September 2026 Newsletter
President's Report
I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer and is looking forward to fall—and, hopefully, some relief from the heat! The Georgia Chapter is excited about the months ahead, especially as we prepare to host the Fall 2026 ACI Concrete Convention.
Fall 2026 ACI Concrete Convention
The Fall 2026 ACI Concrete Convention will be held October 11–14, 2026, at the Hilton Atlanta Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. Registration is now open, and we encourage everyone to make plans to attend.
ACI Concrete Convention Registration:
Throughout convention week, attendees can look forward to committee meetings, technical sessions, mini-sessions, student competitions, special events, guest speakers, the Presidents Reception, The Concrete Mixer, and, of course, the Exhibit Hall.
Our chapter is proud to sponsor The Concrete Mixer, which promises to be one of the highlights of convention week. We are excited to host this event at the Georgia Aquarium, and it is certainly an event you will not want to miss. Make your plans to attend—we hope to see you there!
Click here for more info and to register for the convention
Skipper Seminar 2026
The Skipper Seminar, “Always Stressed: Post-Tensioning Topics Across the Industry,” was held on July 16, 2026, and was a great success and enjoyed by all that attended. I would like to extend a special thank you to our presenters—Martin Cuadra, PE, SE, FACI, FPTI; George Harrison; Evan A. Moore, PE, SE; and our Past President, Jesse Fortner—for putting on an outstanding seminar.
For those who may be unfamiliar with the origins of the Skipper Seminar, I wanted to share this historical segment from the ACI Georgia Chapter Newsletter, Summer 2017, written by Wayne Wilson, PE, the 2017 Georgia Chapter ACI President:
“The following is a brief history lesson on the origins of our summer seminar program:
Virgil D. Skipper was one of the original organizers of the Georgia Concrete and Products Association, now the Georgia Ready Mix Concrete Association (GRMCA). Mr. Skipper contributed to the establishment of the first ACI Chapter in Georgia, at that time the Atlanta Chapter of ACI. He was also instrumental in writing the first specification for ready-mixed concrete, first published for the construction industry in Georgia by the Concrete Advisory Board of Georgia (now the GA Chapter ACI CAB [Certification Advisory Board]) on September 25, 1987. This document was later used as a model for ACI 301, Specifications for Structural Concrete for Buildings.
He was a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute and an honorary member of the Georgia Chapter.
A Virgil D. Skipper Award was established in 1978 to honor and promote concrete in Georgia. That program has evolved into our annual Dan R. Brown Awards Banquet, which honors the past year's concrete projects in Georgia. In 1984, the Skipper Award was replaced by the annual Virgil D. Skipper Seminar, which spends a half day focusing on a particular concrete project or some interesting aspect of concrete.
I can remember many past programs that focused on admixtures, fibers, new construction forming techniques, SCC, Pervious, RCC, Ready Mix Plant & Quarry Tours, Precast Plant Tours, and many others. The seminar is always organized by the GA Chapter ACI’s past-year president.”
Upcoming Chapter Luncheon
Our next ACI Georgia Chapter Luncheon will be held on September 24, 2026. Our featured speaker will be Bill Rothery, a licensed professional engineer with Metromont, LLC. Bill will present “Best Practices in Total Precast Construction.” We hope you will make plans to join us for what promises to be an informative and engaging program.
Thank you for your continued support of the ACI Georgia Chapter and I look forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming luncheon, convention, and other chapter events this fall.
Warm regards,
Tom Baggett
President, ACI Georgia Chapter
Our Next Event
Join us Wednesday, September 23rd for our Luncheon!!
Topic: The Alliance Theatre Transformation
Speaker: Stephen Richards PE, SE. Associate Principal, Uzun + Case
Topic Description: This case study presentation will cover The Alliance Theatre Transformation. In anticipation of their 50th anniversary in 2018, The Alliance Theatre undertook an extensive renovation, which involved the demolition and replacement of all structure within the existing theatre. Working in the existing space imposed considerable constraints that required creative problem solving by the design and construction teams, and the finish and appearance of the integrally colored concrete was critical to the owner. This presentation will review those challenges, solutions, and lessons learned while highlighting the efforts of the construction and design teams to facilitate construction of the Alliance Theatre’s new home.
When
September 23, 2026
11:30 AM - 1:15 PM
Where
The Whitley Hotel Buckhead
3434 Peachtree Road NE
Atlanta , GA 30326
Peter Grafstein named 2026-2027 Nicholas F. Maloof, Jr. Fellowship Winner!
