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) to 35 µg/m3, and retain the current annual fine particle standard at 15 µg/m3.

Additional details of this final rule can be found at http://epa.gov/pm/naaqsrev2006.html. The fine particulate standard does not impact the construction aggregates industry.

Based near the nation's capital, NSSGA is the world's largest mining association by product volume. Its member companies represent more than 90 percent of the crushed stone and 70 percent of the sand and gravel produced annually in the U.S. and approximately 117,000 working men andwomen in the aggregates industry. During 2005, a total of about 3.2 billion tons of crushed stone, sand and gravel, valued at $17.4 billion, were produced and sold in the United States.

State News