Download the full news letter

ACI San Diego would like to thank everyone who showed up to our February 9 program on “Moisture in Concrete Floors—The Flooring Industry Appears to Be Soaking Us!”
at the Butcher Shop. Geoffrey Hichborn with Hichborn Consulting provided valuable information on moisture in concrete floors. We will be keeping with the SCM theme again in March as we tackle the topic Metakaolin for use in concrete.

Everyone who attends our annual awards dinner knows that Jeff Ferris with Propex puts together a first class video presentation of the winning projects. Those videos are now posted on our website. I encourage everyone to visit our website and view these videos. They showcase the amazing concrete work being installed in San Diego. Also, take the time and tell your owners and contractors about the videos, I’m sure they would love to see their projects highlighted in these amazing clips.

Our Annual Awards Dinner will be postponed until May 2011. Look for more information November 2010 when we call for project entries.

Please join us for our upcoming event:

April 6, 2010 for “Prevailing Wages”

Heather Caya (Executive Secretary), Charlie Gregg (Vice President), and Victor Klemaske (President)

Download the full news letter

ACI SAN DIEGO CHAPTER MESSAGE

ACI San Diego would like to thank everyone who showed up to our November program on fly ash at the Butcher Shop Restaurant. Jeff Hearne and Manny Mungaray with Salt River Materials provided valuable information on fly ash for sustainable design, and offered there take on the future of fly ash. We will be keeping with the SCM theme in January as we tackle the topic of Metakaolin for use in concrete.

Everyone who attends our annual awards dinner knows that Jeff Ferris with Propex puts together a first class video presentation of the winning projects. Those videos are now posted on our website www.aci-sandiego.org. I encourage everyone to visit our website and view these videos. They showcase the amazing concrete work being installed in San Diego. Also, take the time and tell your owners and contractors about the videos, I’m sure they would love to see their projects highlighted in these amazing clips.

Our Annual Awards Dinner this year is scheduled for May 7, 2010 at the Marriott in Mission Valley. ACI San Diego Chapter will be honoring previous project winners from 2000-2008, choosing one project from each category. The projects that are chosen will be presented on May 7 as our Projects of the Decade. Please look for more details in the up coming months.

Thank you to everyone that made it to our Annual Golf Tournament last month. It was a great success!

Please join us for our upcoming events:

January 12, 2010 for our first ACI 500. Join us for a great presentation on Metakaolin and following the presentation get your race on as we race the tracks at the Miramar Speed Circuit. See flyer more details.

Heather Caya (Executive Secretary), Charlie Gregg (Vice President), and Victor Klemaske (President)

President’s Message
by Victor Klemaske

The ACI’s September program “What is Architectural Concrete?” was a big success. We would like to thank Larry Maes with Product Education Director for the Southern California Concrete Producers, Mary Richards with Standard Concrete Products who discussed sand & aggregate how produced & variances in materials, Mike Meier with Standard Concrete who discussed ready mix plants and how concrete made, John Bosch with Solomon Colors who discussed color concrete/how liquid color works and potential reasons for color variance in concrete, and Bruce Umeck with The L.M. Scoffield Company who discussed forming, finishing & workmanship issues, for putting on great presentations. We want to express our gratitude to all of the vendors who set up display table, without your support ACI could not put on the great educational programs we do each month. I’d also like to thank my company, T.B. Penick & Sons for allowing us to host the event at their office. Thousands of people each year attend these extended credit programs on Architectural Concrete. Those who attended it here in San Diego were lucky enough to leave the program and tour T.B. Penick’s facilities, which show cases hundreds of different types of decorative concrete products.

Everyone who attends our annual awards dinner knows that Jeff Ferris with Propex puts together a first class video presentation of the winning projects. Those videos are now posted on our website here. I encourage everyone to visit our website and view these videos. They showcase the amazing concrete work being installed in San Diego. Also, take the time and tell your owners and contractors about the videos, I’m sure they would love to see their projects highlighted in these amazing clips.

Take advantage of your ACI memberships and register to attend The World of Concrete free. Simply go to www.concrete.org, click on the World of Concrete panel and fill in the blanks. While you are at the website, check out ACI’s upcoming Fall Convention, or other upcoming ACI seminars.

Please join us for our upcoming events:

On October 2, the ACI has our annual Golf Tournament at Twin Oaks Golf Course. This is a great tournament and our major fundraiser for the year. I hope to see everyone at there. Spots are still open.

Victor Klemaske

ACI Message
by Heather Caya / Victor Klemaske

I’d like to remind everyone of the abundance of information that ACI makes available to our members. Please take time to visit our local chapter ’s website [you've made it—thanks for visiting!] and national’s website. On our local website you will find our membership roster, which is a who’s who guide to concrete in San Diego. Also on our website you will find a calendar of upcoming events [in the left-hand sidebar], and information on our library. And now, for your viewing pleasure, our Annual Awards program from May 8, 2009.

