World Center for Concrete Technology

Blockmakers Workshops®
Three new courses were added to the Blockmakers Workshop® curriculum schedule: Preventive Maintenance, Specialty Products and the Executive Session.

The Preventive Maintenance course held on 18-22 June 2001 discussed the variety of ways to maintain a Besser concrete products machine and related equipment. Class lectures provided information on boiler maintenance and water treatment, maintenance scheduling, lubrication systems and the anticipated life of different machine components. Students also performed maintenance on SmartPac® vibrator shafts. The goal of this course is to teach students how to develop a maintenance schedule to keep block plant equipment in good operating condition. This course is beneficial to maintenance and plant personnel. The next Preventive Maintenance course will be held from 17-21 June 2002.

The Specialty Products course held on 25-29 June 2001 was an in-depth study of the material requirements, machine adjustments and production methods necessary for manufacturing specialty products. An overview of the Concrete Masonry Technology course was discussed in relationship to split face block, brick, retaining wall units and paving stone. The lectures provided a focus on specialty products with reference to molds and block machine components, curing effects, testing methods, practical applications and fire ratings. In the fully automatic block plant, students produced split face units and learned the mechanics of block splitting. The students then changed the Vibrapac® over to produce paving stone. This course is geared toward plant managers and operators. The next Specialty Products course will be held from 24-28 June 2002.

An Executive Session Blockmakers Workshop was held on 17-19 July 2001. Information from the Concrete Masonry Technology and Vibrapac® Blockmakers Workshops is condensed into 2½ days of instruction. New products, programs and current issues are also discussed in a round table format. This course targets upper management from concrete products facilities. The Executive Session will be offered once per year. The next class will be held from 16-18 July 2002.

Mason Trainer Program
A course for mason apprenticeship instructor training is the newest program to be offered by the World Center for Concrete Technology (WCCT) in Alpena, Michigan. The first three-day session was held 26-28 April 2001.

Attendees from as far away as Ghana joined participants from Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan for twenty-six hours of instruction. The course covered practical teaching and demonstration techniques to provide each participant with a strong training background.

During instruction on materials and methods of concrete masonry manufacturing, participants performed a sieve analysis and developed a design mix. The design mix was then used to manufacture concrete masonry units in the production lab on the Besser V3-12 Vibrapac® concrete products machine. This gave the participants an appreciation for the products that masons handle daily. Proper testing techniques of grouts and mortars were then demonstrated in the testing lab.

The Mason Trainer Program was developed through a grant from the National Concrete Masonry Association. The goal is to increase the number of qualified masons in the industry. This program is one of the new course offerings at the WCCT and will be offered again in the fall of 2001.

More information on the courses offered at the WCCT can be obtained by contacting Vicki Cripps, Blockmakers Workshop secretary, at (989) 358-7238, or Jim Hayford, executive director, at (989) 358-7404.

(L to R): Jack Wentz of Binkley & Ober, Inc., Landisville, Pennsylvania; Jim Nye of James O. Nye Mason Contractor, Hubbard Lake, Michigan; Tim Onstwedder, Jr. of Alpena Community College, Alpena, Michigan; Jeff Oliver of Besser Company, Alpena, Michigan; Al Herndon of the Florida Concrete & Products Association, Orlando, Florida; Jim DeGiovanni of St. Mary’s Cement, Detroit, Michigan; Kofi Benson Gidi of Volta Ghana Investment Company, Ltd., Accra, Ghana; Jim Hayford of the World Center for Concrete Technology, Alpena, Michigan Missing from photo: Jerry Hentkowski of Alpena High School, Alpena, Michigan

Besser Company, 801 Johnson Street, Alpena, MI 49707 USA , 989.354.4111

email: sales@besser.com

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