Home in the Dome VANCOUVER ?EUR??,,????'??? When the BC Ready-Mixed Concrete Association?EUR??,,????'???s Concrete Home in the Dome debuted at the 2003 Home & Garden Show, homeowners and homebuilders were able to see for themselves the innovations in concrete home construction. The Home in the Dome, organized by the BCRMCA in partnership with the Greater Vancouver Home Builders?EUR??,,????'??? Association, drew tens of thousands. Constructed inside BC Place Stadium in just nine days, the 1,275-square-foot home, designed by award-winning Vancouver architect Jonathan Ehling, blends emerging technology with traditional architectural design. The home incorporates concrete into a wide range of building and design elements, including countertops, sinks, flooring, landscaping and insulating concrete forms for the exterior walls. ?EUR??,,????'??With concrete you can choose whatever texture or color you want,?EUR??,,????'?? said Marlene Bourque, Principle designer with High Design. ?EUR??,,????'??We can produce whatever look the client wants. Concrete can be personalized to the nth degree.?EUR??,,????'?? Covering Up Unsightly, Dull Concrete TAMPA, Fla. ?EUR??,,????'??? New-Crete is a polymer modified cementitious overlay system designed as the ultimate cover-up for existing concrete old or new. Applied at 1/8?EUR??,,????'?? to 1/4?EUR??,,????'??, it eliminates the hassle and expense of concrete replacement and provides an incredibly durable, low maintenance surface to be decorated with concrete stain. The self leveling formula offers a unique decorative surface that?EUR??,,????'???s easy and safe to use with excellent adhesion to old or new concrete with a high compression strength of over 6,000 psi designed to withstand the rigors of commercial use for many years. From retail, malls and shopping center applications to restaurant and hotel floors, the system is incredibly durable, low maintenance surface that is extremely beautiful with unlimited design capabilities. For more information visit www.increte.com Recent Breakthrough for Clay Pavers, Wheelchair Accessibility RESTON, Virgina ?EUR??,,????'??? In a recent study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, clay paved sidewalks outperformed traditional poured concrete sidewalks in their ability to minimize vibrations experienced by wheelchair users. The single-site engineering evaluation featured 10 unimpaired adult volunteers traversing six different test pavements, including a poured concrete control, three surfaces laid with concrete pavers and two brick pavements. The study was designed to measure the amount and frequencies of vibrations absorbed by the wheelchair user (at the seat and footrest), as well as the amount of energy expended (by the user or the electric wheelchair) to propel the wheelchair across the pavement. In both the manual and electric wheelchair scenarios, the two clay brick paved surfaces outperformed the poured concrete control, with their peak accelerations significantly lower than the concrete pavement, producing lower vibration levels at both the seat and footrest than was found with the poured concrete sidewalk. A complete copy of the study?EUR??,,????'???s results can be downloaded at www.access-board.gov/prowac/comments/smith-d-attach.pdf. Source: Monette Chilson, Brick Industry Association.