PP CC AA NN YY January 2002 Volume 13, No 1PRECAST CONCRETE ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK, INC.

MONTHLYNEWSLETTER

Precast Concrete Associationof New York, Inc. 706 Quaker Lane, Delanson, New York 12053 Tel: 518-895-8352 Facs: 518-895-2329 Email: pcany@aol.com Web: www.pcany.org

Carl Buchman: Executive DirectorMary Ellen Yankosky: Administrative DirectorEdward Hourigan: Technical DirectorHarold Nelson: Newsletter Editor

Blackened walls indicate the intensity of a fire in a Hobart College dormitory that was contained byplank and concrete masonry wall construction. photo by Oldcastle

Plank and masonry wallscontain fire in dormitory

Prestressed hollow core plank and loadbearing concrete masonry walls are creditedwith containing a recent fire and allowing allresidents to evacuate safely from a HobartCollege dormitory in Geneva, NY.

The fire, which was contained in a first-floor room where it started, caused smoke andwater damage in other parts of the dorm. Theplank and walls are credited with minimizingdamage so that rooms could be cleaned andrefurbished in record time. Students from theupper floors of the dorm were allowed toreturn in less than two days after the fire.Refurbishing on the first floor was completedin less than one month's time.

The heat was so intense that it lifted floortiles from the floor of the room above. Flamesblew out a window in the room and raced up

PCANY AnnualMeeting set forFeb 26-27, Albany

The PCANY Annual Meeting which in-cludes a Board Meeting, Association Dinner,exhibits by Associate Members, BusinessMeeting, technical presentations and forumon "Promotion by Associations and Organiza-tions" has been set for February 26-27, at theBest Western Albany Airport Inn, on WolfRoad in Albany.

The Board of Directors will meet at 4:00PM on the 26th, followed by an AssociationDinner at 7:00 PM. Peter Smith, Vice-Presi-dent of The Fort Miller Company, will speakon the same three projects by his company,noted in the article above.

A buffet breakfast in the Associates Ex-hibit Room is scheduled for 8:00 AM on the27th, followed by a Business Meeting at 9:00AM and technical presentations at 11:00 AM.The luncheon at noon will include a presenta-tion on storm water regulations. The forumnoted above on promotion will include partici-pants from several associations working inthe precast industry.

A detailed meeting packet will be mailedto all members later this month. Reservationsfor the dinner, meeting, luncheon and exhibittable will be required. ❏

Precast projectsfeatured at ACIbreakfast, Jan 9th

Peter Smith, Vice-President of The FortMiller Company will make a presentation onthree recent precast projects of his companyat the ACI breakfast scheduled for January9th at the Century House in Latham, NY.They are the BQE Expressway Ramp in NYC,the 58th St Bridge over the Long Island Ex-pressway in NYC and pavement slabs for theTarrytown Toll Plaza on the NYS Thruway. ❏

the side of the building to pop the windowabove and damage brick veneer on the wall.

School officials have estimated tempera-tures reached 1800°F from damage to a steeldoor and other objects in the room. Theprestressed 8" thick hollow core plank sus-tained only minor longitudinal cracking, torequire repainting and carpeting.

The four-story dormitory, named ReesHall, is part of a three-dormitory complex thatwas constructed in 1969. The prestressedhollow core plank are believed to have beenfabricated by the Winkrete Corp in Syracuse,NY, a company that is no longer in business.For more information on fire and performanceof hollow core plank contact Dave Alberti, atOldcastle Precast in Manchester, NY, at 545-289-3530. ❏

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PRECAST CONCRETE ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK January 2002 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Page 2

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Soldier beams, precast laggingsolve site problem for hanger

Soldier beams with precast lagging wereused to solve a tight site problem for the newGE Corporate hanger building currently beingbuilt at Stewart Airport in Newburg, NY. The732' retaining wall enables the hanger to besqeezed in, adjacent to the old Route 17K.Given the limited horizontal depth availablefor excavation and the structure, there wasinsufficient space for a conventional cast-in-place or precast wall.

