World of Concrete 2023 Wrap-Up

We saw so much, we couldn’t possibly include everything.

With over 48,000 registered professionals, the 49th World of Concrete marked a banner year for the show. After a tough couple of years, I think it’s safe to say that the event is back on track. Jackie James, vicr president of WOC says the results exceeded their expectations, noting that “in-person attendance is on its way back to pre-pandemic levels.”

Wausau, Wisconsin-based Michael Schlund and Arron Kowalski won the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 competition, laying 759 bricks in one hour. This effort earned Schlund “World’s Best Bricklayer,” a new Ford F250 4x4 Super Duty truck, an Essick Pro12 Mixer, and more than $15,000 in cash and prizes.

Join us and the rest of the concrete industry in celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the show, January 23-35, 2024 (with education sessions starting on Jan. 22).

The Next Generation Of Concrete

Hosted by Rick Yelton, editor-in-chief of WOC, students within the Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program were invited to present on their experiences and what they learned from their respective internships throughout the concrete industry. Students from California State University – Chico; Middle Tennessee State University; New Jersey Institute of Technology; and Texas State University presented an eightminute speech and answered two minutes of questions from the audience.

Student presentations were judged by three industry leaders to receive the 2022 Bob Weatherton Award plus a $2,500 scholarship. Afterward, one of the judges was so impressed with the quality of the presentations that they put up $5,000 of their own money providing a $1,000 scholarship to the next five runners-up.

The CIM auction broke records (again) this year rasing more than $2.1 million in gross revenue. Auction items included cement, fly ash, aggregate, concrete saws, drills, safety equipment, training sessions, reference books and software subscriptions, laptop computers, sports travel packages and golf and vacation travel packages and much more.

Breaking The Booth

Remote-controlled demolition machine manufacturer Brokk was busy during the show with the launch of the new My Brokk online support platform, two breaker attachments for the Brokk 900, (the BHB 1500 and BHB 1300) and the new Brokk 70—the smallest electric robot in the company’s range.

EQUIPMENT TRACKING, MADE EASIER

Dustin Garry, a 22-year construction industry veteran and CEO of DM Gary Holding Co., launched Rooster—a Kansas-based Construction Technology company—with the Rooster Asset Tracking System, an equipment management tool that captures powered, unpowered and heavy equipment activity and automates reporting for $1/month.

CALIBRATE YOUR CONCRETE SENSOR, QUICKER

From weather conditions, scheduling issues, or even last-minute changes to your mix order and delivery, since you never know what changes will come your way, Giatec’s new SmartRock Pro is a selfcalibrating maturity sensor with seven years of research behind it. Sensors detect the mix and utilize an AI algorithm to determine maturity and strength.

LONG LAG TIMES, BUT NO RECESSION

During his presentation, Portland Cement Association Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Market Intelligence, Ed Sullivan, projected a gradual weakening of the U.S. economy under high inflation, rising interest rates and geopolitical turmoil. He cautioned that the impact of the infrastructure bill on the construction industry and the U.S. economy as a whole, will not be as much of a boon as many were hoping for either.

He stressed that there are long lag times to take into account when creating a forecast. These lag times range anywhere from 12-18 months, meaning the economy could possibly not reflect the impact of interest rate increases made by the Federal Reserve last spring, until winter 2023.

Plus, Sullivan says there’s a chance that the Fed could become more aggressive in its rate hikes because the economy has shown near-term resilience over the last year. If further hikes are made, the impact timetable can stretch into 2024. Find the full report at https://CONC.me/fj8c5a

COLLECT $200 AS YOU PASS THE BATCH PLANT

Founded by Mike Murray in 2012, Concrete Cares is a 501/c3 charitable group helping families and children battling cancer. The group is led by Mike and Donna Murray, Katie Murray, Bob and Laurie Banka, Kevin and Cathy Brunnemer and Rick and Leslie Hite. The goal is to help parents who have children going through cancer treatments by walking with them and assisting them with necessities such as rent, car and utility payments and food.

Banka’s company, Concrete Management Solutions decided that he could help raise funds for scholarships to the five Concrete Information Management programs as well as support Concrete Cares, by creating a “concrete” themed Monopoly board game, “ConcreteOpoly®,” revolving around the concrete and construction industry. Instead of the racecar, top hat, or dog, players can use a concrete truck, work boot, hard hat, and more landing on sponsored spaces or “jobsites” from companies supporting the organization ranging from small concrete contractors, admix and cement companies and ready https://www.gofundme.com/f/fight-cancer-the-concrete-way mix producers. No detail was spared. Even the chance cards include concretethemed bonuses and penalties. You can find the game at https://concreteopoly.com

WHY USE A ROTATING TELEHANDLER?

Austin Bailey, sales manager of Merlo USA (photo at left) gave us a tour of the ROTO 50.35 S Plus featuring an 11,000 lb. capacity, a 115 ft. lift height, and stabilizers that extend out from below the machine. Sensors tell the machine where the stabilizers are located and automatically adjusts the load chart making the job that much easier with realtime information on their screen. That’s not all! Check out this video online at https://CONC.me/hws91i

Efficient Work On The Jobsite

Mark Hanson and Alex Vollrath from ANA Inc. (photo page 20) the supplier of AIRMAN and (new for this year) MAC3 air tools spoke with us about the story behind the how the company became one the best players in the generator, air compressor, and power storage markets. With a focus on customer support and values, they use their experience to ensure products are the lowest cost of ownership, strong reliability, and jobsite performance. Alex walked us through the new Energy Boss hybrid energy system and how they can help contractors be more efficient. Watch the interview at https://CONC.me/j8h6vi

BROOM & CURE IN ONE MACHINE

Somero’s new Broom and Cure machine (page 17, bottom) combines a 14-ft. proprietary broom, spray-bar, and channel float head with precision-engineering to follow ACI curing guidelines. It was designed with space for 55-gallon