We are the local chapter of the American Concrete Institute, and we invite you to join our chapter if you are not already a member. ACI International members can join for a mere $65 per year; non-members of ACI International can join as affiliate members. With this membership come the following benefits: Networking, Education, Recognition and Information.
 
For complete membership information, click here.

Al Meyer

Welcome back from the summer season! I hope you had the chance to enjoy the great weather we had in the summer of 2014.  It’s time for those of us at the Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (EPDACI) to get back into our schedule of fall and winter seminars and certification classes.

On September 26, 2014, we partnered with the Delaware Valley Chapter of the International Concrete Repair Institute for a golf outing at Springfield Country Club.  It was a perfect day for golf, and the weather could not have been better.  It was a great opportunity to network with contractors, engineers, and material suppliers, and enjoy a great round of golf on a challenging course, followed by lunch and some great prizes. We look forward to next year’s outing and hope to have even more participants.

We’re here to help you, as contractors, engineers, inspectors, and material suppliers, to increase your knowledge and skill sets through educational seminars and certification classes, and to have some fun at the same time.  We can’t do it alone; we need you to join us and help continue our mission, as well as create new opportunities for those coming up the ranks, and encourage them to become the teachers of those who will follow them.  Please consider joining us as a regular member and helping us to make our organization even better than it already is.  Our goal is to help all of our members grow both personally and professionally.

The ACI International Fall Convention will be held in the great city of Philadelphia in 2016.  While two years from now may seem a long time away, there is much to do for such a large event.  We would welcome your help and input.  With a great team of many hands, we can make this a grand event that will be remembered and talked about for years to come.

Check this website regularly for information on events and happenings.  Chapter members are invited to join us at our monthly Board Meetings for breakfast and planning chapter activities.  We look forward to seeing you!

Al Meyer
The Harman Group

President of EPDACI

From the depths of the Great Depression arose the first large scale reinforced concrete thin shell structure made in the USA in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  The Hershey Sports Arena was built in 1936 by the factory workers who were employed to make chocolate bars.  Milton Hershey chose to provide jobs and boost morale by building the arena using company resources.  This project was a demonstration of the thinness of concrete shells in proportion to their scale, and led to the design and construction of millions of square feet of American thin shells.

This short barrel shell structure was designed by Anton Tedesko, an Austrian engineer employed by a German design and construction firm who was sent to Chicago to expand operations into the United States.  The roof shell spans 222 feet across the arena, rises to a height of 81 feet, and each segment extends 39 feet between stiffening ribs.  The shell thickness is 3.5 inches.  After critical directions disregarded by plant management yielded potentially catastrophic results, Tedesko was given full authority over the job, and the arena was completed in eight months.  Tedesko’s introduction of thin shells into the United States was addressed in a 2003 paper by Eric Hines and David Billington.

During a roofing project in July 2012, a fire started in a rooftop enclosure for equipment.  The fire burned out of control for over an hour because access to the top was a challenge for the firefighters.  After the fire was extinguished, there was no damage to the shell structure.  The cleanup effort consisted of mopping the floor and wiping the soot from seats and railings.