ABC Names Rep. Sam Johnson Free Enterprise Legislator of the Year

Rep. Sam Johnson was named the Free Enterprise Legislator of the Year by the Association of Builders and Contractors recently at the organization's annual Legislative Conference.

The Republican Congressman represents the Third District of Texas and is chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce's Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations.

"Chairman Johnson's strong support for merit-shop construction is obvious," said Carole L. Bionda, ABC 2004 national chair. "Last summer and again this spring, Chairman Johnson helped secure approval of legislation that would allow association health plans, one of ABC's top priorities. He has also authored and advocated for legislation that would ban project labor agreements and has held hearings to shed light on salting abuse and union violence."

Johnson was elected to the House of Representatives in 1991.

Concrete Industry Reinforces Sustainable Design

The Portland Cement Association recently introduced the Cement Manufacturing Sustainability program, which includes a voluntary code of conduct for the industry.

The initiative, titled, Concrete Thinking for a Sustainable World, is intended to outline guidelines for the industry, educate architects and designers about the benefits of concrete in sustainable development and encourage sustainable cement-manufacturing processes.

"Despite its superior long-term benefits, concrete's environmental benefits are often undervalued," said David Shepherd, director of sustainable development for PCA. "This initiative is consistent with the industry's long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship."

The CMS program's code sets environmental performance benchmarks and goals and creates a recognition program for environmentally responsible manufacturing processes.

"With the federal, state and local governments providing incentives to construct green buildings that conserve environmental resources, the building, design and construction industries are placing an additional focus on long-lasting, energy-wise structures," said Shepherd. "As this design transformation continues, the industry needs to demonstrate why and how concrete is a responsible choice to meet these needs. Moreover, cement must be manufactured in a sustainable manner in order for today's architects to specify concrete for their designs."

Guidelines For Contractors, Subcontractors and Specialty-trade Contractors go Online

Guidelines for a Successful Construction Project, a document developed by the AGC, ASA and ASC and previously available only in print, is now available in electronic format for the first time by logging on to constructionguidelines.org.

Each of the 33 voluntary guidelines spells out management best practices and provides examples of typical responsibilities of different parties participating in the construction process. The goal of implementing these practices and recognizing these responsibilities is to help contractors, subcontractors and specialty-trade contractors complete projects as specified, on-time and on-budget for the benefit of construction owners and users.

The guidelines are grouped into four sections, with an appendix that includes forms for subcontractors and contractors. The first section addresses general ways to improve relations between general contractors and subcontractors including clarifying design responsibilities and payment rights and obligations. The second section concerns ways of soliciting and obtaining work, such as advertising bids, defining scope of work and avoiding "bid shopping" and "bid peddling." The third section discusses ways to improve projects with effective planning and covers pre-construction conferences, site logistics, scheduling and partnering. The fourth section addresses questions surrounding safety management, dispute resolution, handling of retainage, unforeseen environmental problems and other topics.

Austin Firm Takes Global Award

The Transtec Group of Austin recently received international honors at the World Road Association's SURF2004 conference in Toronto after presenting their ongoing FHWA research on pavement surface characteristics. The Fifth International Symposium on Pavement Surface Characteristics courted more than 80 technical papers from 21 countries. In presenting the award, the SURF2004 Local Organizing Committee recognized Transtec for their "excellent ability to effectively communicate the complex technical content of their paper," presented on the firm's ongoing FHWA research on pavement surface characteristics.

The presentation addressed the nature and role of the "curling and warping" phenomenon in concrete pavements, seeking out design and construction techniques that can minimize slab curvature and thus maximize pavement performance. The project includes the collection and analysis of both high-resolution pavement profile (smoothness) data and tire-pavement noise data. The end product will include a practical software-based system that has the potential for significant improvements to the concrete paving process.

Contributing co-authors include FHWA pavement engineer Mark Swanlund, engineering researcher Steven Karamihas of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and Dr. George Chang and David Merritt of the Transtec Group.