Stacking a problem with batterThe soldier beams are HP 12 x 84 stan-

dard WF sections set at a 6° batter and 6' oncenter. They were set in caisons, encased inconcrete and backfilled before the laggingwas installed. The nominal 6' long x 11.5"thick panels were installed between flangesand bear on exposed flanges of the beams.The batter on the soldier beams created prob-lems with stacking of the panels, so spacerangles were used to force the panels forwardand bear on flanges of the soldier beams.

Deep joints leave 10" net thicknessThe panels were cast in 2', 3', 4' and 8'

widths and stacked to meet varying heights ofthe wall. The exposed face of the lagging wascast with a rubber liner with a random ashlarstone finish. Deep (1.5") joints left a networking thickness of 10" for the panels.

Several full scale samples were cast andinstalled in a frame at the precast plant, priorto starting production, to verify matching ofjoints, alignment and squareness of the pan-els. Edges were cast with a smooth finish forbearing against the soldier beams.

Calendar of coming events:Jan 9 - 12 World of Concrete, New Orleans, LA

visit www.WorldofConcrete.com for details and registrationFeb 1 - 5 MCX, NPCA Convention, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, IN

contact NPCA, 800-366-7731 for details and registrationFeb 26 - 27 PCANY Board Meeting and Association Dinner, (4:00, 7:00 PM, the 26th)

Annual Meeting, (8:00 AM - 4:00 PM, the 27th)Best Western Albany Airport Inn, 200 Wolf Road, Albany, NYAccomodations: 518-458-1000 see article page 1 for details

For information on

precast products and producers,visit the pcany web site at:

www.pcany.orgor e-mail your inquiry to:

pcany@aol.com.

Retaining wall with soldier beams and precastlagging is shown at Stewart Airport. Note pre-cast covers on pallet, to be installed over soldierbeams. photo by Jefferson Concrete

Precast covers which are 3" thick, 15"wide and a variable height were installed overthe exposed face of the soldier beams. Thetop edge of the covers is welded to the soldierbeams. The bottom edge is dropped into a lapjoint from the panel below.

General Electric Co. is the owner on thisproject. O'Brien and Gere from Syracuse, isthe Engineer. The Pike Company from Roch-ester, is the General Contractor, and DeltaEngineers from Binghamton, the PrecastEngineer. Jefferson Concrete cast all of theprecast lagging and covers in their plant inWatertown, NY. ❏

New ASTMC1433 standardfor box culverts

ASTM C1433, Standard Specificationfor Precast Reinforced Concrete Box Sec-tions for Culverts, Storm Drains and Sewers,has been issued by the Association. The newspecification replaces ASTM C850 and ASTMC789 which are now outdated.

The new specification was written bysubcommittee C13.07 on Acceptance Speci-fications and Precast Concrete Box Sections.John Kurdziel, chairman of C13.07, cautionedthat any product made in accordance withASTM risk rejection if it is made to the out-dated standards. ❏

Boxcar Version 2design programfor box culverts

BOXCAR Version 2, a computer designprogram for box culverts, has recently beenreleased by the Federal Highway Administra-tion (FHWA). The program is widely used fordesign of precast concrete box culverts ex-cept in New York State where use of a specialprogram is required on all DOT projects.

BOXCAR is available from McTrans,which is the Center for Microcomputers inTransportation. The center is a resource fordistribution and support of software used inthe highway transportation field.

Cost of the upgrade is $110, whichincludes documentation on a compact disc.Further information and orders for theprogram can be placed on their website athttp://mctrans.ce.ufl.edu. ❏

Certification ofprecast productsapproved by CPA

A Certification Program for precast con-crete products was approved by the ConcretePrecasters Association (CPA) of Ontario attheir Annual Meeting in Guelph, Ontario onDecember 2 - 4, 2001. The program is a jointeffort by the Association, the Ministry of Mu-nicipal Affairs and Housing, and the Ministryof the Environment.

