3/6/2023 0 Comments Been qcast![]() ![]() Inquiries for changes come from producers, DOTs, WJE auditors, and the ACPA which is then proposed to the Quality Committee for consideration. The QCast manual is updated every year, by the ACPA Quality Committee, which is responsible for the QCast program. The program has evolved to keep up with the industry’s innovations. Q: What changes has the QCast program undergone? We have been able to do this with the efforts from the ACPA’s regional engineers and its members. Mel: Although some DOTs have their own inspection programs, one thing we’ve been able to say over the years – especially as QCast gained credibility – is that accepting QCast inspections saves DOTs the time and expense of having to oversee and perform their own inspections. Q: How do you get help specifying agencies? Because of its rigorous process, the QCast program has gained wide acceptance by specifying agencies since its inception. Through the audit process, plants have the opportunity to correct deficiencies if necessary. Auditors go in every year, unannounced, to make sure those involved in concrete pipe production understand all the necessary procedures, such as the three-edge bearing test for pipe, the hydrostatic test, and more. Mel: QCast has greatly elevated the quality of our products to a new level. Q: What impact has QCast had on the concrete pipe industry? We educated them on production methods, and that Minnesota plant, which later became part of Forterra, became the test plant for implementing QCast. (WJE), which toured one of the Minnesota pipe plants close to where we were meeting. We brought in Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. In the early 1990s, a committee of us met and started developing plans for QCast. We also recognized the need to develop a Quality School (QSchool) to certify Quality Control personnel so we made that a requirement of the QCast Certification program. Mel: The main impetus was to raise the bar and improve the industry – to have third-party certification to validate plants’ processes and procedures. The ACPA recently sat down with Mel to talk about the early days of the QCast program and how it has shaped the industry. He remains deeply involved and has played a vital role in its ongoing success. Marshall Industrial Consultants, was involved in the early days of establishing the QCast program. Mel, a 60-year veteran of the concrete pipe and precast industry and founder of Mel C. One person in the concrete pipe industry who knows QCast well is Mel Marshall. The inspection program covers the inspection of materials, finished products, handling and storage procedures, as well as performance testing and quality control documentation. QCast is the industry’s ongoing quality assurance program for ACPA member and non-member companies. RCP maintains its reputation as the gold standard of quality and durability in part because of the industry’s third-party certification program known as the Quality Cast Plant Certification Program, or QCast. As the product has evolved, one thing remains constant – RCP’s consistent reliability and quality. Since then, concrete wastewater pipelines have grown increasingly more complex in their design, manufacture, installation, and inspection. Reinforced concrete pipe is widely known for its long history, with evidence of the first concrete pipe sanitary sewer in America dating back to 1842 in Mohawk, N.Y. ![]()
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