Please join us for our upcoming events:

On September 15, we get back to business with our course on Architectural Concrete. This course provides an overview of decorative concrete applications. It is also a chance to talk with a wide range of experts in decorative concrete all in one place.

On October 2, the ACI has our annual Golf Tournament at Twin Oaks Golf Course. This is a great tournament and our major fundraiser for the year. I hope to see everyone at there.

Heather Caya / Victor Klemaske

President’s Message

by Victor Klemaske

ACI held our annual social event on July 14 at Seau’s Restaurant. The event was a big success. We had the most diversified attendance I can remember at an ACI social event. Engineers, material suppliers, city officials, students, ready mix producers and contractors were all in attendance. We all enjoyed a beautiful San Diego night, drinks, appetizers and the Baseball All-Star game. It was a great opportunity to interact with industry professionals outside of the work environment.

I’d like to remind everyone of the abundance of information that ACI makes available to our members. Please take time to visit our local chapter’s website at www.aci-sandiego.org and national’s website at www.concrete.org. On our local website you will find our membership roster, which is a who’s who guide to concrete in San Diego. Also on our website you will find a calendar of upcoming events, and information on our library.

Please join us for our upcoming events:

August we have no events scheduled.

On September 15, we get back to business with our course on Decorative Concrete. This course provides an overview of decorative concrete applications. It is also a chance to talk with a wide range of experts in decorative concrete all in one place.

On October 2, the ACI has our annual Golf Tournament at Twin Oaks Golf Course. This is a great tournament and our major fundraiser for the year. I hope to see everyone at there.

Victor Klemaske

President’s Message

by Victor Klemaske

The ACI’s mission is to provide knowledge and information for the best use of concrete. However, I believed the true value of being an ACI member is in the relationship you build with other members. Our June program was on Insulated Concrete Forms. It was very informative and I would like to thank Nudura Corporation and Border Products for presenting the program. We had a hard time recruiting for this program. Many of the people I spoke with cited time constraints and other business or family obligations.

We can all relate to those. Several others told me that they do not deal with ICF and did not think they would get anything out of the presentation. I don’t think these people understand the true value of being an ACI member. My company may never install an ICF project. However, one day in the future a client will ask me about ICF, and I will be a resource to them. I have learned enough about ICF from the presentation to speak intelligently about the process.

More importantly, I meet two of the industries most knowledgeable people, and know who to turn to in the future. This concept works for every aspect of our industry. I find the time and money I commit to ACI every year pays for itself. We are all presented with concrete problems we do not have the answer to. Without the relationships that I have built in ACI, I would have to spend much more time and money solving the problems that come up. I would invite everyone to take advantage of their ACI membership as I do. Attend our presentations, build those relationships, and pick up the phone and call a fellow ACI member when those problems arise.

New Website
ACI of San Diego will be launching our new website in July, please check us out at www.aci-sandiego.org.

Upcoming Events:
On July 14th, ACI will be holding a free social event at Seau’s Restaurant. I’ve always believed the true benefit of being an ACI membership is the network of experts I meet at programs like this one.

October 2, is ACI’s annual Golf Tournament at Twin Oaks Golf Course. This is a great tournament and our major fundraiser for the year. I hope to see everyone at there.

Thank you and I look forward to serving everyone as this year’s president,
Victor Klemaske

Download the full May news letter (.pdf)

The ACI San Diego Chapter’s Annual Awards program was a huge success. ACI San Diego once again proved itself to be on the leading edge of concrete technology. Our membership consists of Architects, Engineers, Contractors, Ready-Mix Producers, Inspectors and Material Suppliers. The annual awards ceremony is a testament to what can be accomplished with concrete when all of these groups work together. It takes a lot to pull off a program like this; I’d like to thank all of the members of our awards committee. In particular, I’d to thank to Jeff Ferris with Propex Concrete Systems and Heather Caya our Executive Secretary. These two commit a large amount of time and energy to make our awards program the first class event that it is.

Along with handing out awards, the ACI also took care of some business. We also announced our 2009 board. Joining the board this year are Ben Briggs, Phil Harris, Quinn McQuire and Jim Tkach. In these economic times, it can be deficit to find the time to volunteer for groups like ACI. I want to thank the all of our officers and trustees for there commitment to ACI and our industry. We also acknowledged our scholarships winners for the year, I’d like to congratulate this years recipients, Michael Daneshvar and Michael Barnes of UCSD.

Upcoming Events:
Everyone is asking “where’s the work?” Are you getting tired of being one of twenty contractors biding on every school project? Instead of fighting over the few projects that are out there, why not offer something new to the market place. With that in mind, the ACI’s June 16th program will be an introduction to Insulated Concrete Forms. ICF is an underutilized product that offers many benefits over traditional constructions methods. Attendees will leave this program understanding the basic installation techniques and an understanding of the environmental, design and construction benefits of utilizing ICF.

On July 14th, ACI will be holding a free social event at Seau’s Restaurant. I’ve always believed the true benefit of being an ACI membership is the network of experts I meet at programs like this one.