The program outlines procedures fororiginal certification and annual compliancetesting and reporting. The program is particu-larly directed at certification of septic tanks butalso covers other types of products. Provi-sions of the Canadian Standards Association(CSA) are incorporated the Certification Pro-gram. Major sections of the program include;1) Annual Complience Report, 2) ProductTesting, 3) Product Drawings, 4) Certifica-tion Report, 5) Marking. ❏

PRECAST CONCRETE ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK January 2002 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Page 3

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The "Jet Bat ® Plant" consists of pretreatment, bio-reactor, and settling compartments. In the centertreatment compartment, an aerator injects fresh air to provide oxygen and a mixing action to supportthe bio-reaction treatment process. detail furnished from Kistner Concrete

Mini treatment plants meetBMP storm water requirements

Several new mini treatment plants areavailable for the civil engineer to meet BestManagement Practice (BMP) requirementsfor treating storm water. BMP's are requiredby the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)as part of the National Storm Water Program(NSWP) and the Clean Water Act (CWA), of1972. Unmanaged storm water runoff fromurbanized areas can carry oil, grease, indus-trial discharges, airborne fallout, assortedchemicals, nutrients, bacteria, dirt, trash andother contaminants.

BMP's are defined by the EPA, as any"technique, measure or structural control usedto manage and improve the quality of stormwater runoff in the most cost-effective man-ner." Structural controls can include a varietyof infiltration systems, detention ponds, reten-tion ponds, natural filtration and mini stormwater treatment plants.

Self-contained treatment devicesThese self-contained treatment devices

are usually inserted below grade in a stormsewer system in order to intercept and treatthe flow. Some are designed for ease ofoperation and maintenance as well as treat-ment. Note it can be much easier removingsilt from a mini plant than a detention pond,and the filter media can be changed on someif the runoff pollutants change.

A recent article entitled "Storm WaterTreatment Technologies" in the Novemberissue of CE News by David Beck, PE, notedthere were hundreds of the new storm watertreatment devices on the market, which haveoutpaced procedures for testing and evalua-tion. Some of the devices are being evaluatedby the EPA. When testing is complete, theresults will be included in an American Soci-ety of Civil Engineers (ASCE) data base.

The devices are varied and reveal con-siderable ingenuity. Some operate on priciplesof sedimentation and floatation of pollutantssupplemented in some cases by filtration.Other techniques include using an absorptionmedia to capture petroleum products, andswirl technology to force solids and flotablesout of the mainstream flow.

Devices should be selected based onthe type of runoff pollutant. Here is an editedsummary of considerations, taken from theCE News article to assist in the selection.

• The devices can be used in conjunctionwith each other and/or in combination withother traditional systems. For example toachieve large detention/sedimentation capaci-ties, they can be combined with undergroundsystems such as tanks or chambers.

• The relative compactness of these newtreatment devices may not provide sufficient

Runoff Pollutants:Typical runoff pollutants and methods of

treatment are described below:• Sediments: (sand, silt & grit) Detention forsettling followed by filtering for fines.• Petroleum Products: (grease, oil & gaso-line) Skimming off after long detention time.• Nutrients: (fertilizers, manure & organicmatter) Chemical treatment or sedimentationdepending on the nutrient.• Acids: (parking lot, irrigation runoff) Chemi-cal treatment to bring pH values within 6.5 to9.0 range.• Heavy Metals: (lead, zinc, copper, etc.) Sedi-mentation since metals may be attached tosolids or filtration.• Toxic Chemicals: (pesticides, herbicides,insecticides and other chemicals) Sedimen-tation, filtration or chemicals depending.• Pathogens: (viruses, bacteria and proto-zoa) Fine filtration and disinfectants.• Trash and Debris: (mostly nondegradableplastic) Trash screens or entrapment. ❏

volume for optimum settling of fine-grainedparticles nor prevent resuspension of accu-mulated pollutants.

