ASTM Issues New Standard for Fly Ash Brick

Words: Bronzella Cleveland

ASTM International has published ASTM C1790-14, Standard Specification for Fly Ash Facing Brick. ASTM standards are a crucial tool for architects, engineers, specifiers, installers, and project owners, providing assurance that products meet established, consensus-based criteria for performance and quality.

CalStar Products, which manufactures a range of brick and masonry products using up to 37 percent fly ash, is the first manufacturer to offer products that meet the new standard.

Development of C1790 involved an exacting, consensus-based process within ASTM’s established hierarchy of committees, subcommittees, and task groups. More than 300 members of ASTM Committee C15 Manufactured Masonry Units were invited to comment on the standard. Final passage required approval (or abstention) from approximately 200 voting members on the committee, representing masonry, equipment, and material manufacturers, trade associations, mason contractors, general users, and other industry stakeholders.

The resulting specification covers fly ash brick intended for use in masonry, in both structural and facing applications.

“The development of an ASTM standard requires several years of work and an immense commitment from key players within a building product category; as such, the creation of C1790 further affirms the importance and relevance of the fly ash brick category,” says CalStar CEO Joel Rood. “CalStar’s leadership in developing the category and driving the standard creation has both fostered acceptance for this growing technology and opened the door for future applications that combine performance with resource conservation through use of fly ash.”

The standard also provides additional corroboration of performance for CalStar’s bricks. “As the pioneer in fly ash brick technology, CalStar has subjected its masonry products to significant and extensive testing, often above and beyond industry counterparts,” says Julie Rapoport, Ph.D., P.E., LEED AP, CalStar’s vice president of engineering. “With the creation of ASTM C1790, product specifiers and end users have additional validation of the product category, in a format that is fully understood and accepted by all parties within a project team.”

Chairman’s Message: SELF TALK
July 2025

My wife, Sheryl, listens to podcasts often. Sometimes she uses earbuds but also listens through her cellphone speaker as she does countless other things around the house. As a result, very often I have no choice but to listen to the podcasts along with he

Outreach Outlook: Momentum in Motion
July 2025

As we move into the heart of summer, the masonry industry continues to thrive—fueled by innovation, partnership, and a growing commitment to excellence in education and workforce advancement. June has been a remarkable month, marked by events that not onl

Building More: Slow, Fast, or Consistent. What is Tempo?
July 2025

It was a drizzly midweek day when I rolled up to the project we were working on just outside of town. The foreman paced the scaffolding, rain hood half-zipped, barking at two laborers who were sprinting bricks like they were late for a flight. Forty feet

Marvelous Masonry: Belém Tower
July 2025

The Belém Tower in Lisbon, Portugal, stands as a testament to stone construction's enduring artistry and technical prowess. Erected between 1514 and 1519, this iconic structure served as a defensive bastion at the mouth of the Tagus River and as a ceremon