For more information, contact
Amy Laidlaw, Executive Director
Construction Innovation Forum
734/995-1855 Fax: 734/995-5002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 12, 1998
Four Construction Innovators Receive Prestigious
NOVA Award
(Ann Arbor, Michigan)
The Construction Innovation Forum, Inc.® (CIF) announced today that
four outstanding construction innovations were honored with the CIF's
prestigious NOVA Award at the CIF's Tenth Annual Innovation Celebration
Banquet.
The keynote speaker was Hanns Baumann, President of Baumann Research
and Development Corporation of Newport Beach, California, inventor of
BauMesh®, a 1992 winner of a NOVA Award. His presentation was entitled,
"Inventions and Inventors".
The NOVA Award, which is referred to as the "Nobel Prize" for construction,
is awarded annually to revolutionary construction solutions, processes
or products that improve the quality, efficiency and cost effectiveness
of construction. A total of 31 NOVA Awards have been presented since
1990.
This year's winners were selected from another record-setting 48 nominations
coming from four different countries and twenty different states. All
of the nominees participate in an exhaustive four-phase competitive
process before being selected by a distinguished panel of ten judges.
The four winners for 1998 include IntelliSenseTM
Maximum Strain Monitoring System, MOST Nationwide Boilermaker Programs,
Open-Cell Bulkheads and Soff-Cut® Early-Entry Dry-Cut Concrete Sawing
Systems.
The winners of the 1998 NOVA Awards are:
IntelliSenseTM
Maximum Strain Monitoring System Strain Monitor Systems (SMS)
IntelliSenseTM is a line of strain
memory metal alloy-based passive sensors. Limited only by the needs
of the user, strain can range from as little as 20 micro-strains (or
.002% of elongation) to that causing complete fracture of the structure.
When strained, the alloy instantly and irreversibly transforms from
a non-magnetic to a magnetic state. This transformation to ferro-magnetism
precisely and proportionally correlates with the strain applied to the
structure. Upon repeated strain, the alloy remembers its maximum strain.
The degree of strain is permanently recorded in the metal's properties
and is easily readable with magnetometers. Data can be conveyed to a
computer at pre-set intervals or when a strain exceeding a pre-set limit
occurs.
MOST Nationwide Boilermaker Programs
Established in 1989, MOST is a joint labor trust fund of the International
Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) and the National Association of Construction
Boilermaker Employees (NACBE). The purposes of MOST are to maintain
a highly skilled workforce with new skills and technology and to help
provide a drug-free work place. The MOST program has eight components:
Safety Training, Safety Index, Safety Interns, Drug Screening, Reserve
Center (for project manning), Prescription Safety Glasses, Medical Screening
and Common Arc (for certification of welders).
Open-Cell Bulkheads
The Open-Cell Bulkhead, used primarily on such structures as cofferdams
and docks, is a cellular flat sheet pile structure in which each cell's
sheet piles are driven in the shape of a U when viewed from above. This
system functions as a horizontally tied membrane, relaying solely on
the vertical soil-friction flat sheet pile anchor wall to restrain a
curved flat sheet pile arch face. The bulkhead becomes a series of u-shaped
horizontal member structures that need no toe embedment for stability.
Soff-Cut® Early-Entry Dry-Cut Concrete
Sawing System
The Soff-Cut System uses a patented technology for reducing random
cracking in concrete slabs and pavements. The system allows early-entry,
dry- -- more -- cut sawing of concrete control joints while the concrete
is still fresh. It is user-friendly, environmentally safe and promotes
low maintenance. During the cutting process a skid plate contacts the
surface of the concrete adjacent to the saw blade. A special diamond
blade cuts the aggregate at high speed without disturbing the aggregate
inside the joint or on the surface. Soff-Cut increases the probability
of cracks forming at the joint instead of the concrete seeking its own
relief by forming a random crack on the surface.
More than 600 construction industry representatives from throughout
the world attended the Tenth Annual Innovation Celebration Banquet held
on March 12 at the Laurel Manor in Livonia, Michigan. Sponsors of the
Celebration this year included: DTE Energy, I.B.E.W. (International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) and N.E.C.A. (National Electrical
Contractors Association) for dinner, Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters
for the cocktail reception, and the Associated Builders and Contractors
for the hors d'oeuvres.
The Construction Innovation Forum is an international, non-profit organization
established in 1987. Roger Lane of the Detroit Edison Company is the
organization's Chair. The Forum is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan at:
350 South Main Street, Suite 350, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104-2108. Telephone:
734/995-1855; fax: 734/995-5002; e-mail: info@cif.org;
web site: http//www.cif.org
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