Workshops

This presentation was co-sponsored by NEx at ACI Spring Convention 2023 in San Francisco and is delivered by Cary Kopczynski, ACI past president and CEO of Cary Kopczynski & Company (CKC). The presentation focuses on an engineer’s perspective and considerations for designing with FRP reinforcement, and several case histories illustrating the successful use of FRP reinforcing in U.S. construction projects. 

This presentation was co-sponsored by NEx at ACI Spring Convention 2023 in San Francisco and is delivered by Matthew Chynoweth, National Complex Bridge Director for WSP USA. This presentation highlights the use of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) for pre-tensioning and post-tensioning of concrete bridge elements, FRP mild reinforcement, and the use of FRP for strengthening and sustainability purposes in transportation infrastructure.

This presentation was co-sponsored by NEx at ACI Spring Convention 2023 in San Francisco and is delivered by Josh Beech, owner of Beech Contractors LLC. The presentation provides insights from a contractor’s perspective. It highlights the challenges faced during installation, including technical, manufacturing, and fabrication issues, as well as the learning curve and resistance to implementing this new technology. Despite these challenges, it highlights the potential of FRP reinforcement in various applications and expressed optimism about its future in concrete building and infrastructure projects.

This presentation was co-sponsored by NEx at ACI Spring Convention 2023 in San Francisco and is delivered by Rudolf Seracino, professor at North Carolina State University. The current Harkers Island Bridge consists of two bridges and serves as the only link to the mainland in Carteret County, North Carolina. Opened in 1970, Bridge No. 73 is structurally deficient, and Bridge No. 96 is functionally obsolete. Construction of the 3,200 ft long, 28 span, prestressed concrete replacement bridge began in the second half of 2021. To address the durability problems of existing bridges in the aggressive corrosive environment of coastal North Carolina, the Harkers Island Bridge replacement was designed as an all-FRP reinforced/prestressed concrete bridge – the first of its kind in North Carolina. This presentation will provide a detailed review of the design and construction progress of the replacement bridge. Lessons learned, best practices, and QA/QC measures will be shared from the perspective of the contractor, precaster, and design engineers.

This presentation was co-sponsored by NEx at ACI Spring Convention 2023 in San Francisco and is delivered by Matthew Senecal, ACI Director of Engineering. He presented his experiences as an engineer learning to design with GFRP. He discussed the challenges and lessons learned in transitioning from designing with conventional steel reinforcement to FRP reinforcement and highlighted the importance of technical knowledge and expertise in designing with FRP reinforcement.

This presentation was co-sponsored by NEx at ACI Spring Convention 2023 in San Francisco and is delivered by Brett McMahon, Chairman and CEO of Miller & Long Co., Inc. This presentation provides builder’s perspective on the “Cost-Saving Features of FRP Products.” McMahon shared insights on how FRP reinforcement can be cost and time effective in construction projects and elaborated on its advantages in terms of ease of placement, lighter weight, and noncorrosive nature.

This presentation was cosponsored by NEx at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston and was delivered by Steve Szoke, Distinguished Staff and Code Advocacy Engineer at the American Concrete Institute. Code requirements limit the application of building elements based on fire resistance ratings. This imposes limitations for structural concrete reinforced with GFRP reinforcement. However, polymer fibers may enhance the performance of structural concrete in fire scenarios. 

This presentation was cosponsored by NEx at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston and was delivered by Venkatesh Kodur, a University Distinguished Professor and Director of the Centre on Structural Fire Engineering and Diagnostics at Michigan State University. In the presentation, the performance problems associated with FRP reinforced concrete structures will be illustrated. Data from both material testing and full-scale fire tests will be utilized to discuss fire performance of concrete members incorporating FRP-reinforcement.

This presentation was cosponsored by NEx at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston and was delivered by Mark F. Green, an ACI Fellow and a professor in civil engineering at Queen’s University. This presentation will provide an overview of research conducted by the applicant and colleagues on both reinforced concrete members (columns, beams, and slabs) strengthened with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets and plates and GFRP reinforced concrete slabs.

