15. Desirable Concrete Properties-
Balancing Requirements
• Strength
– Consistent with design
– More is not necessarily better
• Durability
– Entrained air for freeze/thaw
– Impermeability
• Other performance requirements
– Economy
– Aesthetics
– Sustainability
– Workability
– Lowest shrinkage potential
– Moisture stable
Editor's Notes
Edwin Brazelton Snead, Bill’s father, went into business for himself when he founded E.B. Snead Construction Company in 1932. Ten years later, he opened his first quarry in Austin, just southwest of MoPac and FM 2222. In 1947, he incorporated Texas Crushed Stone and also opened his second quarry, at the corner of MoPac and Far West Boulevard in Austin.
In 1958, with the limestone almost depleted in the second quarry, E.B. began looking for a new quarry site, which he found near Georgetown.
The Old Quarry Branch of the Austin Public Library system opened with great fan-fare on January 15, 1976 in the Northwest Hills Shopping Center in Northwest Austin. The branch was designed by architect Charles B. Croft and built on property that once held a 100-acre, 30-foot deep limestone quarry—hence the name “Old Quarry.” Equipped with 8,300 square feet of floor space, the new branch replaced the Highland Park Branch, which had faithfully served the Northwest Austin area from 1958 until its closing in 1975. Bright Leaf began as the inspiration of Georgia Lucas. She purchased the land in 34 separate real estate transactions in order to put together the property she named Bright Leaf. At the end of her life, she wanted to preserve the land so others could appreciate it and benefit from its beauty. A place for visitors to take guided hikes to learn about the land and as a place of reflection and meditation. The land was first under Texas Parks and Wildlife management and is now owned by the Austin Community Foundation. This private foundation is committed, like TPWD was, to maintaining the area and upholding the Lucas will. To gather 216 acres of contiguous undeveloped land within the city limits of Austin today would be impossible. This is a treasure we can thank Georgia Lucas for and do our part to hand down to future generations. Bright Leaf is a powerful teaching tool for the many visitors, young and old, who walk its trails. The geology of Texas and the Hill Country is evident in the numerous fossils and rocks and the quarry area allows us to see how the layers of sediment were deposited at the bottom of the waters that once covered Texas. This is no dry classroom lecture; this is something people can really see and understand.
STAR Soccer Complex has 13 full size tournament quality fields and one warm up field. All fields can be modified to accommodate youth soccer and various other sports
The start of construction this spring on a 6,100-seat, state-of-the-art stadium constitutes another major stride forward as the San Antonio Scorpions FC, San Antonio’s new professional soccer team, prepares for entry into the North American Soccer League (NASL).
“Scorpions Community Stadium will be a premier sports and special-events venue when it opens for the 2013 season,” said Gordon Hartman, founder of Soccer for a Cause, the community-wide effort to grow soccer in Greater San Antonio as well as benefit non-profit Morgan’s Wonderland family theme park. “In the meantime, we’re making tremendous progress on all fronts as we get set for the Scorpions’ first NASL home game just a dozen short weeks away on April 15.”
Hartman, who unveiled multiple architectural renderings, said the new stadium paralleling Thousand Oaks Drive across from Morgan’s Wonderland in Northeast San Antonio will be constructed with private funding and will be expandable to 18,000 seats. Stadium features include a grass playing field built to FIFA and NCAA specifications, luxury suites, a VIP lounge, a team merchandise store, a patio/beer garden, a large video scoreboard and shaded seating on the west side of the stadium.
While the team’s new home is being built, the Scorpions will play 2012 NASL home games in North East Independent School District’s 11,000-seat Heroes Stadium at Wurzbach Parkway and Thousand Oaks Drive.
2130 acres, housing for 16,000 people, 1100 acres of green space (around 50% of land area)
In 2009 Texas Lehigh worked with the Capital Area Council of Governments to voluntarily reduce the amount of ozone precursors (nitrogen oxide) at its Buda plant during Ozone Action Days. The company also worked with Austin-based Carbon Shrinks LLC to create a Community Advisory Group and a voluntary testing protocol to study emissions safety levels from alternative fuels. The plant is partially powered by alternative fuels such as used tires and untreated wood waste from regional collection rather than relying entirely on fossil fuels.
L.A. River: From Afterthought to Asset: The $2B initiative which builds on the county’s plan and addresses that section of the river within city limits, proposes 238 projects aimed at improving water quality, greening the river’s banks, creating riverside parks and walkways, and promoting sensitive redevelopment of adjacent brownfield sites. The plan also calls for remediation of urban runoff.
Its not a secret there is a helluva lot more money in a project like this for you guys but it also is a more desirable project for most of us in the concrete industry. Of course, in a volume-driven business, the LA river sounds good in numbers of yards onf just plain simple vanilla concrete. But in value-added terms, the SA river brings higher-value, larger margin work and with this type of project comes all the high rises and othee adjacent work.
