ACI Code Advocacy Engineers Attend Ports® ’25 Conference

6/5/2025

More than 1,000 attendees and nearly 100 exhibitors, including the American Concrete Institute (ACI), registered for and participated in the Ports® '25 triennial conference, June 1 – 4 in Providence, R.I. Hosted by the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute (COPRI), many of the conference’s technical programs focused on the challenges of retrofitting existing facilities, especially for seismic retrofits, and dealing with sea level change

There were discussions related to floating structures, not just for offshore, but also for piers at ports, to accommodate sea level change better. Attendee interest at the ACI booth was primarily related to ACI CODE 440.11 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete Reinforced with Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) Bars and ACI CODE 562 Assessment, Repair, and Rehabilitation of Existing Concrete Structures, said Steve Szoke, ACI distinguished staff and code advocacy engineer. In addition, attendees also expressed interest in ACI 357 committee documents such as PCR 357 Design and Construction of Fixed Offshore Concrete Structures and 357.3 Guide for the Design of Waterfront and Coastal Concrete Marine Structures.

Other items of note were the size of concrete elements and items anchored to them, such as mooring bollards. Requirements for massive concrete structural elements and anchorage of large elements with huge loads often differ from those addressed in ACI CODE 318 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete.

ACI is a leading authority and resource worldwide for the development dissemination and adoption of its consensus-based standards, technical resources, educational and training programs, and certification programs.

To learn more, visit the visit the ACI Code Advocacy Portal.