The Charles Pankow Foundation, which, since 2006, has spent $7.4 million funding 42 mostly unrelated research projects, is switching gears. To improve construction practice, it will now focus on larger research concepts that could have an impact on all structures, not just buildings.
The group has picked high-strength reinforcing steel for its first wide-impact research program. The goal is to update the concrete code, which currently limits the use of higher-strength rebar in all types of structures.