By Luke M. Snell One of the big challenges on construction projects is to get concrete adequately vibrated. On many projects, the person vibrating the concrete is poorly trained and does not realize that the job is one of the most important to achieving a well consolidated concrete. This has become more critical; now we…
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Concrete Cracking – A Destructive Kind
Concrete cracking… could it be Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR)? Well known facts about concrete are that it will harden and crack. Concrete hardens due to chemical reactions known as hydration. Concrete may crack due to shrinkage of the hydration products and temperature changes. Other causes of cracking can be due to structural loading. However, concrete…
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Certification of Batch Plants in Mongolia
While in Mongolia I did certifications of five concrete batch plants. Certification is a little different than those Western Technologies normally does. The equipment is manufactured in China, thus they do not have the plant and truck ratings that we have in the USA. I had to perform uniformity test at each batch plant. This…
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Living with Hot Weather
One of the problems of doing concrete construction in the southwest is “living with the heat!” During the hot weather, concrete can be difficult to finish, more likely to crack and have lower long-term strength. I have been working with Infrared thermometers that can help contractors. The infrared thermometer measures the infrared energy given off…
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