ACPA Research and Education Foundation

A. Research Partners – up to $75,000 ($25,000/year for 3 years) 

Research as recommended by the Research Committee and approved by the Foundation Board 

The research committee is continually looking to advance our industry to meet the needs of your customers through new technology and products. This partnership supports research opportunities which will be vetted by the Research Committee and then approved by the Foundation Board. 

RCP Crack Research
Budget: $400,000 

Goal: Establish a Test Protocol that is repeatable and defendable to establish a crack width size that does not cause structural distress over a 100-year life of the pipe in varying environments.

Completion Date: 2023 

This investigation will be focused on evaluating the influence of the width of concrete cracks on the long-term serviceability/durability of reinforced concrete pipe using an accelerated aging method. The correlation between the crack width and steel corrosion level will be established by the aged samples being tested in a three edge-bearing test to evaluate the loss of strength over time. 

The experimental program for the chloride-induced corrosion of reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) will be performed in three different environments with different chloride ion concentrations (200ppm, 2,000ppm, and 30,000ppm). In addition to pre-cracked RCPs, steel cages and steel wires will be immersed in the same corrosive environments to isolate the effect that each concentration has to the corrosion reaction of the steel and define the corrosion rate for the steel. D-Load Testing- A pipe will be cracked and the crack is held open with spacers. The pipe will then be subjected to an immersion protocol of wet /dry cycles in average, aggressive and accelerated environments, and retested in a D-Load machine where the loss of strength is documented 

All pipe will be loaded to it’s ultimate load and loss of strength will be plotted over time until which time that a curve becomes asymptotic and can be extrapolated out to a 100-year service life.

Resilient Design of Culverts
Budget: $90,000 

The focus of the research is to develop a standard for the design of culvert pipe to design for fire-induced loads and the forces and changes resulting from extreme flooding conditions. The standard will provide metrics to compare the resilience of different gravity-flow culvert and storm drain pipes to extreme events like wild fires and heavy flooding. Following the completion of this research and development of this standard, our industry will leverage this specification’s use as evacuation routes are established across the U.S. 

Re-inspection of HDPE Line 10 Years Later
Budget: $350,000 ($35,000/state for 10 states) 

In 2010, the University of Texas at Arlington studied the condition of installed HDPE in 10 states around the country. Every pipe inspected showed distress from corrugation growth to over-deflection. Now 10 years later, ACPA believes all these lines will have worsened in their condition. By re-inspecting these same lines, we will work to tighten deflection requirements on newly installed pipe. 

Microplastics from Abrasion
Budget: $200,000 

HDPE, PP, and PVC tout research that their materials are abrasion resistant, and yet most abrasion testing has been performed in a laboratory setting with sand slurries made of manufactured sand. Real life bedload is more aggressive. By performing research testing on multiple types of thermoplastic currently on the market while incorporating each of the 3 primary test methods used in past abrasion tests and utilizing both the manufactured sand and a larger/angular particle bedload we can verify the amount of abrasion/erosion that can be expected at different bedloads with various amounts of degradation due to deflection. 

This information would be utilized to develop sustainability language in a specification to fight the use of plastic pipe near major watersheds. This data could be provided to political allies and Departments of Environmental Quality to limit plastic use in vulnerable regions.

Carbon Footprint of RCP
Budget $250,000 

Every industry does their best to promote themselves as an environmentally conscience organization that leaves as small a carbon footprint as possible. The term “carbon footprint” has become a catch phrase for parsing the effects of an industry on the global environment. However, many people do not even know what it truly means, yet they know the larger the carbon footprint of an industry, the more hazardous it is to the environment. In many cases this is purely marketing backed with very little science. 

The objective of the research is to determine a total carbon footprint for concrete pipe that is based on the production, transit, use, and end life of the product. 

Marketshare Research
Budget $100,000 for the 1st year (Full Study) 

AThe overall goal of this marketshare research will be to assess the effectiveness of ACPA’s marketing efforts and the overall growth trends of the industry to reach its Strategic Plan to increase marketshare. An initial Phase 1 involves a consultant investigating the feasibility and availability of data sources that could combine to provide a reasonable estimate of Total Heavy Construction Pipe Tonnage (concrete, plastic, and metal). Phase 1 of the study will pursue current year tonnage data (2019) and/or figures from 2018. The initial work would also search for variables that would be updated regularly for monitoring growth trends and market share changes. Provided Phase 1 provides a clear and reasonable path for moving forward with the research, the full study will pursue data for the past 5 calendar years (2015 through 2019). Figures from these years should still be readily available for ACPA members, and they will help us establish an initial base and trendline. 

B. Education Partners – up to $25,000 ($5,000/year for 5 years) 

Distant Learning: Bringing ACPA Education into the 21st Century 

As our industry becomes even busier in this economy, ACPA seeks ways to make education more efficient. Distant learning is utilized by most universities, and ACPA wants to incorporate these techniques to train marketing and sales professionals to help agencies with effective specifications. 

ACPA will also work towards the development of distant learning for its Quality School which accredits the industry’s quality professionals for the QCast program. 

These programs will allow you to train your professionals at a fraction of the time away from their main focus and without travel costs.

Scholarships 

DOTS and Municipalities at Pipe School: 

The Pipe School provides an invaluable relationship building opportunity for Public agencies such as DOTs and Municipalities. ACPA engineers work diligently to invite and confirm as many of your DOT and Municipal guests as possible to the school, and we need your financial support to cover the cost of their attendance. 

The ACPA Foundation seeks to provide scholarships that further the advancement of the concrete pipe and box culvert industry. With your support, you can take this opportunity to establish a scholarship for public agencies, university students, and/or industry personnel. 

C. Relationship Partners – $10,000 ($2,000/year for 5 years) 

Pipe School DOT/Producer Dinner: 

Every year the Foundation hosts a dinner for DOTs and their Producer members who brought them to the school to strengthen their relationship through focus on research and education. 

Pipe Show Gift Cards: 

In order to keep attendance and networking high during the entire Pipe Show event, the ACPA Foundation will be giving a gift card away at the end of each of the Pipe Show sessions. All attendees will have a chance to win. Partners will be announced before the drawings. 

D. Individual Partnerships – between $50 and $500/year for 3 years 

Employees and spouses of member companies can become partners with the ACPA Foundation to support and further the industry’s and their own success.