With a $75,000 donation to the ACI Foundation in 2026 the Georgia Chapter ACI renewed the Nicholas F. Maloof, Jr. Georgia Chapter ACI Foundation Fellowship. ACI Foundation Fellowships are offered to high potential undergraduate and graduate students in engineering, construction management, and other appropriate curricula who are endorsed by an ACI member. The purpose of the Fellowship Program is to identify, attract, and develop outstanding professionals for productive careers in the concrete field. During the academic year, each student will receive a 10,000 USD educational stipend and paid travel expenses and attendance fees to attend two ACI Concrete Conventions.
This GA Chapter Fellowship is named for Nicholas F. Maloof, Jr. who was on of our most active and distinguished Georgia Chapter ACI Members from 1984 until his untimely passing on May 24, 2018. In his 30+ years with our Chapter he served twice as Chapter President, three terms on the Board of Directors, Chairman of the Awards Program, Student Activities Liaison, Certification Committee Chairman and the 1997 & 2007 National Convention Fundraising Chairman. Nick was active on several ACI International Technical and Certification Committees, was named Fellow of the Institute in 1997. Nick was an avid supporter of the Concrete Industry and loved educating others on the technical, practical and environmental benefits of concrete. In his last employed position at Thomas Concrete he was instrumental in starting the Thomas Concrete Academy, a companywide concrete education and training program for new employees. Naming this Fellowship in his honor continues that concrete legacy here in Georgia.
The 2026-2027 winner is Peter Grafstein. Peter is a student at the Georgia Institute of Technology and an intern for American Bridge Company and SOCOTEC US in New York, NY, USA. During his time at Georgia Tech and in the industry, he has taken a great interest in the field of concrete construction. Through reinforced concrete and masonry courses, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and ACI site tours, and internships, he has been able to learn the why’s of concrete construction and gain hands-on experience.
He has been involved in local community development initiatives, including outreach and advocacy for projects such as The Stitch, Beltline Rail, and Centennial Yards. Through site tours, social engagement, and a broadened historical background, he has developed a commitment to making Georgia a more sustainable and pleasant place to live. Moving forward, he plans to pursue a master’s degree in structural engineering and participate in research to further the sustainability and structural efficiency of concrete.
Luncheon Recap
Bridging the Gap Between Contractor & Engineer
We had a decent crowd for our May Lunch meeting to hear Phil Diekemper, ACI Center of Excellence for Advancing Productivity, Executive Director give us PRO Center update and offer us his perspective on what it means to Bridge the Gap Between Contractor and Engineer.
Before becoming the PRO Executive Director Phil was a seasoned construction industry leader with over 40 years of experience at Ceco Concrete Construction, where he served as Senior Vice President and corporate leader until his retirement in 2022. Throughout his career, he was actively involved in numerous industry organizations and initiatives, contributing to advancements across the field. With all that construction knowledge and experience he was able to offer some very practical insight and real-world examples on:
· Why closing the gap between contractors and designers is critical to project success…
· What’s driving the disconnect including risk, communication breakdowns, and shifting delivery methods…
· Where real opportunities exist for better collaboration and shared success and…
· Why value-driven outcomes not siloed priorities must lead decision-making...
He shared some exciting things going on at PRO related to all this and reminded us that all the guidance and/or documents coming out of PRO are free and available for industry use. In that spirit his detailed presentation is attached here for review.
Concrete International Magazine Article
This month in Concrete International…
Reprinted from the Sep 2026 (V. 48 No. 9) issue of Concrete International with permission from American Concrete Institute (www.concrete.org)
This month’s Concrete International reprint is a TechNote that addresses a recent focus of the Georgia Ready Mix Concrete Association’s Technical Committee.
Managing and Increasing Early-Age Strength of Low-Clinker Concrete Mixtures—TechNote (ACI PRC-231.1-25)
Various roadmaps have been developed by the cement and concrete industry that highlight the need for a significant reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with concrete production. One strategy to reduce emissions is to reduce the clinker content in concrete. This can be accomplished by optimizing aggregate gradations or chemical admixtures to reduce total cement content used or use cementitious materials that have a low percent of clinker in them. However, low-clinker (content) concretes may, or may be perceived to, suffer from lower early-age strengths, which have limited their application in practice. This TechNote discusses low-clinker concrete, primarily obtained through the use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), and provides practical advice concerning the strength of these mixtures at early ages (from setting to 7 days).
