February 2nd, I was as “apple pie” as millions of other Americans, glued to the television watching the 2020 Superbowl event. It was a truly Patriotic opening ceremony with the singing of the National Anthem and military flyover that reminded me of a typical workday in 2013 when I received a special phone call. Hello, hello I repeated as I adjusted to the slight time delay on what was without a doubt an overseas phone call. The gentleman on the phone identified himself as Romano Bergey from the Department of the Army, Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. You can imagine what thoughts were going through my head, Kandahar! Really! What can I do for you? The response from Romano was that his limited resources led to the call for my assistance to design a concrete mixture for airstrip repairs on one of the busiest military airfields in the middle east. With F-16’s and C-130’s flying in and out 24 hours a day we needed to meet these specific demands for a high early strength concrete without crippling the day to day operations. We proceeded to discuss what resources where available such as cements, admixtures and aggregates and we built on each other’s knowledge to determine the most effective concrete mixture for runway repairs. Although I never served in the military this story is a reminder how every day our citizens are willing help each other and remain united to defend our freedom, God Bless America.
Consulting and Training for the Concrete Industry
