Concrete Construction

Ingredients of concrete
The basic ingredients of modern concrete are portland cement paste (i.e., portland cement and
water) and aggregate. Together, these materials provide a hard, rocklike substance, that is
durable, fire resistant, and relatively inexpensive. It is used universally because virtually every
region of the earth has the raw materials necessary to produce it. Additionally, the technology
associated with its production and use is fairly simple.
Unlike other structural materials, concrete can be formed to any desired shape. In fact, an entire
structure, regardless of its shape or size, can be formed monolithicallyas if it were one object
(mono means one, and lithos means piece of stone). Some pioneers of the modern movement
in architecture (e.g., Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright) and several structural engineers (e.g.,
Robert Maillart and Pier Nervi, and, more recently, Santiago Calatrava) have exploited the
sculptural property of concrete.

Figure 1
Portland cement
Portland cement, a hydraulic cement, was patented in 1824 by Joseph Aspidin, a British
stonemason. Aspidin burned finely ground limestone and clay in a kiln and found that the
resulting product was a hydraulic cement, which set and gained strength much more quickly than
lime. Aspidin called his new product portland cement because the concrete that he made from it
resembled, in color and strength, a highly sought-after natural limestone quarried from the Isle of
Portland, off the British coast. Note that portland cement is no longer a brand name but a generic
one; therefore, a large number of manufacturers produce portland cement.
Aggregates
A well-graded aggregate (implying that it consists of particles of various sizes) not only gives a
stronger concrete, but also reduces the amount of portland cement necessary to wrap the particles
and fill the spaces between them, Figure (a). An aggregate that consists of particles of only one
or two sizes has a higher percentage of voids and, therefore, requires a much larger amount of
portland cement, Figure (b). Because portland cement is far more expensive than aggregates, this
gives an uneconomical concrete.
In general, therefore, the aggregate in a concrete mix consists of several sizes. However, the
concrete industry divides the aggregate into two size groups:
Fine aggregate

 Coarse aggregate
Fine aggregate is generally sand, but more precisely it is that material of which 95% passes
through a No. 4 sieve. A No. 4 sieve consists of a wire mesh with wires spaced at 1/4 in. on
center. Because the wires have a certain standard thickness, the largest particle size of fine
aggregate that can pass through a No. 4 sieve is slightly smaller than 1/4 in. Fine aggregate needs
to be graded from a No. 4 sieve down to a No. 100 sieve.
Coarse aggregate is that aggregate of which 95% is retained on a No. 4 sieve. It consists of
either crushed stone or gravel. Gravel has several advantages over crushed stone, but crushed
stone is commonly used because it is more economical.

Figure 2
Water
Water is an important component of concrete. Portland cement derives its cementing property
from its reaction with water. Water used in concrete must be clean. A rule of thumb in the
concrete industry is that if the water is fit for drinking, it is fit for use in concrete. Because
seawater contains salts, its use leads to corrosion of reinforcing steel. It also modifies the
portland cementwater reaction and is, therefore, not appropriate for use.
Mixing of Concrete
Concrete is made by mixing coarse and fine aggregates, portland cement, and water. A small
amount of concrete for a do-it-yourself job may be made by mixing various ingredients with a
shovel, adding water, and mixing the ingredients further until all materials have blended.
Alternatively, bags of dry concrete mix (consisting of premixed aggregates and portland
cement) may be obtained from a building material store. A dry concrete mix needs only the
addition of water.
If a slightly larger quantity of concrete is required, an on-site mobile concrete mixer can be used,
Figure 3 . However, where even a small degree of control on the quality of concrete is required,
the concrete should be obtained from a ready-mix plant. A ready-mix plant is a concretemanufacturing facility. Approximately 95% of all concrete used in contemporary building
construction is obtained from such a facility. Most cities in the United States have at least one
ready-mix plant within the city or close by.
An important part of concrete manufacturing is mix design . Mix design involves determining the
correct amounts of various ingredients to give a concrete that has the required durability,
strength, workability, and any other property specified by the architect or engineer. Mix design is
fairly complex and is covered in detail in texts devoted entirely to the subject. One reason for its
complexity is the enormous variability in the quality of aggregates, even when they are obtained

from the same source. A typical ready-mix plant has technical personnel with expertise on mix
design. Figure 4 shows an overview of a typical ready-mix plant. The most prominent and visible
part of the plant is a set of cylindrical silos. The silos contain coarse aggregate, fine aggregate,
and portland cement. The aggregates are initially stockpiled in an open yard within the plant
compound, Figure 5 . From the stockpiles, the aggregates are conveyed into the silos as needed.
The space directly under the silos is designed to hold a concrete mixer truck. Correct amounts of
various materials are fed by gravity from the silos into the mixer.
Weighing the materials and charging the truck mixer are fully automated and are controlled from
a central location that overlooks the charging operation. The first material fed into the mixer is
usually water, followed by aggregates and portland cement. A small amount of water may be
added at the construction site if needed. During travel, the mixer drum is set to rotate, so that
when the concrete arrives at the site, it is almost ready for discharge (with some site remixing, as
needed). A typical concrete mixer truck holds 10 yd 3 of fresh concrete.

