Masonry Magazine September 1972 Page. 15
Mason Contractor News...
HUD Funds All-Weather Construction Study
WASHINGTON, D.C. To lower the costs of construction delays caused by inclement weather-which the Commerce Department reports add up to $10-billion in construction costs each year -the MASONRY INDUSTRY has marshaled forces to undertake a $143,000 research study in the U.S. and Canada, sponsored by the International Masonry Industry All-Weather Council.
The study has been made possible by a grant of $108,600 given to the Portland Cement Assn., a member of the International Masonry Industry All-Weather Council, by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). The Council's Chairman, Eugene George, of Kitchener. Canada, said the grant is being supplemented by $34,400 given by the Portland Cement Association (PCA).
The All-Weather Council is composed of: the Mason Contractors Association of America, the Brick Institute of America (formerly SCPI). the Bricklayers, Masons & Plasterers International Union, the Laborers International Union of North America. the National Concrete Masonry Association, and the Portland Cement Assn.
"The purpose of the Council-sponsored $143,000 study," George explained, "is to establish additional guidelines for strong and durable masonry construction despite temperature extremes." He pointed out that the research will not only be beneficial to all
ALBERT ISBERNER
EUGENE GEORGE
in the construction industry but also to the government and taxpayers who are the losers when construction is tied up by bad weather.
The field testing, to be conducted for the Council by PCA's Cement & Concrete Research Institute, will involve studies at three U.S. and two Canadian cold weather locations and three U.S. hot weather locations, according to Paul Klieger, Director of PCA's Concrete Materials Research Department. The study will cover an 18-month period at test locations to be announced later, Klieger said.
Albert W. Isberner, Jr., Research Engineer with PCA, will be in charge of the field tests for the International Masonry Industry All-Weather Council. He said. "The field testing will involve monitoring of temperature and humidity within masonry during the early hours after construction and under fluctuating climatic conditions. While work of this kind has been done in laboratories," he explained, "it will be the masonry industry's first large scale field tests under actual job site conditions." The results will augment earlier work of the Council as represented by its two recently issued technical publications, "Guide Specifications for Cold Weather Masonry Construction," and "Recommended
Masonry Institute of Michigan Appoints Two
Two appointments to the Masonry Institute of Michigan's professional staff have been announced by Clarence D. Gleason, president, and John A. Heslip, executive director of the institute.
Appointed were: Ronald J. Hurta as industry coordinator, and W. Thomas Munsell, P.E., as structural engineer.
MUNSELL
HURTA
Hurta returns to the Detroit area after a year and a half as a sales promotion executive with Bankers Life & Casualty Co. in Chicago. Previously he worked for two years as communications director of Kelsey-Hayes Co. in Romulus, Mich., and for ten years with the Detroit Free Press, the last five as assistant promotion director.
Munsell joins the institute from St. Louis where he worked eight years for R.W. Booker & Associates, Inc., a consulting engineering firm. As an associate and project manager, he was responsible for the design and detailing of commercial and industrial buildings as well as highway bridges.
People & Events...
Donald R. Frantz Concrete Construction Inc. has moved to new and bigger quarters. Their address is now 3501 Xenwood Avenue South, St. Louis Park, Minn. 55416... The Painting & Decorating Contractors have moved their Washington, D.C. office to 5249 Duke St., Suite #111, Alexandria, Va. 22304. The new phone