Masonry Magazine March 1975 Page. 32
Norwegian Mason Contractors Visit Denver and Washington
Mason contractor groups in Washington, D.C. and Denver, Colo. were hosts recently to a group of 30 Norwegian mason contractors and suppliers who toured the two cities to study American manufacturing, construction, and marketing techniques. The guests were members of the Norwegian Mason Contractors Association, that country's counterpart to MCAA, which recently founded a masonry co-op called Murhus (masonry houses) to promote the building and sale of masonry constructed homes.
The delegation arrived in Denver on October 25 after 17 hours of travel from Oslo. In Denver they were hosted for four days by John Long, president, Mac Terry, executive director, and other officers and members of the Colorado Mason Contractors Association including MCAA regional vice president Louis J. Helbert, Jr. Each day's activities started with a group breakfast and slide presentation about a particular segment of the Colorado masonry industry. The guests then were shown various masonry construction projects where they could study American building methods first-hand. As a gesture of international friendship, many of the CMCA members and the Norwegian delegation traded mason's tools with each other to keep as mementos.
In Washington the group visited a concrete block manufacturing plant as well as a number of masonry structures. They also were shown the offices of the International Masonry Institute, with Neal English, IMI executive director, and George A. Miller, MCAA executive vice president, acting as hosts, and the headquarters of the BM & PIU where they were greeted by Michael Penn, office administrator.
Norwegian mason contractors enjoy a social hour after a day of touring masonry construction projects in the Washington area. In the center is R. C. "Corky" Doyle, MCAA District of Columbia state chairman and newly elected president of the Mason Contractors Association of D.C. Doyle functioned as one of the hosts for the group.
John Long (second from left), president of the Colorado Mason Contractors Association, was one of the hosts during the Norwegian mason contractors four-day stay in Denver before departing for Washington. Long also accompanied the group to the nation's capitol as one of the official hosts.
George A. Miller (center), executive vice president of MCAA, explains masonry promotional programs conducted by the International Masonry Institute at the IMI headquarters in Washington, D.C. Interested listeners are part of the mason contractors group from Norway.
Also on hand to extend a welcome to the visitors was R.C. "Corky" Doyle, MCAA District of Columbia state chairman and newly elected president of the Mason Contractors Association of D.C.
Michael Penn, BM & PIU office administrator, welcomes Norwegian mason contractors prior to their tour of the Bricklayers, Masons & Plasterers' International Union headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Inorganic Mortar Used for Acid Tank
A modified inorganic, silicate base cement, Acid-Alk No. 33 manufactured by Sauereisen Cements Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., has recently been employed at Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Gautier Division, Johnstown Plant, for the laying up of 22 acid-proof brick courses in the division's No. 2 acid tank. A mortar joint was applied throughout with lining installation requiring only five days. The No. 33 met with bricklayer approval due to its one-part, odorless characteristics, ease of mixing and long working time (35 minutes at 70° F.). In addition it presented an initial cost approximately 20% below that of the resin mortar previously used, according to Sauereisen.