This presentation was cosponsored by NEx at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston and was delivered by Steven Nolan, Senior Structures Design Engineer at the Florida Department of Transportation. Typical examples of recent experiences with fires above and under bridges, and the relating damage will be presented, highlight the differences perhaps with conventional building design fire resistance and potential considerations for bridge designed with FRP reinforcing members.

This presentation was cosponsored by NEx at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston and was delivered by Dr. Shuna Ni, Assistant Professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. Polymer concrete (PC) has gained popularity as an ideal material for constructing overlays in civil infrastructure such as bridge decks, owing to its superior properties including rapid surface hardening, high bond strength with underlying concrete, and notable resistance to water, chlorine, skidding, and abrasion. This study investigates the impact of vehicle fire exposure on the performance of PC overlays

This presentation was cosponsored by NEx at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston and was delivered by Tarek Alkhrdaji, Senior Vice President with Structural Technologies in Columbia, Maryland. Externally applied FRP composite systems provide attractive and cost-effective solutions for strengthening of concrete members due to their ease of construction and aesthetically favorable finished look. FRP strengthening systems are required to provide strength increase and also achieve the code required fire resistance.

This presentation was cosponsored by NEx at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston and was delivered by Hassan Al-Khalifa, a professional civil engineer, consulting services in Aramco, Saudi Arabia. The investigation includes the fire behavior of full-scale GFRP bar reinforced concrete slab subjected to industrial fire load. Once fire safety is assured, slabs reinforced with GFRP bars can be used in large areas of industrial facilities. Guidelines and specifications for 2-hour fire resistance of GFRP-reinforced concrete slab-on-ground are proposed.

This presentation was cosponsored by NEx at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston and was delivered by Capra Williams, Graduate Student in Structural Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. A state-of-the-art study on the fire resistance of pultruded FRP structural members was carried out to establish available fire testing information from literature and industry limitations compared with applicable code requirements in order to develop recommendations for how to improve the fire resistance of pultruded structural members for better implementation into the built environment.

This presentation was cosponsored by NEx at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston and was delivered by Shamim Rashid-Sumar, Senior Vice President of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association in New York and Robert Sculthorpe, P.Eng., LEED AP, Technical Director at Insulating Concrete Forms Manufacturers Association (ICFMA). 

NEx Session on Nanocomposite Polymers in Construction Materials Technology was cosponsored by NEx and ACI Committee 241 at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston. This recording contains the opening statement made by NEx President, Mr. Waleed AlOtaibi, Nonmetallic Engineering Manager at Aramco.

NEx Session on Nanocomposite Polymers in Construction Materials Technology was cosponsored by NEx and ACI Committee 241 at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston. This talk was delivered by Konstantin Sobolev, Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Director of the Concrete Sustainability and Resilience Center.

NEx Session on Nanocomposite Polymers in Construction Materials Technology was cosponsored by NEx and ACI Committee 241 at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston. This talk was delivered by Prof. Robert Macfarlane, Paul M. Cook Associate Professor of Materials Science in the Department of Materials Science, MIT.

NEx Session on Nanocomposite Polymers in Construction Materials Technology was cosponsored by NEx and ACI Committee 241 at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston. This talk was delivered by Roland Pellenq, CNRS Research Director (DRCEx) at the European Membrane Institute (Montpellier, France).

NEx Session on Nanocomposite Polymers in Construction Materials Technology was cosponsored by NEx and ACI Committee 241 at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston. This talk was delivered by Anita Vuchkovska, R&D chemist at W. R. Meadows, a leading developer and manufacturer of building materials.

NEx Session on Nanocomposite Polymers in Construction Materials Technology was cosponsored by NEx and ACI Committee 241 at ACI Fall Convention 2023 in Boston. This talk was delivered by Marilyn Minus, Professor and Chair of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, MA, USA.