The Masonry Society

Existing Masonry Night School: Transitional Structures #3 - Planning and Conducting a Transitional Masonry Building Investigation
2021-11-10 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
During Existing Masonry Night School: Assessment, Maintenance, and Repair of Transitional Masonry Structures, instructors will discuss the most common issues in assessing, maintaining, and where needed, repairing masonry cladding systems constructed in North America between the 1880 and 1945.
This session will focus on the important aspects of developing an investigation program for a transitional masonry building, including information to gather, areas for inspection, ongoing monitoring, the potential for investigative openings and laboratory testing to inform potential structural analyses to consider. Examples of different deterioration mechanisms and manifestations will be highlighted.

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About the Presenter

Peter M. Babaian, P.E., S.E., is a Principal and Building Technology Division Head for the Chicago office of Simpson Gumpertz & Heger. He specializes in the design, investigation, and rehabilitation of building enclosure systems on existing and new buildings. Mr. Babaian has completed numerous assessments, investigations, and repairs of existing structures, with a focus on historic masonry structures. His historic masonry project types range from single family homes to museums to churches to bridges to iconic university buildings. Mr. Babaian has expertise with stone and brick masonry systems, clay tile, slate, and copper roofing systems, and archaic structural systems. Mr. Babaian is the Secretary/Treasurer of The Masonry Society, serves on its Executive Committee, Board of Directors and its Existing Masonry Committee, and is a member of the Landmarks Illinois Board of Directors.

Masonry Testing Review Sessions & Certifications
2021-11-09 - 2021-11-12 | National Concrete Masonry Association, 13750 Sunrise Valley Drive, Herndon, VA, 20171, United States
The Masonry Society, with the support of National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA) and the Portland Cement Association (PCA), will be offering two intensive education review sessions, followed by ACI Certification Examinations for Masonry Field Testing Technicians (MFTT) and Masonry Laboratory Testing Technicians (MLTT).
The Education Review Sessions are excellent ways for new technicians, contractors, producers, and engineers to learn about masonry test procedures, their basis, and proper ways to sample and test masonry materials. They also serve as an excellent way for experienced testing technicians to prepare for the Certification Examinations. They will not however, be effective in teaching someone relatively new to masonry to be immediately ready to take the ACI Certification Examinations.
For the review sessions, instructors will cover typical tests for masonry units, mortar, grout, and assemblies, including ASTM C140, C780, C1019, and C1314, and other important procedures, as well as those addressed by the ACI Certification Examinations. After the classroom portion of the Review Sessions, a practical hands-on session will be offered so that attendees can observe, and in some cases, try their hands at specimen preparation and masonry testing.
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Masonry Field Testing
Tuesday, November 9 – Review Session (approximately 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM)
Wednesday, November 10 – Certification Examination (approximately 7:30 AM – 4:00 PM)
Masonry Laboratory Testing
Tuesday, November 11 – Review Session (approximately 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM)
Wednesday, November 12- Certification Examination (approximately 7:30 AM – 4:00 PM)
Location
National Concrete Masonry Association
13750 Sunrise Valley Drive
Herndon, VA 20171

Presented by The Masonry Society, with the support of:

Existing Masonry Night School: Transitional Structures #2 - Masonry Systems
2021-11-03 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
During Existing Masonry Night School: Assessment, Maintenance, and Repair of Transitional Masonry Structures, instructors will discuss the most common issues in assessing, maintaining, and where needed, repairing masonry cladding systems constructed in North America between the 1880 and 1945.
This session will discuss the typical masonry exterior wall systems, commonly referred to as transitional masonry wall systems and how to identify them. These wall systems combine aspects of both load-bearing masonry and modern curtain wall systems having structural frames. The unique features of such construction are examined along with how these systems work structurally, how they deteriorate, and how they manage water, temperature, air, and vapor transmission. Knowing how these wall systems behave will assist in determining what repair methods and procedures to use.

View the Recording of this webinar

About the Presenters
Tom Elliott is the Director of Industry Development and Technical Services with the International Masonry Institute. He began his career in the masonry industry in 1984 as an apprentice bricklayer and has been a member of Bricklayers Local #5 Ohio ever since. He has worked as a foreman and field superintendent on larger unit masonry projects during his career in the field and has been the recipient of several craftsmanship awards for his work. As a project manager, Mr. Elliott was involved in some high-profile masonry restoration projects in which he supervised the terra cotta repair and replacement on many historical buildings. For seven-years, he and his wife operated a mid-sized mason contracting business which provided him insight on the business side of the trade.
For the International Masonry Institute, Mr. Elliott coordinates activities in Ohio, Michigan, and Northern Kentucky, promoting masonry to a wide variety of audiences including owners, contractors, architects, engineers, and craftworkers. Tom is actively involved in several organizations including the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), The Masonry Society (TMS), and The International Masonry Training and Education Foundation (IMTEF)

Brian E. Trimble, P.E., LEED AP, CDT, FASTM, is the Director of Industry Development and Technical Services at the International Masonry Institute. He has over 30 years’ experience in the masonry industry, assisting design professionals in the design of masonry structures. He is a frequent lecturer to local, regional, and national construction industry groups. He has authored many articles and papers on various masonry subjects. Mr. Trimble started his career with a brick manufacturer and worked at the Brick Industry Association for over 20 years serving in various positions. For the International Masonry Institute, he coordinates activities in the Western PA and Western NY areas promoting masonry to a wide variety of audiences including owners, contractor, architects, engineers, and craftworkers.
Mr. Trimble is actively involved in many organizations including the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), The Masonry Society (TMS), and the International Brick Collectors Association (IBCA). He is a Fellow of ASTM International.

