March 5, 2010 - Each year, ACI and ASCC host a student competition that provides students with a real world concrete construction situation, and challenges them to come up with the best solution. The competition tests many facets of the student’s abilities including:
- The ability to work together a team
- Requires them to engage industry professionals to research the solution
- Checks their knowledge of the industry and requires them to reference code and specification materials
The competition receives entries from universities and technical colleges from throughout the country. This year, 48 student teams initially registered and 27 submitted entries which went through three rounds of judging. The judges reviewed the teams’ ability to respond to the specific issues presented and to come up with a solution that met code requirements while best responding to the challenge. A summary of the problem presented is shown below.
This year, one of the teams from ASU’s Concrete Industry Management Program placed third overall in the Nation, and has been invited to present their paper at the national ACI Convention this month in Chicago, IL. The ASU team was made up of the following undergraduate students:
- a. Alexander Bertheau
- b. James Morschauser- Project Manager
- c. Kendra Warner
The judges also recognized the paper submitted by a graduate team from the ASU CIM program. Graduate students were not permitted to participate in the overall competition, but the judges reviewed the graduate student submittals as a local competition and selected the following team as the winner:
- a. Matthew Edger
- b. Eugene Estipona
- c. Stephanie Howard- Project Manager
- d. Brendan McGrath
Congratulations to our local students! The third place undergraduate team will be recognized in Chicago on March 21st, 2010, and both teams will be recognized locally at the ACI Arizona Chapter Meeting on March 17th, 2010.
Summary of Student Competition Problem
You work for a design-build company (on the construction side) in the Chicago area. Two years ago, the design group within your company completed the design of a parking structure for a transit station, but the project was placed on hold because the owner couldn’t get funding. Funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are now available so the transit structure has been given the green light. The project is to start in June 2010 and has a 9 month schedule.
The project consists of a 4-story reinforced concrete parking structure. Although the owner’s project manager has approved the original design, he recently read an article about the Minneapolis I-35W Bridge in Concrete International and now has asked your firm to provide a cost estimate for incorporating a similar “green” concrete into this project. Although the manager doesn’t know much about concrete, he has requested 85% replacement for portland cement in his structure, saying, “If they can do it in Minneapolis, we can do it here.”
Because of this challenge, your Chief Engineer, has asked you to explore using the most environmentally conscious concrete possible. You are requires to evaluate the owner’s request and provide a cost estimate with the following information:
1. recommend changes to the mixture design to achieve concrete that is as environmentally conscious as possible while meeting the requirements of the Building Code;
2. describe any changes to the construction procedures your company must incorporate if it uses this new mixture design; and
3. the impact of the changes on the schedule and costs.