NTX Holds 22nd Annual Sporting Clay Classic

Elm Fork Shooting Range in Dallas once again was the venue for the North Texas Chapter’s 22nd Annual Sporting Clay Classic. A sunny, warm, windy day welcomed the teams who battled it out for bragging rights (and prize money) for top shooters and team scores. All proceeds go to the Chapter’s Scholarship Fund, which continues to award upwards of $5,000 annually to deserving students.

In the end, showing remarkable consistency in their scores ranging from 87 to 90 (out of 100 targets), the Master Construction and Engineering team of Don Weempe, Cary Stone, RW Smith and George O’Reilly took home First Place honors with a score of 355. Not far behind, the Sika Team of Patrick Jorski, Jeff Lungrin, Glenn Turner and Josh Rinn won Second Place with a team score of 345. And Third Place honors went to the Euclid Chemical team of Jon Robbs, Ken Allen, Shawn Simmons, and Chris Owens with a score of 332.

The hotly contested Top Shooter competition ended in a tie between Scott Grissom from the Western Specialty Contractors team and Duane Holloway from the Centennial Moisture Control team with scores of 95. Third Place Top Shooter competition also ended in a tie between Patrick Jorski from the Sika team and Ryan Glynn from Waker Consultants with scores of 93.

But by far, the most entertaining event of the day was the Shotgun Golf competition! Placing a golf ball on a steel plate and trying to get it closest to the pin approximately 100 yards away on a rather windy day makes for the WILDEST variety to “golf” shots you have ever seen – MUCH worse than any Pro/Am golf event you have ever been to! In the end, only about 4 shots (out of 80) got within 25 feet of the pin. Denver Price from the RTC Restoration and Glass team gently placed his “monogrammed” golf ball 11’-9” from the pin to win “Champion Shotgun Golfer of the Year.”

NTX Chapter Schooled on Shotcrete

The North Texas Chapter welcomed Charles Hanskat, PE, Executive and Technical Director of the American Shotcrete Association, to a packed house its June meeting at WJE’s Irving, TX office. Chapter President, Parker Mink, PE, provided a brief recap of the recently completed Sporting Clay event, and the Chapter’s upcoming events. Following a very tasty barbeque buffet lunch, Charles recapped the history of shotcrete, which was first introduced in 1907 by Carl Akeley. Used on the initial construction of Panama Canal in the 1910’s by the “Cement Gun” company, the process soon came to be known as “gunite.” Having evolved over the years, it is now commonly referred to as “shotcrete”, which encompasses both a “dry-mix” method and a “wet-mix” method. Simply put, shotcrete is a different method of placing concrete, in that it is pneumatically place (“shot”) into place at high velocity (60 to 80 MPH) instead of being poured into place. Charles described the processes and equipment involved with the dry and wet methods of shotcreting. He stressed that proper surface preparation and SSD remain important aspects of shotcreting over existing concrete substrates, but bonding agents are not required. Cold and hot weather requirements as well as curing requirements are the same as for other methods of placing concrete. Charles highlighted several advantages of shotcrete, including being able to see proper encapsulation of reinforcement during placement, significantly reduced chances of cold joints in large placements and “bugholes”, placement for complex curved shapes where formwork would be extremely difficult, the ability to apply different finishes and even sculpting the exposed surface of the shotcrete. Finally, Charles presented several projects where shotcrete has been employed as a preferred method of concrete placement.

The American Shotcrete Association instituted a Nozzleman certification program in 2001, which is now referred to as a “Shotcreter” Certification. They also provide training for shotcrete inspectors.

The North Texas Chapter wishes to thank Western Specialty Contractors for sponsoring the meeting.