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9/1/2010
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Great power involves greater responsibility—and presents great opportunities for change. In its 100-plus years of service to the concrete industry, ACI has grown to play an increasingly important role in the establishment of guidelines that help keep us all safe. This means that we are in a unique position to provide leadership to the global community. When the 318 Building Code was first published in 1941, it represented a milestone for the industry. It provided comprehensive, coherent guidelines for concrete structures. Since then, the 318 Code has remained ACI's flagship, and perhaps its most influential publication. The volunteers of ACI Committee 318, Structural Concrete Building Code, are hard at work on the immense undertaking to overhaul and completely reorganize the 318 Code. Thank you, Randy Poston, Chair of ACI Committee 318, for your leadership as this project continues to move forward to sync with the International Code Council's (ICC) updates to the International Building Code (IBC) in 2015. The 318 Code for 2011 has now gone to the Technical Activities Committee, after which the collaborative process will continue with review comments from the 318 Committee itself, as well as comments from the public. A new element in the 2011 version of the 318 Code is the treatment of adhesive anchorage. After a portion of the ceiling of the Interstate 90 Connector Tunnel in Boston, MA—part of "The Big Dig"— collapsed in July 2006, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a report attributing the failure to the adhesive anchors used to hold up the ceiling panels. As part of its recommendations to avoid future accidents of this type, the NTSB requested ACI's help in addressing standards for adhesive anchors. Thank you, Cathy French, Chair of ACI Subcommittee 318B, for leading the invaluable work on adhesive anchorage in the 318 Code, which will help ACI fulfill our commitment to the NTSB regarding this important safety concern. In addition to changing the standards for adhesive anchorage, ACI is also committed to ensuring that those overseeing its implementation are qualified individuals. To this end, ACI is establishing requirements for certification for adhesive anchorage installers. The certification document being developed will create comprehensive standards for installation, and it will be significant in preventing the kind of misrepresentations of technical knowledge and skill that led to the Boston collapse. John Nehasil, ACI Managing Director of Certification and Chapters, has worked with the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute and accelerated the process to have a certification program up and running by the time the document is published. The dedication of ACI volunteers to update, reorganize, and improve the 318 Code has rippling effects all over the globe. In the U.S., the 318 Code is adopted by the ICC and is subsequently incorporated into the IBC. To reach beyond North America, ACI has created an official Spanish translation of the 318 Code, and this is used throughout Central and South America. ACI is also influencing concrete practices in Asia. I recently attended a meeting of the ACI Taiwan Chapter, and I am pleased to announce that they are currently in the process of translating the 318 Code into Chinese. Not only are our own chapters eager to disseminate the code, but so are our partner organizations. While in Vietnam, I had the opportunity to meet with the Vietnamese Institute of Building Science and Technology. This entity is responsible for establishing building safety requirements throughout the entire country, and the Institute wishes to base its safety standards on the 318 Code. Sharing reliable standards and practices transcends political boundaries and even political differences. At a time when relations between the U.S. and Iran are strained, Iranian engineers are using the 318 Code, translated into Farsi. In that same region, the 318 Code is being used in Kuwait in its original English and, currently, Saudi Arabia is in the process of considering the adoption of the 318 Code as well. Clearly, ACI's reputation for rigorous consensus documents, such as the 318 Code, is known and respected throughout the world. That is something that should make all members proud. Richard D. Stehly American Concrete Institute Dick.Stehly@concrete.org Back to Memo List
Great power involves greater responsibility—and presents great opportunities for change. In its 100-plus years of service to the concrete industry, ACI has grown to play an increasingly important role in the establishment of guidelines that help keep us all safe. This means that we are in a unique position to provide leadership to the global community.
When the 318 Building Code was first published in 1941, it represented a milestone for the industry. It provided comprehensive, coherent guidelines for concrete structures. Since then, the 318 Code has remained ACI's flagship, and perhaps its most influential publication. The volunteers of ACI Committee 318, Structural Concrete Building Code, are hard at work on the immense undertaking to overhaul and completely reorganize the 318 Code. Thank you, Randy Poston, Chair of ACI Committee 318, for your leadership as this project continues to move forward to sync with the International Code Council's (ICC) updates to the International Building Code (IBC) in 2015.
The 318 Code for 2011 has now gone to the Technical Activities Committee, after which the collaborative process will continue with review comments from the 318 Committee itself, as well as comments from the public. A new element in the 2011 version of the 318 Code is the treatment of adhesive anchorage.
After a portion of the ceiling of the Interstate 90 Connector Tunnel in Boston, MA—part of "The Big Dig"— collapsed in July 2006, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a report attributing the failure to the adhesive anchors used to hold up the ceiling panels. As part of its recommendations to avoid future accidents of this type, the NTSB requested ACI's help in addressing standards for adhesive anchors. Thank you, Cathy French, Chair of ACI Subcommittee 318B, for leading the invaluable work on adhesive anchorage in the 318 Code, which will help ACI fulfill our commitment to the NTSB regarding this important safety concern.
In addition to changing the standards for adhesive anchorage, ACI is also committed to ensuring that those overseeing its implementation are qualified individuals. To this end, ACI is establishing requirements for certification for adhesive anchorage installers. The certification document being developed will create comprehensive standards for installation, and it will be significant in preventing the kind of misrepresentations of technical knowledge and skill that led to the Boston collapse. John Nehasil, ACI Managing Director of Certification and Chapters, has worked with the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute and accelerated the process to have a certification program up and running by the time the document is published.
The dedication of ACI volunteers to update, reorganize, and improve the 318 Code has rippling effects all over the globe. In the U.S., the 318 Code is adopted by the ICC and is subsequently incorporated into the IBC. To reach beyond North America, ACI has created an official Spanish translation of the 318 Code, and this is used throughout Central and South America.
ACI is also influencing concrete practices in Asia. I recently attended a meeting of the ACI Taiwan Chapter, and I am pleased to announce that they are currently in the process of translating the 318 Code into Chinese. Not only are our own chapters eager to disseminate the code, but so are our partner organizations. While in Vietnam, I had the opportunity to meet with the Vietnamese Institute of Building Science and Technology. This entity is responsible for establishing building safety requirements throughout the entire country, and the Institute wishes to base its safety standards on the 318 Code.
Sharing reliable standards and practices transcends political boundaries and even political differences. At a time when relations between the U.S. and Iran are strained, Iranian engineers are using the 318 Code, translated into Farsi. In that same region, the 318 Code is being used in Kuwait in its original English and, currently, Saudi Arabia is in the process of considering the adoption of the 318 Code as well.
Clearly, ACI's reputation for rigorous consensus documents, such as the 318 Code, is known and respected throughout the world. That is something that should make all members proud.
Richard D. Stehly American Concrete Institute Dick.Stehly@concrete.org
Back to Memo List
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