• Pollutant concentrations in runoff can varysubstantially at different times during stormwater events. Many guidelines indicate thatheaviest pollution loadings occur during the"first flush" which occurs during the initialrunoff period. However the definition of firstflush seems to vary. Sometimes it is definedby a time period and other times by an amount.

• The ASCE Manual of Practice No. 77 "De-sign and Construction of Urban Storm WaterManagement Systems" states that the mostobnoxious pollutants in urban runoff are settle-able, however appreciable amounts of nutri-ents and some heavy metals are dissolvedand require treatment.

• Even the best system will not remove allpollutants. They should not be expected toremove 100% of any given pollutant.

• Physical characteristics affect the removalefficiencies of pollutants. Size, concentra-tion and flow rates, which are the most com-mon variables, should be compared. Somesystems target different sets of pollutants.

• Most systems provide for temporary waterstorage or detention. Detention time is usu-ally a key factor in sedimentation and the timefor buoyant particles to float to the surface.The detention time for sedimentation andfloatation may depend on types of pollutantsand supplementary filtration may be required.

• Maintenance is essential for long term per-formance. Many system "failures" are onlythe result of poor housekeeping.

Typical proprietry systems are reviewedin the CE News article. One such device isthe Jet Bat ® Plant (see isometric detailabove) available from Kistner Concrete. Formore information visit their web site at:www.kistner.com. ❏

Precast Concrete Associationof New York, Inc.706 Quaker LaneDelanson, NY 12053

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

NECSA is a partner with PCANY for education in the use of precast concrete.

January 2002 PCANY MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Page 4Producer Member Companies:AFCO Precast, East Patchogue, NY 11772A & R Conc Specialties, New Windsor, NY 12550Baliva Concrete Products, Rochester, NY 14624Bayshore Conc Prod, Cape Charles, VA 23310Binghamton Precast Supply, Binghamton, NY 13901Blakeslee Prestress, Branford, CT 06405Carrara & Sons, Middlebury, VT 05753Coastal Pipeline Products, Calverton, NY 11933William E. Dailey, Shaftsbury, VT 05262The Fort Miller Co, Schuylerville, NY 12871Hanson Pipe and Products, Pottstown, PA 19464Jefferson Concrete, Watertown, NY 13601Kistner Conc Products, East Pembroke, NY 14056Northeast Conc Products, Plainville, MA 02762Oldcastle Precast, Manchester, NY 14504Oldcastle Precast, South Bethlehem, NY 12161Riefler Concrete Products, Hamburg, NY 14075Roman Stone Contracting, Bay Shore, NY 11706Rotondo Precast, Avon, CT 06001Schuylkill Products, Cresona, PA 17929Unistress Corp., Pittsfield, MA 01201LC Whitford Co., Wellsville, NY 14895Zeiser Wilburt Vault, Elmira NY 14904Associate Member Companies:Advanced Testing, West Stockbridge, MA 01266A-Lok Products, Tullytown, PA 19007Amcrete Products, Newburgh, NY 12550Concrete Prod Solutions, Houston, TX 77084Concrete Sealants, Royersford, PA 19468Con/Span Bridge Systems, Dayton, OH 45420Cresset Chemical Co, Weston, OH 43569Dayton Richmond Corp, Collinsville, CT 06022Engineered Wire Prod, Upper Sandusky, OH 43351GNR Technology, Sauquoit, NY 13456W R Grace, Cambridge, MA 02140Hail Mary Rubber Co, Warrington, PA 18976Helser Industries, Tualatin, OR 97062Henry Co Sealants, Houston, TX 77020H & H Hulls, Hudson, NY 12534Insteel Wire Products, Blairstown, NJ 07825International Precast Supply, Haverill, MA 01838The James Co, Guilford, CT 06437JVI Inc, Pittsfield, MA 01201M A Industries, Peachtree City, GA 30269Master Builders-Preco, Lexington, KY 40509Mixer Systems, Pewaukee, WI 53072NPC Inc, Milford, NH 03055Parsons Diamond Prod, W Hartford, CT 06110A L Patterson, Fallsington, PA 19054Pedershaab USA, Bay Village, OH 44140Polylok Inc, Yalesville, CT 06492Resicon USA, Bradford, NH 03221Sika Chemical, Trenton, NJ 08619Spillman Company, Columbus, OH 43207Splice Sleeve N A, Bonita Springs, FL 34134Struc Reinf Products, Hazleton, PA 18201Syracuse Castings Sales Corp, Cicero, NY 13039USF Fabrication, Hialeah, FL 33018Professional Member Firms:Abate Engineers, Buffalo, NY 14225Baker Engineering, Elmsford, NY 10523Barton & Loguidice, Syracuse, NY 13220Bergmann Associates, Rochester, NY 14614A L Blades, Hornell, NY 14843Clough Harbour & Assoc, Albany, NY 12205Consulting Engrs Group, Mt Prospect, IL 60056John S Deerkoski & Assoc, Warwick, NY 10990Delta Engineers, Binghamton, NY 13901DiDonato Associates, Buffalo, NY 14224Finley McNary Engineers, Essex, CT 06426FRA Engineering, Henrietta, NY 14467Goodkind & O'Dea, Rochester, NY 14604Harza Northeast, Utica, NY 13501Hunt Engineers & Archs, Horseheads, NY 14845Integrated Engineering, Bellingham, WA 98228Robert Kamp, Cons Engr, Albany, NY 12203LaBella Associates PC, Rochester, NY 14614LEAP Assoc International, Tampa, FL 16007Maser Sosinski & Assoc, West Nyack, NY 10994McFarland Johnson, Binghamton, NY 13902O'Neill Consulting, Spring Lake Hts, NJ 07762PCI-New England, Belmont, MA 02178Pratt & Huth, Williamsville, NY 14221Prymus Consulting, Bayport, NY 11705Ryan Biggs Associates, Troy, NY 12180A H Sample Engineers, Ottsville, PA 18942R Samsel Engineers, Henrietta, NY 14467Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Arlington, MA 02174Spectra Engineering, Latham, NY 12110TVGA Engr & Surveying, Elma, NY 14059Edward Watts Engrs, Williamsville, NY 14221Wilbur Smith Assoc, Latham, NY 12110H Wilden Assoc, Allentown, PA 18106

