The following is a summary of TAC actions/discussions from recent meetings, including the Los Angeles 2008 spring meeting.

Committees

Scheduling Committee Meetings for the ACI Fall Convention in St. Louis
Please let Katie Kucher in Event Services know as soon as possible if your meeting days or times differ from Los Angeles, as she has already started the scheduling process.

Technical Committee Manual and Specification Manual
The revised 2008 Technical Committee Manual and the 2008 ACI Specification Manual are now available under the “Technical” tab.

Metrication of Reports and Guides
The Technical Committee Manual states that reports and guides shall be published with dual units and committees must apply to TAC for approval to waive the requirements for dual units before submitting the document to TAC. Reports and guides without metrication will not be accepted for TAC review. Committees requesting a TAC waiver to the metrication policy should contact Jessie Bournay early in the development of the document.

Subcommittee Webpages
Committees can now have webpages dedicated to their informal subcommittees or task groups. All members of the main committee will have access to the informal subcommittee webpage; however, only members of the informal subcommittee are allowed to vote on a subcommittee ballot. Committee chairs should contact Shannon Banchero or Sheela Canfield to create or discharge an informal subcommittee or task group, or change its membership.

ACI Concrete Terminology
The ACI Concrete Terminology is an on-line dictionary that contains terms commonly used in the concrete industry. When a committee submits a document, TAC reviews its defined terms for inclusion in or revision to the ACI Concrete Terminology. Individuals may also submit new definitions or comments on existing definitions to Jessie Bournay.

New Technical Committee
TAC approved the formation of a new technical committee, 130, Sustainability of Concrete. Richard Stehly of American Engineering & Testing was appointed chair. The committee’s mission is to develop and report information on the sustainability of concrete.

Joint Committees
The Board of Direction approved joint sponsorship for two technical committees: both Committee 408, Development and Splicing of Deformed Bars, and Committee 446, Fracture Mechanics of Concrete, are each joint with SEI, with ACI as the major sponsor for both committees.

Retiring TAC Members/New TAC Chair
At the end of the spring convention Ronald Burg, Claude Jaycox, Jim McDonald, and Charles Zalesiak completed their terms on TAC. Sergio Alcocer, Chiara Ferraris, Antonio Nanni, and Michael Sprinkel joined TAC. David Sanders was named TAC Chair.

Funding Available
ACI’s Concrete Research Council and Strategic Development Council both have funding available to support ACI committee work.

Breakfast Meeting for Technical Committee Chairs
Please plan to attend the breakfast meeting for technical chairs on Monday, November 3, 2008, from 6:30 to 8:15 am. It’s a great opportunity to meet with fellow chairs, TAC members, and ACI staff.

Deadlines
To submit documents for TAC review, please keep these deadlines in mind:
For review at the 2008 fall meeting: August 1, 2008.
For review at the 2009 spring meeting: December 12, 2008.

Approved New and Revised Documents

Approvals
TAC approved six documents at their meeting. Congratulations to Committees 207, 309, 357, 371, 439, and 548 for all their hard work!