Pennsylvania Concrete Masonry Association Promotional Successes


Our Promotional Successes
Special Inspection of Masonry Structures Seminars The Special Inspection of Masonry Structures Seminars were held April 5 in State College and April 7 in Philadelphia. This seminar was developed by The Masonry Society for the ICC to prepare for the ICC/TMS Special Masonry Structural Inspectors Certification Examination. Once certified, one would be able to perform special inspections masonry structures as required of the owner as per in Chapter 17 of the International Building Code. The International Masonry Institute, The Masonry Society and National Concrete Masonry Association were also behind this important training. Presenters were: DIANE B. THROOP, P.E., FASTM, FTMS, Director of Engineering at the International Masonry Institute and Chair of the 2011 Masonry Standards Joint Committee (MSJC) - the group charged with writing the national masonry code and specification (TMS 402/ASCE 530/ASCE5 and TMS 602/ACI 530.1/ASCE 6). JASON THOMPSON, Director of Engineering, National Concrete Masonry Association and President of the Masonry Alliance for Codes and Standards. The Mason Contractors of Central PA co-sponsored the State College event and the Delaware Valley Masonry Institute co-sponsored in Philadelphia. Thank you to Walt Schneider, Director of Centre Region Code Administration, for the use of the facility and for helping us to get attendees through his network of contacts and John Phillips, Bricklayers & Allied Crafts Workers Local 1.



NCMA SRW Design Seminar A seminar for the New NCMA SRW Design Manual and Software was held on March 4th at Centre Region Council of Governments Building in State College. Lance Carter, P.E., M.ASCE, Technical Director, Strata Systems. Inc. was the presenter for the full day event which was attended by 25 engineers, architects and code officials. This seminar walked wall designers, specifiers and engineers through both design tools which include information on the most up to date methodology for wall design including: the removal of hinge height requirements replacement of bulging with ICS analysis analysis of offset surcharges and dynamic seismic load changes drainage and seismic topics have been merged into this manual new section on tall walls the roles and responsibilities of the SRW designer was added to define roles on a project The Internal Compound Stability Analysis has been added as a final check to analyze, through slope stability methods, potential compound slip circles beginning behind the wall and exiting at the face. The 180 page 3rd Edition Design Manual features more than 70 illustrations and tables. The related software, SRWall 4.0 is packed with new tools and capabilities to increase design productivity and incorporates the new methodology published in the Manual. This is the first major upgrade since 2002! It will automatically alert you to updates and new releases, too! Thank you to Walt Schneider, Director of Centre Region Code Administration, for the use of the facility and for helping us to get attendees through his network of contacts.



2 Hour Version of the Generic Segmental Retaining Wall Seminar Developed PCMA committee members developed a 2 hour version of our popular “Planning and Design Considerations for Segmental Retaining Wall” Seminar. This new seminar compliments the original 1 hour seminar developed in 2006 and presented to engineers, landscape professionals and the PA Department of Transportation. This seminar is the only one of its kind in the country and has been extremely well received.



PA Skills Winners At the competition held April 7, 2011 in Lebanon, PA the following students won awards:

Secondary School
Jordan Zook Berks Career & Tech Center	1st Place	$500 from Masonry Instructors Assoc. of PA

Austin McGuire Clearfield Career & Tech Center	2nd Place	Mason's Tool Bag with Tools

Post Secondary School
Jimmy Jordan Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades	1st Place	$500 from PCMA

Matthew Romanowski Penn College of Technology	2nd Place	Mason's Tool Bag with Tools
		Tool Bags courtesy of Bon Tool Company.



Residential Basement A website, www.blockbasement.org was created to show the benefits of concrete masonry to homeowners searching on the internet. We are developed a brochure to highlight the benefits of block basements without attacking the competing systems.



Fifth Annual Masonry Instructors Workshop A very successful Masonry Instructors Workshop was held September 27, 2010 at the Harrisburg Area Community College Conference Center. The purpose of the workshop is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and assistance for teaching young men and women to have the best possible skills for entrance into the workplace or for post secondary masonry education. Ken Mauzy, Workforce Development Committee Chair served as MC for the event. Presentations were made by Mark Lantz from the PA Home Builders Association and Deanna Lewis from the Home Building Institute in Washington DC about the endorsement of masonry programs and certification of students. Vince Safran, Beth Marshal and Dave Garnes from the PA Department of Education (PDE) and Rae Lees representing NOCTI participated in a round table discussion of: PDE initiatives, approval of Vo-Tech Programs by PDE, SOARS competency testing for post secondary placement and the NOCTI testing and teacher evaluations. It was a lively discussion. Todd File, Graymont Dolime, presented about masonry mortar options for the classroom and John Bongiovanni, Bon Tool Company, showed a new brick and block splitter. The High Priority Occupation List and that fact that masonry must stay on this list was highlighted throughout the presentations by PDE as extremely important for funding of the schools. We are on this important list thru July 2011 at which time masonry, along with each curriculum, will be re-evaluated. We will remain proactive to assure that we remain on the list. Evaluation forms were completed by each attendee who received 8 credit hours under Act 48 for the day. On this evaluation form we asked if they taught SRW or Pavers as part of the curriculum in masonry or in the horticulture class. This data will be forwarded to the Hardscape Committee for follow up on training options. We thank these presenters for sharing their expertise with the instructors. At the close of the Workshop, the Masonry Instructors Association of PA members held a meeting. The 6th Annual Workshop is planned for September 2011.



Masons Maintained on PA Priority Occupations List Through Governor Rendell and the Departments of Education, Labor & Industry, Community & Economic Development and Public Welfare, a list of targeted industry clusters was created to address those sectors facing workforce challenges now and in the future. Industries on the “priority list” are a part of an “aggressive strategy” to increase workforce in those areas. This designation allows for funding from the federal government that is coming to PA to potentially go to mason training at the secondary, post secondary and adult training level. Without this designation, the Secondary and Post Secondary Schools in the State could lose funding for their programs. These programs create “seed employees” for the union and non-union mason contractors alike. There are no down sides to getting this funding opportunity – only negatives if we are removed. When reviewing the Building and Construction Cluster, it was apparent that masonry was not included originally in 2005 but PCMA was able to show support and get masons added to the list. Upon review of the criteria, we could have had masons removed from the list as of July 2007 and again in 2009. PCMA members gathered letters from masonry contracting companies stating the need for masons. Within the two week time frame, we were able to get letters of support showing three times the amount needed by the State. Our submissions were successful in reinstating masons on this very important High Priority Occupations list. PCMA continues to be the lead association as the voice of the masonry industry in the State with the PA Department of Education and The Workforce Investment Board of the PA Center for Workforce Information and Analysis.