Precast products taking a roll in protecting the environment:

views by the editorPrecast concrete products are taking a major roll in control of pollution in our sanitary and

storm water systems. The first 10 years of effort by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)was focused principally on municipal and industrial (point source) discharges. Now the EPA hasnoted, that in the majority of the country's watersheds, the biggest source of water pollution is notfactories, but runoff from a variety of urban, suburban and rural sources.

One of our stories this month describes how the Concrete Precasters Association in Ontario,Canada is leading a joint effort there, to certify producers and procedures and thereby upgrade thequality of products for sanitary systems. Here in the states, over 40% of all new home constructionuse individual septic tank and leach field systems. In too many instances, low price is the maincriteria when the system is installed. Quality is poor, leaking is common and we have nutrients orpathogens (disease producing organisms) entering our ground water or runoff systems.

Our second story describes the mini treatment plants that can be installed to comply with aBest Management Practice (BMP) for treatment of storm water runoff from a paved area or roof ofa building on a new development project. The mini treatment plants can separate a complete listof pollutants from runoff which will enter our ground water or runoff systems. The fact that most ofthe major rivers here in the Northeast are today, polluted and closed to sport fishing and eating,should be evidence enough of this fact.

In past issues we have noted how precast underground structures can be designed fordetention systems to collect runoff and recharge it into the ground water system. Undergrounddetention systems have advantages over ponds since they require minimum use of land, and avoidproblems associated with open sumps such as maintenance and public safety.

Precast concrete products are a natural to solve these new environmental requirements.Their properties of durability and redundant strength are unsurpassed by any other material. Tolearn more about what's out there and how to incorporate it into your next design visit pcany on theweb at www.pcany.org or call one of your friendly precasters. ❏