Concrete's New "Gold" Standard...

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Author Message Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI Senior Member Username: rliebing Post Number: 1055 Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Thursday, September 10, 2009 - 01:24 pm:    You'll love this one--- http://architectureworld.tv/news/index.php/component/content/article/46-misc/126-cement-scandal-seperate-page Mark Gilligan SE, CSI Senior Member Username: mark_gilligan Post Number: 208 Registered: 10-2007 Posted on Thursday, September 10, 2009 - 01:58 pm:    The continual reference to weak cement rather than concrete does not give me confidence that the author understands the technical issues. I highly doubt that engineers in NYC regularly over specify the required strengths. This was not the case when I practiced engineering in NY about 12 years ago and I doubt that the overall level of corruption in NYC has changed significantly. I am not convinced that the steps being proposed by the city will be effective in addressing the root causes of the problem. Why is is that major cities in California appear to do a better job of regulating construction with fewer problems. John Bunzick, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 1109 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Thursday, September 10, 2009 - 02:39 pm:    Anyone who spends five minutes on this site, as I unfortunately did, can't take anything it says very seriously. The issue of falsified ready-mix tickets is real, but the story on the site--a wasteland of nothingness--is written by someone who does not really know what they're talking about. Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 902 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Thursday, September 10, 2009 - 02:56 pm:    the REAL article is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/nyregion/02concrete.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=testwell%20rashbaum&st=cse its from the New York Times, and it does refer to "concrete" not cement. the errors are in the "architectureworld.tv" site, which is obviously written by a moron. the New York Times article is pretty good, not imflammatory and more balanced. George A. Everding, AIA, CSI, CCS, CCCA Senior Member Username: geverding Post Number: 483 Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Thursday, September 10, 2009 - 03:56 pm:    Whenever I hear concrete referred to as cement, I think about Granny asking Jethro to go fetch Elly May from down at the "cement pond" for vittles-time in the fancy eatin' room. George A. Everding AIA CSI CCS CCCA Cannon Design - St. Louis, MO Ronald L. Geren, AIA, CSI, CCS, CCCA, SCIP Senior Member Username: specman Post Number: 797 Registered: 03-2003 Posted on Thursday, September 10, 2009 - 05:42 pm:    I received my early education on the difference between cement and concrete from a civil engineer I was working for during the summer when I was in high school. We were out on a surveying job at a construction site and I made a reference to a "cement mixer" that was on the site. For the next 10 minutes I received the lecture on the difference between the two--I never forgot it. Ron Geren, AIA, CSI, CCS, CCCA, SCIP www.specsandcodes.com Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI Senior Member Username: rliebing Post Number: 1056 Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Friday, September 11, 2009 - 06:48 am:    My sincere apologies to John and others who found the article more nuisance than informative. I did not preen it before listing it-- my bad! The interchange of "cement" for "concrete" is wide spread and commonplace. Of course a reporter is not going to see any difference. It takes a more informed mind to understand and use the words properly. Seems though there are still resdiual instances where specifications [!] deal with "cement sidewalks"-- go figure! Jo Drummond Senior Member Username: jo_drummond_fcsi Post Number: 37 Registered: 06-2007 Posted on Friday, September 11, 2009 - 12:04 pm:    And cement base. Nathan Woods, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: nwoods Post Number: 309 Registered: 08-2005 Posted on Friday, September 11, 2009 - 12:31 pm:    No reason to applogize Ralph. I'm sure many have enjoyed the discourse as much as I have, and I appreciated the link, and the follow-up link from the NY Times. As a left-coaster, reading about your east coast Mafia stuff is interesting.