Figure 3

Figure 4
Placing of Concrete
Because concrete begins to set within a few hours after the addition of water to the dry mix, it is
a perishable material. Therefore, it must be placed in the desired position soon after being
received at the construction site. Placing concrete requires transporting the concrete from the

mixer truck to its final destination, that is, into the form of the building component. If the mixer
truck can be parked fairly close to where the concrete is to be placed, the concrete can be
delivered using a chute. A chute is simply an open steel channel that extends from the discharge
end of the mixer to the concretes destination, Figure 5 . Almost every mixer has a few lengths of
chute attached to it. A chute transports concrete by gravity and can only be used if the concretes
final destination is below the discharge end of the mixer.

Figure 5
Another method for placing concrete is to use buckets, Figure 6 . Buckets are typically hoisted
by cranes, but helicopters have been used in remote or demanding situations. The bucket method
of transporting concrete is generally used for small quantities of concrete, where pumping is
uneconomical.

Figure 6
Transporting concrete using a pump is common. It is particularly attractive where the
construction site is spread over a large area and transporting concrete by chutes is not possible.
Pumping is also used for high-rise structures in place of buckets. Pumping concrete is usually
achieved by first transferring the concrete from the mixer to a pump truck. From the pump truck,
the concrete is piped to the destination, Figure 7 .

Figure 7
Concrete Consolidation
Once the concrete has been placed in the form, it must be consolidated. Consolidation is the
process of compacting concrete to ensure that it has no voids and air pockets. On a small job,
consolidation can be done manually with the help of a steel rod, whereby the worker simply rods
into the concrete up and down and with some sideways motion. It is, however, more common
to employ a high-frequency power-driven vibrator. This is typically an internal (or immersion)

vibrator inserted into the concrete, Figure 8. An external vibrator is one that vibrates the form
and is more commonly used in precast concrete plants.

Figure 8
Finishing Concrete Surface
After the concrete has been compacted, its exposed surfaces are finished while the concrete is
still plastic. The exposed surfaces are those that are not covered by the formwork. The finishes
include
Strikeoff (screeding)
Floating (darbying)
Troweling
The purpose of strikeoff (also called striking or screeding ) is to level the concrete surface. It is
done with a wood straightedge, Figure 9 . The straightedge removes excess concrete as it is
moved from one point to another. It also achieves some surface compaction. Low spots behind
the straight edge are filled using a shovel or hand trowel, and high spots are struck off.

Figure 9

Immediately following the strikeoff operation, a concrete surface is floated. Floating (also called
darbying ) is usually done by a hand float or a bull float, which smoothes the surface further,
Figure 10 . For non-air-entrained concrete, floats are usually made of wood. For air-entrained
concrete, they are generally made of aluminum or magnesium alloys.

(a)

(b)
Figure 10
Troweling is done after the concrete has stiffened somewhat (reached its initial set point), which
may be an hour or longer after floating, depending on the ambient temperature. Troweling may
be done using a hand trowel, which consists of a steel plate attached to a wood handle, or by a
power-driven rotary trowel.
Plain and reinforced concrete:
Concrete is weak in tension. On average, the tensile strength of concrete is 10% of its
compressive strength. The low tensile strength of concrete is offset by combining it with steel,
which is strong in tension. In this concrete-steel combination, steel is fully embedded in the
concrete so that both concrete and steel function integrally.
Plain concrete (i.e., concrete without steel reinforcement) may be used only in situations where
tensile stresses are minimal, such as in pavements, ground-supported slabs, and lightly loaded
wall footings on stable, uniformly compacted soils. Even in these situations, a nominal amount

of steel is desirable to resist the tensile stresses caused by the shrinkage of concrete or unforeseen
bending. There are two ways in which steel is used to strengthen concrete.

In most concrete members subjected to bending (e.g., beams and slabs), reinforcing bars are
positioned in locations where tensile stresses are likely to be produced. Because steel is also
much stronger than concrete in compression, reinforcing bars are also used to provide
compressive strength (e.g., in concrete columns, walls, and some beams). A concrete member
containing reinforcing bars is called a reinforced concrete member . If an entire structure consists
of reinforced concrete members, which is fairly common, the structure is referred to as a
reinforced concrete structure .
Concrete formwork:
In reinforced-concrete construction, concrete and reinforcement must be contained in molds,
referred to as formwork . The formwork for elevated slabs and beams must be supported on
vertical supports, referred to as shores . Both formwork and shores are temporary structural
elements that are removed after the reinforced-concrete members are able to support themselves.
Formwork for concrete slabs:
For a reinforced-concrete slab-on-ground, the formwork is simple and generally consists of solid
lumber (or plywood) edge forms braced by stakes, Figure 11 . Shores are not required in this case
because the concrete is ground supported.
For an elevated concrete slab, the formwork and shores are more complex. Figure 12 shows the
formwork and shores for an elevated concrete slab without beams. The formwork for a complex
floor system is more complicated. That is why the formwork in a typical reinforced-concrete
building is generally the single most expensive item.

