The Chapter held its annual Student Night for California State University, Chico CIM Program students on March 11th in Chico.  The Blue Agave Room at Tres Hombres once again welcomed industry members and students for an evening filled with networking, an interesting program detailing an innovative concrete project, and an update of activities by the ACI Student Chapter.

The Social Hour kicked off the evening to encourage students and employers to introduce themselves.   Attendees did a great job of filling up the room, enjoying the food, and lots of networking between industry professionals and students.

Vice President Michael Smith welcomed the CSUC ACI Student Chapter and had them stand and introduce themselves.  Those students recently applying for the Chapter's ACI Scolarship were also acknowledged.

This evening's guest speaker was Brendan Ottoboni, PE, the Director of Public Works - Engineering for the City of Chico.  The presentation discussed local projects that are looking at ways to incorporate cement and concrete products, assessing the needs of each project from a life cycle perspective.  Durability of material is important as it is expensive to have to get back in and perform construction work, as well as being disruptive to the public.  Working with industry reps from the California-Nevada Cement Association (CNCA), specifically Tyler Bodnar, the City of Chico has been able to use his knowledge and understanding to incorporate these elements into its projects.  Tyler worked in local government for the City of Chico and understands the challenges and focus of these local projects.  For the City, having industry representatives with this knowledge and understanding, is a massive advantage to incorporate these opportunities that might not be the “traditional” way of managing infrastructure, especially in our roadways. The longer the product lasts, the more cost effective and least impactful it is to the public.  Current projects include the following:

1. Bruce Road Widening – This project incorporates Roller-Compacted-Concrete (RCC), cast-in-place (CIP) concrete bridge, and a 12’ wide concrete multi-use path.
2. Bikeway 99 – Phase 5 Pedestrian Overcrossing – This project includes a CIP concrete bridge on the north and south approaches, with a prefabricated steel bridge segment to span E 20^th Street.  The steel structure will then have lightweight concrete decking as the finished path surface.
3. Measure H (Chico Sales Tax Measure) investment in roadway condition improvements.  In 2022, the Chico citizens voted on and approved a 1% local Sales Tax measure.  One of the main priorities is to invest in upgrading our roadway conditions.  With this level of funding, the City is incorporating FDR-cement treatments as a standard practice.  This will ensure a solid subgrade surface is provided to extend the life of the asphalt pavement, preventing cracking and unstable foundations.

Following Brendan's presentation, the ACI Student Chapter provided a slideshow of their recent activities and upcoming ACI Golf Classic.

The Chapter would like to give special thanks to Brendan Ottoboni and Tyler Bodnar for volunteering to share their experiences with the students in attendance.  

Overall, we would count the evening as a big success!