Existing Masonry Night School: Transitional Structures #1 - Review of Common Masonry Materials
2021-10-27 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
During Existing Masonry Night School: Assessment, Maintenance, and Repair of Transitional Masonry Structures, instructors will discuss the most common issues in assessing, maintaining, and where needed, repairing masonry cladding systems constructed in North America between the 1880 and 1945.
This session will review masonry materials commonly used in cladding systems between the 1880 and 1945 in North America, including brick, terra cotta, concrete masonry, cast stone, natural stone, and mortar. Common material properties, uses, and deterioration mechanisms will be presented.

It is recommended that attendees watch Masonry 101 – Introduction to Masonry Units before attending this webinar in order to become familiar with the terminology used. Purchasing this recorded webinar also provides free access to that course.

View the Recording of this webinar

About the Presenters
Edward Gerns is a Senior Principal with the Chicago office of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. and has been with WJE since 1990. Mr. Gerns has extensive experience related to the investigation and repair of historic and modern masonry clad buildings. Since joining, Mr. Gerns has served as both project manager and project architect/engineer on assignments related to the investigation and repair of distressed conditions in existing buildings. His involvement as a project manager has ranged from diagnosis of failures to administration of repairs, including the designing and evaluation of repair options; cost analysis; bid procedure and contract administration. He has performed evaluations of brick, terra cotta and stone masonry, assessed causes of collapse or distress cladding systems, and has inspected numerous structures damaged by wind, ice, snow, and fire. He has conducted numerous condition surveys and overseen preparation of documents for the repair of both contemporary and historic landmark masonry buildings and structures.
Mr. Gerns has been involved in TMS since 2008. He is the current Chairman of the Existing Masonry Committee.

Rachel Will, P.E. is an Associate Principal and Associate Director of Knowledge Sharing with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois. Ms. Will is a licensed professional engineer with a Master’s degree in Historic Preservation. She has over 15 years of experience related to the investigation and repair of existing building facades. She has performed various evaluations of historic masonry facades and prepared repair documents along with provided construction period observations for many masonry-clad buildings. She has authored multiple articles and given many presentations related to masonry.
Ms. Will has been involved in TMS since 2011. She currently serves on the Board of Directors, is the secretary and voting member of both the Existing Masonry Committee and the TMS402/602 Veneer & Glass Block Committee and is a voting member of the following committees: Meetings, Segmental Retaining Wall, TMS402/602 Construction Requirements, and TMS 402/602 Main.

2021 Annual Meeting - Nashville, TN
2021-10-13 08:00 - 2021-10-16 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Millennium Maxwell House Hotel, 2025 Rosa L Parks Blvd, Nashville, TN, 37228, United States
The 2021 Annual Meeting of The Masonry Society will be held
October 13-16, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee
at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel

The Masonry Society will hold several educational programs along with our committee meetings and fun social events. Specific details on activities will be added to this page as they become available. Please join us for our first in-person event since 2019! Visit the annual meeting page for more information.
Please review the TMS Meeting COVID Policy
Meeting Schedules

Schedule (PDF) / Schedule (JPG)
Presentation Schedule (PDF) / Presentation Schedule (JPG)

Go to the Annual Meeting Page

Millennium Maxwell House Hotel
The 2021 Annual Meeting will be hosted by the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Music City. President Theodore Roosevelt stated that the original Maxwell House Coffee brewed and served in the Maxwell House Hotel was “good to the last drop”. The Maxwell House features unique and extensive, music-themed décor and is ideally located near the Country Music Hall of Fame, Ryman Auditorium, Music City Center, Nashville airport, and the Germantown neighborhood.
Millennium Maxwell House Hotel
2025 Rosa L. Parks Blvd.
Nashville, Tennessee 37228
615-259-4343
+Google Map
View room reservation & shuttle information

Sponsors
TMS is accepting sponsorships and exhibitor requests for this year’s Annual Meeting. This is an excellent and affordable way to promote your organization while supporting the Society. Sponsors will have their logos displayed on the meeting page, on a sign at the meeting, and during the Awards Luncheon.
Become a Sponsor