Figure 11

Figure 12
Formwork for concrete columns:
Column forms for rectangular or square columns are generally made of wood or steel. A typical
column form consists of four panels braced by a steel angle frame on all sides. The angle frame
is hinged at one end and clamped at the opposite end so that the form can be stripped by simply
unclamping and rotating the unclamped side, Figure 13 .
Round column forms may be of steel plate or waterproof fiberboard, Figure 14 . Steel forms are
reusable, and are generally semicircular and of short lengths that are bolted together to obtain the
correct height. Fiber forms are one piece and meant for one-time use.

Figure 13

Figure 14
Formwork for concrete walls:
The formwork for each face of a wall is generally made of plywood panels (generally 3/4 in.
thick) supported by horizontal members called walers. The walers are supported by vertical
lumber called stiffbacks . The stiffbacks are supported by diagonal braces, Figure 15 . The
formwork for each face is separated by form ties specially shaped steel wires that separate and
hold the formwork from two opposite faces and resist the pressure of wet concrete.

Figure 15
Form ties are available in various types. One commonly used type is a snap tie , which consists
of a plastic cone and a loop at each end. The end-to-end distance between cones represents the
wall thickness, Figure 16.

Figure 16

Joints in concrete slab:

An isolated concrete slab requires the following types of joints:
Control joints
Isolation joints
Construction joints
Control joints:
Control joints accommodate the shrinkage of concrete. Their purpose is to provide weakness in
the slab at predetermined locations to force the slab to crack there. In the absence of control
joints, the slab will crack in a random, haphazard pattern. Control joints are generally provided
by sawing the slab at intervals to a depth of 0.25 times the thickness of the slab, Figure 17 . The
width of a saw-cut joint is approximately 1/8 in. Because concrete begins to shrink and crack as
it hardens, the slab must be cut as soon as it is hard enough to provide a clean, unraveled joint.
The crack that develops under a control joint follows a zigzag pattern along the boundaries of
coarse aggregate particles. The zigzag crack, shown in Figure 17, provides shear interlock
between adjacent sections of the slab, referred to as aggregate interlock .

Figure 17
Isolation joints:
Unlike control joints, isolation joints in a concrete slab extend the entire thickness of the slab.
They are typically in. wide and are provided to ensure that the slab is isolated from the
buildings structural components so that their movement (creep, foundation settlement, etc.) is
not transferred to the slab. The joint space is generally filled with asphaltsaturated fiberboard and
covered with a sealant. Figure 18 shows the location of control joints and isolation joints in a
typical isolated interior slab.

Figure 18
Construction joints:
A construction joint (also called a cold joint ) is a nonmovement joint in a large concrete slab.
This is used when the concrete cannot be placed in one continuous operation. The time interval
between two concrete placements may be a few hours or several days.
A construction joint is detailed as if the component is monolithic across the joint. In other words,
the reinforcement goes through the joint undisturbed. However, if the interval between the
concrete placements is long, the surface of contact is cleaned with a stiff wire brush before the
next batch is placed. This improves the bond between the two placements, enhancing the
monolithicity between them.
A shear key is generally provided at a construction joint in a slab, which distributes the load
across the joint, Figure 19 . The shear key prevents vertical differential movement of adjacent
slab sections, similar to that provided by aggregate interlock across a control joint.

Figure 19

Precast concrete:
Precast concrete members are fabricated in a precast plant and transported to the construction site
for assembly. Precasting, which is generally done in covered or sheltered spaces, is particularly
helpful in climates that limit the use of site-cast concrete. Additionally, because precasting is
done at the ground level, the cost of formwork and shoring is considerably reduced. Formwork
cost reduction is also achieved through the use of standard-size elements cast in permanent
forms, which are reused several times more than the formwork used for site-cast members.
Precasting also allows greater quality control over the strength of concrete and surface finishes.
Most surface finishes are more easily obtained in a precast plant than at the siteoften several
floors above ground.
Precast concrete also has many disadvantages. Its main disadvantage is the cost of transportation.
Although precast members are generally lighter than corresponding site-cast members (because
of prestressing), they are still fairly heavy. Transportation also limits the length and width of
precast members.
Another disadvantage of precasting is the need for heavier hoisting equipment at the construction
site and additional safety measures that must be observed during erection, Figure 20. Erection
and assembly at the site also introduce the need for a more skilled workforce compared with sitecast concrete construction. Architecturally, the most limiting factor in the use of precast concrete
is the difficulty in sculpting concrete at a large scale, which is more easily realized with site-cast
concrete. Precast elements are generally straight, with standard profiles.

Figure 20