ACPA Honors Top Quality Concrete Pipe Plants, Distinguished Professionals
(TheConcreteProducer.com) – Every concrete pipe plant in North America is committed to producing quality products. But as in other industries, there’s good, there’s excellent and there’s exceptional. The American Concrete Pipe Association established its Qcast Awards to recognize those plants that stand above the rest on the most important measures of production quality.
The ACPA’s “Quality Cast” Plant Certification Program, commonly known as Qcast, is the recognized standard for quality assurance in the concrete pipe industry. The Qcast program covers the inspection of materials, finished products and handling/storage procedures, as well as performance testing and quality control documentation. Plants may be certified in storm sewer and culvert pipe, sanitary sewer, box culverts, three-sided structures, manholes and precast structures.
Plants in each of the certification categories that score 95% or better on their annual Qcast audit are recognized with the ACPA Qcast Awards. From these honorees, one overall winner is selected in each category.
The ACPA recognized its 2014 Qcast Awards winners during a special ceremony at its annual Pipe School held in Orlando. The overall winners are:
- Cretex Concrete Products, Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Category: Combined Sanitary & Storm - Cretex Concrete Products, Inc.–Rapid City, S.D.
Category: Storm Sewer - Rinker Materials-Concrete Pipe Division CEMEX – Littleton, Colo.
- Cretex Concrete Products, Inc — Rapid City, S.D.
Category: Box Culvert - Cretex Concrete Products, Inc. – Shakopee, Minn.
Category: Sanitary Manholes - Cretex Concrete Products, Inc. – Rapid City, S.D.
Category: Manholes - Cretex Concrete Products, Inc. – Rapid City, S.D.
Category: Precast
“When you visit virtually any concrete pipe plant in North America, you’re immediately struck by two things: an absolute dedication to worker safety and an unwavering focus on quality,” said Michael Kusch, 2015-16 ACPA Chairman of the Board and Director of Technical Marketing for Sherman-Dixie Concrete Industries, Inc. “This year’s Qcast winners signify the best of the best in terms of quality, though dozens of other plants likewise achieved the 95% rating. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t tip my hat to our friends at Cretex, in particular, for their extraordinary showing.”
The ACPA also recognized the following professionals during the luncheon:
- Bill Washabaugh of Northern Concrete Pipe received the Mel Marshall Award for contributions to manufacturing and quality; and,
- Eric M. Yount of the Nevada Department of Transportation received the Richard C. Longfellow Award, which is presented to the author of the Concrete Pipe News article that most effectively demonstrates innovative and effective use of concrete pipe. His article, “Sustainable Precast Concrete Boxes for Resilient Infrastructure,” was published in the Spring 2014 issue.
“The concrete pipe industry has been blessed with some of the most talented and innovative professionals in any industry,” said ACPA President Matt Childs. “We’re all in their debt and America’s infrastructure is the envy of the world thanks to their contributions.”
Also during the Pipe School, the ACPA recognized the latest winners of its P3 Awards, which recognize successful completion of its Professional Pipe Promotion online training course. The P3 program offers advanced training in both the technical and sales and marketing attributes of reinforced concrete pipe (RCP), equipping participants with the tools and information necessary to provide a consistent message to customers, specifiers and rule-makers. By completing the various P3 training modules, pipe professionals can achieve a “Pipe Pro” and/or “RCP Master” level of knowledge.
This year’s P3 Awards were presented to the following individuals:
- Tyson Hicks Rinker Materials-Concrete Pipe Division CEMEX
- Richard A. Hill Rinker Materials-Concrete Pipe Division CEMEX
- Bryan Rempt County Materials Corporation
- Brent Schofield The Langley Concrete Group of Companies
About the ACPA
Established in 1907, the American Concrete Pipe Association serves as the voice of the concrete pipe industry. The ACPA is a nonprofit organization comprised of manufacturers of concrete pipe and box culverts, manufacturers of equipment and providers of products and services related to the concrete pipe industry. Member companies are located throughout the United States, Canada and more than 40 foreign countries. The Association provides its members with a wide range of research, technical and marketing support to promote and advance the use of concrete pipe for drainage and pollution control applications.