Boxed Lunch Education Program

The American Institute of Architects requires members to obtain Continuing Education Units each year to maintain membership in AIA. The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute has utilized the formatted education program of the AIA to offer accredited courses about Architectural Precast Concrete, Parking Garages, and Hollowcore Floor and Roof Slabs. In addition to helping architects earn credited hours toward re-licensing, the courses provide valuable understanding about the proper application, efficient utilization, and economics of precast/prestressed products in a broad range of construction projects.

Knife River Prestressed Group has been providing boxed lunch programs featuring Architectural Precast Concrete to Oregon architects since 2000. If you think such a program would be beneficial to you and your firm, please contact the Architectural Precast Concrete manager at Knife Rivers Prestressed Group.

 

Bridge Short Seminars

Knife River Prestressed sponsors short seminars that focus on precast/prestressed bridge design and fabrication issues. Contact Keith Kaufman at Knife River. keith.kaufman@kniferiver.com to setup a seminar. Once a topic is established, a time period of 1.5-2.0 hours is scheduled at your office, usually around lunchtime.

Knife River. issues certificates showing Professional Development Hours for each seminar. In the past few years, firms and agencies such as CH2M HILL, DEA, OBEC, City of Portland, and ODOT Bridge have participated in more than a dozen seminars. Topics have included shear design, segmental precast construction, composite flexural design, prestress losses, and more. Both Standard and LRFD Bridge Specifications are discussed. Power Point presentations combined with MathCad and Excel templates help illustrate topics of discussion related to the bridge precast industry.

 

Prestressed Concrete Design Course

Since 1993, the Oregon Precast Concrete Institute (OPCI) has sponsored CE486/586 Prestressed Concrete Design at Oregon State University (OSU). This course is offered each year during the winter term and is taught by Knife River Chief Engineer, Dr. Keith Kaufman.

Registration can be obtained for undergraduate and graduate credits or through OSU's Continuing Education Program. The course covers the basics of Prestressed Concrete Design. A Reinforced Concrete Design course is a prerequisite. PCI will provide a complimentary copy of the PCI Design Handbook, and a Manual For the Design of Hollow Core Slabs. The ACI 318 Building Code and Commentary is the main design reference. Post-tensioning and segmental construction concepts are introduced.

A typical class consists of 30-40 undergraduate, 5 graduate, and 5 continuing education students (consultants, public agency engineers, etc.) PCI and Knife River Prestressed Concrete Group will continue to offer students the opportunity to compete in the National Big Beam Contest. OSU and Knife River. have fielded teams annually since 2000, many having earned cash winnings and national recognition. The student teams must design, fabricate, and test a beam, and will compete nationally against similar teams from other schools. A report is generated and submitted to PCI that includes the details of the design, test predictions and results. The contest provides excellent exposure to the precast industry and plant fabrication. Students perform the work during the spring term at OSU and receive course credits for their efforts.