October 2, is ACI’s annual Golf Tournament at Twin Oaks Golf Course. This is a great tournament and our major fundraiser for the year. I hope to see everyone at there.

Thank you and I look forward to serving everyone as this year’s President.

Victor Klemaske

President’s Message
by Robert Piceno

As we continue through what so far seems to be a fast paced year we are only a few weeks away from our annual awards event that will occur on May 8th. I continue to talk about the event in anticipation of how good it will be. Our awards committee has been working extremely hard and putting in a lot of time to make sure that this year’s awards banquet is better than the last years. Jeff Ferris of Propex Concrete Systems, who is heading up the committee, continues to bring great information to each board meeting. This past meeting he brought up the idea of another award “The People’s Choice Award”. If your project was submitted you have the opportunity to vote via text. The winner of this award will be decided by text message votes, so spread the word and text your vote for your project and we’ll see you there to collect your award.
The program we held last month brought to the fore front a lot of good information pertaining to stimulus plan and beyond. Our speakers Tom Tietz and Jack Boda both did a fabulous job informing the audience on a number of things such as the impact of the national economy and trends, background and projections for California, overview of the Regional economy and how this impacts our San Diego transportation industry and how the San Diego Region proposes to implement the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. I want to once again thank both Tom and Jack for being able to take the time out of their busy schedules and present us with the information that is reflecting our industry now and in the future.
As I near the completion of my term as ACI San Diego Chapter President I reflect back on the past year and the many rewards it brought, from meeting a number of new people in the industry to having the opportunity to work with a talented group of board members who all worked very hard to bring the best information to us in San Diego. Heather Caya, I can’t thank you enough for your patience and all you do in helping this chapter run smooth.

Thank you all for the great experience and I’ll see you around.

Be Safe,

President’s Message

by Robert Piceno

Back in October I provided an update of what is discussed at our monthly board meetings. As a reminder we discuss upcoming programs, the annual awards event, membership, student chapters and scholarships. All board members dedicate valuable time and hard work to provide these to our members. With all the time dedicated and hard work given it once again paid off…The ACI San Diego Chapter has been named an ACI Outstanding Chapter for 2008. The ACI San Diego Board can take exceptional pride in having reached this level since only “8” ACI chapters are receiving this award for 2008. Congratulations on this accomplishment to all board members who have helped make this happen.

As we look back at February we were unable to offer a quality program so we decided to go dark in February and prepare for our program in March, “Integral Waterproofing + Corrosion Protection Solutions for Concrete”. Jim Hill with Hycrete, Inc will be providing us with some valuable tips and information that can help with your current or upcoming projects. You can locate more information on this program in this news letter or on our website,
www.aci-sandiego.org ; we’ll plan on seeing you there!

Welcome and thank all the new members who have recently signed up or renewed their membership. We appreciate the support that you and your companies give to the ACI San Diego Chapter and you can see that your board members will work hard to bring you the very best.

You can download the full January news letter as a .pdf

We started off our new year with a great program on Concrete Petrography that was well attended. Our guest speaker Aimee Pergalsky of The Euclid Chemical Company did a fantastic job of informing us of the realistic expectations of what can be expected when a Petragraphic analysis is performed. I’d like to thank Aimee Pergalsky and the Euclid Chemical Company for giving the members of the ACI San Diego Chapter the opportunity to benefit from a true industry professional.

We also had the pleasure to have Mactec Engineering set up a table with a lot of great samples along with a microscope for a real look into a petragraphic analysis. Along side of Mactec’s table was the Structural Group who had on display a number remedy’s and options for treatment from minor to major concrete issues and it is always nice to know where you can go to if you do find yourself in a tough spot. We would like to thank both Mactec Engineering and the Structural Group for providing us with this great information.

As we move into February we are quickly trying to put into place either a program on SCC – Self Consolidating Concrete or ICS – Insulated Concrete Forms. Both program topics are great and will provide the ACI San Diego industry with more great information to be presented to them at their doorstep. Please continue to look for the program information and all other up coming programs through an email blast or by visiting out website at www.aci-sandiego.org.

Moving forward together in these trying times, let’s try and remain focused and positive. If the 2009 year hasn’t exactly got off on the right foot, whether you’ve already broken your diet and exercise routine or work isn’t going as planned, then let’s compare the start of the 2009 year to a round of golf for an average golfer. As most of us average golfers know the first hole is typically a bad hole. We look to start off with a birdie (wishful thinking) or a par, but in most cases we end up writing down on the score card either a bogey or double bogey. In this volatile game of golf we never know what we’ll be putting down on the score card next, so we must remain focused, positive and prepare. The game is not yet over or lost, there are 17 holes left (11 on the work calendar score card).

Lastly, I would like to welcome and thank all the new members who have recently signed up or renewed their membership. We appreciate the support that you and your companies give to the ACI San Diego Chapter.

Until next time, Be Safe!