Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Bryan Smith Elected CSI Denver President
Bryan Smith, Technical Director at US MIX / US SPEC, has recently been elected President of The Construction Specification’s Institute (CSI) Denver Chapter for fiscal year 2014. Bryan has been active in CSI on both a local and national level since 2008 and served as Vice President last year.
CSI’s mission is “to advance building information management and education of project teams to improve facility performance”. As President, Bryan is responsible for the day-to-day responsibilities for the institute and is the point person and final decision maker. However, Bryan emphasizes that he encourages the board to work together and make decisions as a group. The board meets monthly and focuses on increasing membership and utilization of the great resources they have available. Bryan says, “what CSI offers is the ability to advance the quality of construction through documentation”.
CSI offers certification exam for CDT, CCS and CCCA and hold study courses twice a year. There is also an “Academic Task Group” that works with local universities to present CSI to Construction Management and Architectural departments and expose them to construction documentation and specification organization.
In addition, CSI has organized several popular job site tours including a tour of Colorado State University’s new student building and a large project where participants could visit at various phases of construction to see how the process evolves.
According to Bryan, his involvement with CSI “ensures that we are a leader in the construction specification industry.” It provides US SPEC with exposure to the specifications community and provides numerous networking opportunities both regionally and nationally.
CSI’s mission is “to advance building information management and education of project teams to improve facility performance”. As President, Bryan is responsible for the day-to-day responsibilities for the institute and is the point person and final decision maker. However, Bryan emphasizes that he encourages the board to work together and make decisions as a group. The board meets monthly and focuses on increasing membership and utilization of the great resources they have available. Bryan says, “what CSI offers is the ability to advance the quality of construction through documentation”.
CSI offers certification exam for CDT, CCS and CCCA and hold study courses twice a year. There is also an “Academic Task Group” that works with local universities to present CSI to Construction Management and Architectural departments and expose them to construction documentation and specification organization.
In addition, CSI has organized several popular job site tours including a tour of Colorado State University’s new student building and a large project where participants could visit at various phases of construction to see how the process evolves.
According to Bryan, his involvement with CSI “ensures that we are a leader in the construction specification industry.” It provides US SPEC with exposure to the specifications community and provides numerous networking opportunities both regionally and nationally.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
US SPEC Joins Post-Tensioning Institute
US SPEC has joined the Post-Tensioning Institute (PTI), an organization dedicated to advancing post-tensioning applications through marketing, education, research, teamwork and code development while advancing the quality, safety, efficiency, profitability, and use of post-tensioning systems.
Recognized as the worldwide authority on post-tensioning, PTI represents a community of businesses and professionals dedicated to expanding quality post-tensioning applications. Megan Lord, who is managing the development of US SPEC’s PT Grout program, says our membership with PTI “allows us to have a voice and be involved with a strong organization that is developing and shaping the PT industry.”
In addition, Bryan Smith, Technical Director, has been appointed as an Associate Member of M-55 Grouting Committee. Bryan says, “We joined PTI in accord with our own moral compass towards continual pursuit of quality and improvement – in every aspect of our business. We joined to participate and help improve the industry in any way we can.”
Thursday, August 15, 2013
US SPEC New Website Announcement
The updated product pages contain information about the complete US SPEC product line. With easy-to-use product calculators and instructional videos, it is easier than ever to access information and find the products you need.
New features include "The Tool Box" which is designed as a gathering place of technical information, company newsletters, videos and photos - all designed to inform and educate our customers on US SPEC products.
We hope you enjoy browsing our new site and learning more about our products and company.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Friday, May 31, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Standards and Specifications
A note from Bryan Smith, US SPEC Technical Director:
A quote I heard during this past Post-Tensioning Institute (PTI) Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona was “Those who show up make the rules” (ASPIRE magazine, William Nickas). In response to this quote, US SPEC participates in the development of standards and specifications with organizations such as ASBI, ASTM, CSI and ICRI to name a few.
As a manufacturer we are constantly presented with various specifications to comply with. We take our ability to meet these specifications very seriously and develop products to meet the most legitimate industry specifications and standards. This may be in the form of A/E specifications or DOT specifications. Regardless of what specifications we are faced with, one aspect generally remains consistent across the board - they are all different! Regional climate considerations are an understandable reason for some of these changes; however, most of the differences in specification requirements are due to lack of industry knowledge beyond each municipality’s governance.
One commendable effort being pursued by the post-tension industry is a joint initiative between state DOTs and the FHWA (U.S. Federal Highway Association). This initiative is taking place in the PTI M-50/ASBI joint task group. Meetings will be held at PTI and ASBI conventions. The objective of this committee is to bring all state DOTs together in an effort to develop a single specification for post-tension grouting for adoption nationwide. The current guide specification produced by PTI (M-55) is constantly improving and serves as a progressively rigid document to use as the foundation for this effort.
TXDOT is the first state DOT we are aware of who is planning to adopt PTI M-55 as their chief PT grouting specification. With more than 53,000 bridges statewide (more than any other state) and more than 600 post-tensioned bridges, it seems fitting they are on board with advancing this effort. What is their reasoning? Life-cycle cost savings!
The more information we share in community through similar experiences the more we can learn from each other and improve our systems, technologies, materials and the overall built environment in which we live and operate.
ASBI: American Segmental Bridge Institute
ASTM: American Society for Testing and Materials
CSI: Construction Specifications Institute
ICRI: International Concrete Repair Institute
A quote I heard during this past Post-Tensioning Institute (PTI) Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona was “Those who show up make the rules” (ASPIRE magazine, William Nickas). In response to this quote, US SPEC participates in the development of standards and specifications with organizations such as ASBI, ASTM, CSI and ICRI to name a few.
As a manufacturer we are constantly presented with various specifications to comply with. We take our ability to meet these specifications very seriously and develop products to meet the most legitimate industry specifications and standards. This may be in the form of A/E specifications or DOT specifications. Regardless of what specifications we are faced with, one aspect generally remains consistent across the board - they are all different! Regional climate considerations are an understandable reason for some of these changes; however, most of the differences in specification requirements are due to lack of industry knowledge beyond each municipality’s governance.
One commendable effort being pursued by the post-tension industry is a joint initiative between state DOTs and the FHWA (U.S. Federal Highway Association). This initiative is taking place in the PTI M-50/ASBI joint task group. Meetings will be held at PTI and ASBI conventions. The objective of this committee is to bring all state DOTs together in an effort to develop a single specification for post-tension grouting for adoption nationwide. The current guide specification produced by PTI (M-55) is constantly improving and serves as a progressively rigid document to use as the foundation for this effort.
TXDOT is the first state DOT we are aware of who is planning to adopt PTI M-55 as their chief PT grouting specification. With more than 53,000 bridges statewide (more than any other state) and more than 600 post-tensioned bridges, it seems fitting they are on board with advancing this effort. What is their reasoning? Life-cycle cost savings!
The more information we share in community through similar experiences the more we can learn from each other and improve our systems, technologies, materials and the overall built environment in which we live and operate.
ASBI: American Segmental Bridge Institute
ASTM: American Society for Testing and Materials
CSI: Construction Specifications Institute
ICRI: International Concrete Repair Institute
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