The Projects Are Out There!

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is the most sweeping economic recovery package in history. What makes the plan important to Symons is that a large portion of funds are targeted at construction projects.

The ARRA includes the largest new investment in America’s infrastructure since the interstate highway system was built in the 1950s. Plans include construction and modernization of roads and bridges, dams and levees, water treatment facilities, transit systems, high-speed rail lines, military facilities, and power plants.

As of mid April, nearly $60 billion of ARRA funds have been OKd for "shovel ready" projects, with about $12 billion of it already disbursed. In addition, states have already started work on some highway projects in anticipation of ARRA funds.
With these developments in mind, we all need to be looking for opportunities, including:

• Contractor customers who are changing their focus. It’s not unusual for a contractor to target treatment plants when there are fewer commercial projects. Let’s ask customers what they’re doing.


• Contractor customers who are expanding their business. It’s not unusual for a contractor to add capabilities, like a tilt-up contractor adding a structural forming division. Let’s watch for growing companies.


• Bridge and transportation projects with Max-A-Form applications. A rush to build these structures will likely create a rush to quote, engineer and supply materials. Let’s have some typical plans ready in advance.


• Power plants establish some long-term revenue streams. The size of these concrete-intensive projects can keep equipment-on-rent for months at a time. This balances the short duration of other smaller projects.

Stimulus plans centering on funds for construction projects are also an International phenomenon. Governments all over the world are looking beyond short-term stimuli and toward programs that will lay the groundwork for sustained growth, including infrastructure projects aimed at job creation and economic expansion.

2009 will be more competitive than ever, but it looks like it will be a year full of substantial opportunities for Symons to sell or rent concrete forming systems!

Find Construction Projects Through The Blue Book

BB-Bid is an Intenet-based service designed to help you work smarter during the bidding process! BB-Bid allows you to upload and message your private vendors, find qualified vendors in The Blue Book database, and easily create an online plan room. Throughout your workflow, BB-Bid offers free solutions designed to meet your specific needs.
BB-Bid can simplify your bidding process by helping you:

• Vendor Management - have an organized, current list of vendors
• Communication Management - send information to vendors without faxing and phoning
• Document Management - distribute and track plans

Register for your free BB-Bid account now!

DeckFast With Composite Face Smooths Out the Job

DeckFast™ is a forming system for the temporary support of concrete decks during construction. With just 2 primary members, a panel and a post shore, crews can set up the system very quickly.

In a side-by-side comparison of the finish provided by a conventional panel face and a special composite face, the DeckFast with the composite face created a smoother, shiny concrete surface.

For more information on the Deck Fast system, see the Symons site.

Earth-Friendly, High-Performance Cure & Seal

It used to be that "going green" meant paying a premium for poor performance on the jobsite. Symons new bio-based technologies can contribute significantly to LEED Credits while out-performing other older technologies.

Cure & Seal 30

EFCure & Seal 30 EF is an Earth Friendly (EF) non-yellowing 30% solids acrylic copolymer curing and sealing compound that contributes to LEED EQ Credit 4.2. This material uniquely combines high performance with "green" attributes.

Cure & Seal 30 EF is low odor and contains VOC <>

Cure & Seal 30 EF is designed to be used on freshly finished concrete as an Earth Friendly membrane forming curing compound that surpasses the requirements of ASTM C-309.

Cure & Seal 30 EF can be used on both interior and exterior concrete surfaces.

This and all the other Symons chemical products can be referenced from the Internet at: http://www.symons.com/products/brochure/chemical/chemical.htm

Steel-Ply® is a contractor's workhorse

Per Del Construction, a busy concrete contracting company based in Lemont, Illinois, owns some Steel-Ply equipment, and supplements their inventory by renting additional forms when they need them. This arrangement provides the contractor more flexibility and better cost-effectiveness than either renting or owning all of their forms.

For large jobs or when they have several overlapping jobs, Per Del uses a combination of Steel-Ply forms that they own along with rented forms. They have found that this arrangement provides several important advantages. They can arrange to have only the forms they need delivered to the site when they need them, and they do not have to store the forms between jobs or tie up their money in idle equipment.

Although the contractor appreciates the flexibility possible with renting forms, they acknowledge the advantages of owning much of their equipment. Because the strong steel frame lasts a long time and the special ½" HDO plywood face can be replaced when necessary, they know that the money they put into their Steel-Ply inventory will benefit them for years. In addition, when they have occasionally rotated equipment out of inventory, they found the resale value for their used Steel-Ply was high.

Per Del Construction depends on Steel-Ply every day to contribute to the continued success of the company.

A Good Place to Look for Your Next Forming Project

The 2009 Stimulus Package is the most important piece of legislation in the history of the A/E/C industry—and no one can match McGraw-Hill Construction’s ability to help you benefit from it.

The special section of the www.construction.com/ site includes news and analysis from 17 McGraw-Hill publications, plus BusinessWeek and Standard & Poors. You’ll also find the most comprehensive list of shovel-ready projects and in-depth market forecasts and economic research. Information is available by region or market sector, making it easy to find what you need. See http://www.construction.com/stimulus/default.asp to find out more.

Seeing is Believing!

The Concrete Step Wizard and Riser Splice Angle dramatically reduce labor and material costs when forming concrete stairs. These simple components are easily positioned and attached to lumber to create an entire stair form assembly. This assembly minimizes lumber waste and provides more room for placing and finishing. The components can be repositioned as dimensions require and reused from project-to-project. Watch a simple demonstration at www.symons.com/products/demos/concretestepwizarddemo.wmv to see for yourself.