In the spring of 1998, the Student Activities Committee of the ACI New Jersey Chapter proposed a concrete cylinder strength contest for local students. Since then, the contest has grown from a matchup between New Jersey’s most competitive concrete schools into the ACI Concrete Cylinder Competition, which drew 24 teams to the ACI Fall 2006 Convention in Denver, CO. Two of the people involved in launching the original competition show how the international contest came to be.

In this Buyers’ Guide, the focus is on decorative concrete, including Fresh Cast-in-Place Systems and Post-Pour Systems for both horizontal and vertical applications. We’ve included manufacturers of products for producing colored, stamped, textured, polished, engraved, and stenciled concrete. Additions to this year’s Guide include cementitious overlayments for horizontal and vertical applications and form liners and textured forms for vertical applications.