Balanced Fire Safety Design & Resilient Masonry Fire Walls
2021-09-08 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York)
This program reviews US fire statistics, the Balanced Fire Safety Design concept and the role that passive masonry firewalls play in it. Examples of how today’s building codes have eroded the Balanced Design Concept are shared to provide a better understanding of the crucial role fail-safe, passive masonry fire walls play in today’s fire safety designs. To gain insight into wall assembly and material performance the ASTM E-119 fire test method that is used to qualify and quantify fire walls is reviewed along with the ACI/TMS 216 code requirements for concrete and masonry wall assembly fire resistance ratings.
Credit: 1 AIA LU / 1 PDH / 0.10 CEU

Learning Objective:

To become familiar with US fire statistics and trends.
To learn what Balanced Fire Safety Design concept is and the role that masonry firewalls play in it.
To realize that building codes have eroded the Balanced Design Concept and reduced Design Resiliency by relying more and more upon its active fire safety features.
To understand the background of, and gain insight into the loopholes in, the ASTM E-119 Fire Test and that that TWO wall specimens are normally used to pass the test.

View the Recording of this webinar

About the Presenter
Kevin Cavanaugh,Cavanaugh & Associates / Arcosa Lightweight / cfiFOAM
Kevin currently chairs ACI/TMS Joint Committee 122 on Energy Efficiency of Concrete and Masonry Systems that is charged with developing national energy code standards and NCMA’s Masonry Communications subcommittee. He has worked for large, multi-national and small, family owned CMU manufacturing companies. He enjoys the people in the concrete and masonry industries and educating owners and architects on masonry’s many benefits.
Kevin earned a BSME at the University of Maryland and interned at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where he first became involved with the concrete and masonry industries. After graduation, Kevin accepted a position as NCMA’s Energy Engineer. After two years, and to better understand what NCMA’s members faced in their markets, Kevin launched his career in technical sales, marketing and product development of lightweight aggregate, concrete masonry and associated concrete and masonry products and systems.

Strength Design of Walls for In-Plane Loads & Seismic Detailing
2021-02-24 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Shear walls are critical building elements to resist in-plane loads and are, for masonry, the seismic-force-resisting system. This session of Masonry Night School: Strength Design of Masonry will review strength design of shear walls, along with both seismic detailing requirements and minimum/maximum detailing requirements for such walls.
Continuing Education: 1 AIA LU / 1 PDH / 0.10 CEU

Learning Objectives:

Introduce masonry shear walls and applied loads on these critical elements
Discuss seismic detailing requirements for masonry shear walls
Review the strength design provisions for masonry shear walls for combined axial load and bending and for shear
Overview maximum and minimum reinforcement limits and detailing of shear walls

View the Recording of this webinar

About the Presenter
John M. Hochwalt, P.E., S.E., Director of Engineering, KPFF Consulting Engineers-Seattle Structural Group, is Director of Engineering for the Seattle structural group of KPFF Consulting Engineers. In that capacity, he provides technical leadership for over one hundred structural engineers. Prior to joining KPFF in 1998, he worked with RTKL in Baltimore and Barber & Hoffman in Cleveland. In addition to providing engineering services for the design of new buildings and retrofit of existing buildings, he has taught structural design of masonry the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations, the Structural Engineers Association of Washington, the Northwest Concrete Masonry Association, The Masonry Society, and the University of Washington. He is the current editor of the Reinforced Masonry Engineering Handbook, originally authored by James Amrhein, and he recently served as co-author on the new Strength Design Guide of Masonry. Within The Masonry Society he has served in a variety of capacities including Chair of the subcommittee for Seismic and Limit Design for TMS 402, voting member of the TMS 402 Main committee, and corresponding member of the Design Practices Committee. He was recently elected to serve on TMS’s Director of Directors and received a 2020 TMS Service Award.

Strength Design of Walls for Axial Load and Out-Of-Plane Loads
2021-02-17 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
During this session of Masonry Night School: Strength Design of Masonry, design of masonry walls loaded with out-of-plane loads and axial loads will be reviewed. Methods to consider secondary bending moments will be examined, including using P-delta provisions, and key points on interaction diagrams will be reviewed. Differences in the strength design provisions and allowable stress design will be briefly discussed.
Continuing Education: 1 AIA LU / 1 PDH / 0.10 CEU

Learning Objectives:

Review the design of walls loaded with out-of-plane with axial loads
Identify methods to consider secondary bending moment
Review P-delta provisions for secondary bending moment
Describe basic differences between allowable stress design and strength design for such walls

View the Recording of this webinar

About the Presenter

Richard M. Bennett, Ph.D., P.E., FTMS, Professor at the University of Tennessee, is a Professor at the University of Tennessee. He served as the Chair of the 2016 TMS 402/602 Committee and he currently serves as the 2nd Vice Chair of the 2022 Committee. He has taught extensively and presented on many topics for The Masonry Society and other groups, sharing insights and findings from his research and trial designs. For his tremendous efforts in leading the Committee, he received TMS’s President’s Award and was made a Fellow of the Society.
Dr. Bennett recently co-authored Strength Design of Masonry for The Masonry Society and has served as a co-author on the popular Masonry Designer’s Guide, TMS Responds, and other publications. His writing and work have been awarded with TMS Journal Paper Awards and an 11th North American Masonry Conference Outstanding Paper Award.
