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By Charles S. Hanskat concrete supplier or maybe mixed on site and fed overhead) should also match the orientation of
f you are an architect or engineer (A/E) who directly to the shotcrete pump. The concrete is the work on the project (refer to Fig. 2). Once the
routinely uses shotcrete in your projects, you then pumped to the nozzle at the end of the shotcrete has sufficiently hardened and aged, both
likely already know why, when, and how to delivery hose where air pressure “shoots” the types of test panels are then cored to provide 3 in.
specify shotcrete. Sorry, this article probably material out of the hose and onto the structure. (75 mm) diameter cores (refer to Fig. 3) for
won’t be giving you much new information; but With wet-mix shotcrete, testing of the fresh evaluation of the quality of encasement or for
it should be a great refresher. concrete material after batching would certainly further laboratory testing. The unreinforced cores
There are many examples of construction team follow the same testing requirements as cast-in- should be tested for compressive strength. ACI
professionals, however, who may not be as place concrete. This would include items such as 506.2-95, “Specification for Shotcrete,” lists Fig. 1: A typical preconstruction test panel with congested reinforcement
knowledgeable in specifying testing of shotcrete slump, air content, unit weight, and temperature. contractor requirements for testing.
and should find this article of distinct interest. Further, it may be advisable to take several test Preconstruction test panels may also be used
Are you one of these? cylinders of the batched concrete to have a to provide architectural “mockups” of the
• The specifying A/E involved in a new project representative sample of the concrete as delivered. completed shotcrete color and surface finishes.
where the owner has suggested shotcrete or Dry-mix shotcrete is an entirely different Architectural panels would need to be shot
industry standard designs include something process where air pressure is used throughout the with the same mixture proportions (including
called “shotcrete”; or length of the delivery hose to convey a dry mixture admixtures) and then finished with the same
• An A/E responsible for the field admini of cementitious material and aggregate to the techniques to be used on the project. A minimum
stration of an existing project and the contractor nozzle. Water isn’t added to the dry mixture until size of an architectural mockup panel should
have suggested the value engineering use of it enters the nozzle at the end of the shotcrete be 30 x 30 x 3 in. (760 x 760 x 75 mm). Different
shotcrete instead of cast concrete for some of delivery hose. Immediately after passing by the sizes may be needed, however, to give the full
the structural components of the job; or water jets in the nozzle, the dry-mix shotcrete is effect of a particular surface treatment. An
• You are a design-build contractor and one of shot onto the structure surface. Thus, there is no architectural mockup helps the owner, A/E, and
your subcontractors is using shotcrete in his batch of fresh, wet concrete material to test for contractor agree on what the final product will
portion of the project; or the routine concrete tests. look like before it is used on a project.
• An owner who is concerned about the quality Finally, in the preconstruction period, the wet-
and durability of your project; or When and How Do We Test? mix shotcrete mixture proportions may be tested.
• A shotcrete contractor and neither the owner There are three distinct times that shotcrete Concrete mixture designs are often provided from
nor the specifier has included testing in testing is needed: previous experience of the concrete supplier or
the project. • Preconstruction; the testing laboratory doing the mixture design.
Thus, the short answer to the question “Who • During construction at the time of When new components are used in a shotcrete Fig. 2: Overhead shooting
needs it?” is everyone involved in designing, placement; and mixture, however, such as new suppliers for
producing, placing, and evaluating shotcrete in a • After hardening and appropriately cured supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) or
concrete structure. and aged. different combinations of admixtures (such as
retarders, high-range water-reducing admixtures
Why Test Shotcrete? Preconstruction Testing [HRWRAs], and accelerators), it may be prudent
So why do we want to test shotcrete? The Many projects use preconstruction test panels to evaluate the mixture before testing on site. Test
primary goal of any testing is to confirm that the when the project has heavy, congested reinforcing batches of a proposed mixture may be cast in
shotcrete placed meets the project requirements. in the structural sections to be shot (refer to standard cylinders or forms and then tested at the
This is a quality control (QC) issue for the material Fig. 1). The test panels are fabricated to mirror appropriate age. The mixture proportioning tests
supplier and contractor and a quality assurance the types of congestion that are to be expected in may include simple 28-day compressive strength
(QA) issue for the owner and A/E. the project. They are used to qualify three different or more advanced properties such as set time,
But isn’t shotcrete just concrete that is placed aspects of the shotcrete: 1) the material being shot; very-early-age strength (for example, 8-hour
at a high velocity using air pressure? Don’t the 2) the equipment used for shooting; and 3) the strength has been used in some tunnel work) or
usual concrete tests work? The answer is yes and nozzleman doing the shooting. Thus, for test drying shrinkage potential.
no, and the answer depends on whether we are panels to accurately reflect each aspect, the actual
using dry- or wet-mix shotcrete and whether we shotcrete mixtures, equipment, and nozzlemen for Testing during Construction at Time
are evaluating hardened shotcrete in-place or the project must be used. of Placement
using a sample for lab testing. Separate test panels should be used for mixture One of the most important times to test
In wet-mix shotcrete, the concrete mixture is proportion evaluation and for nozzleman shotcrete is during construction at the time of
either batched and delivered by a ready mix qualification. ACI 506R-05 recommends mixture placement. At this time in the construction work, Fig. 3: Coring of a test panel