Check Out PACA’s Continuing Education Courses To Meet Your PDH Requirements!

All professional engineers, land surveyors and geologists in Pennsylvania are required to meet new continuing education requirements by September 30, 2011.

PACA/PCPC offers continuing education classes and seminars that can help engineers meet these requirements, and even better, we bring these presentations right to your firm. Contact us to learn more!

Only 2 Months Left!

Integrating Concrete Into LEED Projects, Pervious Concrete Pavements, Flowable Fill, Roller Compacted Concrete Pavements and Insulated Concrete Form Construction are just a few of the classes that are offered. View a complete list of continuing education programs offered by PACA/PCPC.

Professional Development Hours (credits) obtained on or after October 1, 2009 will qualify. Courses that relate to the licensee's professional practice meet the requirements, as well as courses in ethics and law. The Registration Board has final authority in the event that a course is questionable. Click here for more information on the continuing education requirements.

To learn more or to schedule a class, contact Ken Crank or Bruce Cody today.

Don’t Miss the Pervious Concrete Pavement Design Webinars – September 13 & 20

Interested in learning more about pervious concrete pavement design? Join us for this two part series, Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete Parts I & II. The webinars are scheduled to be conducted on September 13 and September 20, both webinars will begin at 10:00 a.m.

This two-part webinar provides an overview on implementing pervious concrete pavements as a solution to reducing stormwater runoff from building sites and other paved areas. Participants will learn about pervious concrete pavement systems, engineering properties and construction techniques.

Part 1 discusses hydrologic and structural design of pervious concrete pavements. Part 2 addresses the specifics that every specifier should consider when drafting pervious concrete specifications, with a focus on American Concrete Institute (ACI) Committee 522 Guide to Specification for Pervious Concrete. This webinar will help civil engineers, architects, landscape architects and public works officials understand the principles behind pervious concrete design. Contractors, product suppliers and land developers will also benefit from attending.

Architects and engineers earn two Professional Development Hours upon completion of this program. This seminar is registered with the American Institute of Architects Continuing Education Systems.

Note: This is a free event for our attendees. Please use this registration link below and enter the code: nrmcaspecifier.

Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete Part I: Tuesday, September 13

Designing and Specifying Pervious Concrete Part II: Tuesday, September 20

If you have any questions about this event, contact Ken Crank. 

Pervious Concrete – All the Environmental Benefits and Cost Effective Too!

It is hard to deny the environmental benefits gained when using pervious concrete.

Unfortunately, today’s economic conditions dictate that these benefits be realized only if they are within budget constraints. Should first costs drive these decisions? If they do, can pervious concrete compete in that arena?

Yes it can! PACA/PCPC recently consulted a member about a detention system project that was completed in north central Pennsylvania in 2010, and compared conventional system costs versus the cost of using pervious concrete.

The project was 15,775 square feet. It was designed with an underground detention system and asphalt paving. The project had one catch basin and one water quality unit. The detention system was constructed of plastic storm chambers. The pervious concrete system consisted of 6” of pervious concrete with a 12” gravel storage base.

The staff was pleased to learn that there was a 15% savings associated with the construction of a pervious concrete system. Below is the cost comparison of the two systems.

Unfortunately, a conventional stormwater system was selected and the project was constructed in asphalt. If this project incorporated pervious concrete the cost savings would have been $22, 244.00!

Will a pervious system always be less expensive to install than a conventional system? That is difficult to ascertain and would depend on other variables, but this project shows that time should be invested in determining the method that offers the best solution while also being cost effective.

Check out our cost comparison brochure to see the differences between conventional stormwater management systems and pervious concrete.

For more information on this project, you may also contact Bruce Cody.

Ask the Expert!

Q: Is pervious concrete ADA compliant?

A: The ADA Standards for Accessible Design, a construction document that followed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, has always been a design guide of how accessible construction should be built, not a dictatorial method of approving/not approving building material. In some instances, the design guide is very favorable to pervious concrete-like surfaces. In section 4.5 of the guide, the general overall requirements for ground and floor surfaces states: Ground and floor surfaces along accessible routes and in accessible rooms and spaces including floors, walks, ramps, stairs, and curb ramps, shall be stable, firm, slip-resistant. In addition, Section 4.8.8. Outdoor Conditions states: Outdoor ramps and their approaches shall be designed so that water will not accumulate on walking surfaces.

The design guide is very clear on allowable voids in the surface as to the size and direction.  All pervious concrete as we know it would have no problem meeting these requirements. All other design requirements for ADA compliance, like surface offset, cross slope and incline of surface, apply to pervious concrete placement just as it does to plain concrete and other walking/wheelchair surface material.