its nearly 18 000 members in more than 120 nations, and its 85 chapters worldwide, is most pleased to extend to the Japan Concrete Institute congratulations and best wishes on the occasion of its 30th anniversary. It is indeed a noteworthy occasion for your eminent organization. The ties between ACI and JCI are strong and date back to the early 1960s when a group of Japanese engineers, concrete technologists, and academicians petitioned ACI to form a chapter in your nation. This was approved

more »

... in 1961, only three years after ACI's chapter program was launched, the Japan chapter became ACI's sixth chapter. It was evident early on that the Japan chapter would be tremendously successful, so much so that the formation of an independent institute in your nation became just a matter of time. In 1965, the Japan chapter, then with more than 200 members, petitioned to be independent from ACI. With reluctance but with a feeling of great pride, ACI approved this request, thereby launching the formation of the Japan Concrete Institute. Over the past 30 years, the ties between the two organizations have been strengthened by numerous personal visits, the exchange of technical information on what appears to be on almost a daily basis, and joint meetings and endeavors. Just in the past few months, ACI and JCI have been experimenting with an arrangement by which ACI is publishing in its technical journals selected papers authored by JCI members and translated into English. Thus, technical papers believed to be of importance on both sides of the Pacific Ocean are now being published in both Japanese and in English. We will continue to experiment with this cooperative publishing venture. This message of congratulations and best wishes to JCI and its members is being written only a few weeks following the destructive earthquake that struck the