CONCRETE WORKS
Our team of engineers are experienced and well versed in concrete works so we provide high quality products and can also give customers the best advise on how to properly take care, cure and where to use our Readymix concrete.
Uses of Concrete
1. Concrete for Residential buildings
Although using concrete in construction is very hard, engineers still don’t have any alternatives that can replace concrete. Most of the small buildings, villas, and even high-rise buildings are constructed using concrete with traditional or modern form-work as a method of construction of the skeleton from foundations to the slabs and of course columns and beams.
2. Streets – pavement – driveways
There is a common frequently asked question, which is better for road construction, concrete or asphalt?
Concrete streets, pavements, and driveways are more durable and stronger than asphalt roadways. The long-lasting service time and the less maintenance required for concrete roads make concrete roads the first choice for engineers.
Concrete streets, pavements, and driveways are more durable and stronger than asphalt roadways. The long-lasting service time and the less maintenance required for concrete roads make concrete roads the first choice for engineers.
3. Concrete Dams
The Dams are used to store water or to control the flood when needed. Concrete gravity Dam is a type of Dams. Concrete is suitable for this type of dam because of its high strength and weight. The heavier is the dam, the easier to resist the water force. Sometimes, stones masonry is used instead of concrete.
4. Concrete Bridges
Reinforced concrete strength, durability, ductility, weather resistance, fire resistance, and long-lasting life cycle makes the concrete best solution for constructing the bridges. Pre-stressed concrete, post-stressed concrete, self compacted concrete are different types of concrete that may be applied in bridges construction.
5. Commercial buildings
Using concrete in commercial buildings makes it safer than using most of the other construction materials. It is mostly more economic than steel buildings and requires less maintenance. It is easy to control the heat transfer from inside to outside vice versa which reduce the energy consumed.
6. Culverts and sewers
Sewers and underground construction works need strong and durable building materials and concrete is the ideal one. Culverts, piers, foundation, abutments are constructed using special concrete mix.
7. Concrete Floating Docks
From the best ten uses of concrete, the concrete dock is the most unique idea. The first question that comes to your mind is – Why floating Docks are made with concrete instead of wood?
Because cells of woods absorb water easily and get saturated which further leads to sinking.
Others features of concrete Docks are:
Fire-resistant
Easy to install
It requires less maintenance.
Because cells of woods absorb water easily and get saturated which further leads to sinking.
Others features of concrete Docks are:
Fire-resistant
Easy to install
It requires less maintenance.
8. Concrete Parking
The first and foremost advantage of using concrete parking is, it looks much nicer than the asphalt one. Comparing to the asphalt parking, the concrete parking maintenance costs are less due to the durability of concrete and the less maintenance required.
9. Fences
Development that happened to the pre-cast concrete industry improved the industry of concrete fences. It is faster to produce and install the fence elements using pre-cast than the traditional method of concrete fence construction. it is beautiful and more attractive.
10. Foundations
If the foundations are for high-rise or low-rise building, the solution will be always the using of reinforced cement concrete, as it is durable and has a huge load-carrying capacity.
What is Cold Joint in Concrete ?
Cold joints are formed primarily between two batches of concrete where the delivery and placement of the second batch have been delayed and the initial placed and compacted concrete has started to set. The full knitting together of the two batches of concrete under vibration to form a homogeneous mass is, therefore, more difficult, and sometimes not achieved. This could act as a potential plane of weakness.
Cold joints are no gaps in the concrete, but merely seams containing no appreciable void structure. They are usually linear, closely joined and bonded. However, there is a danger of small voids in areas where the concrete is not fully compacted, as with any concrete pour.
The following procedure is adopted for treating it:
a) If concrete is so green that it can be removed manually and if vibrators can penetrate the surface without much effort, fresh concrete can be placed directly against the old surface. The old concrete should be covered by fresh concrete as quickly as possible and the joint thoroughly and systematically vibrated.
b) In case concrete has hardened a bit more than (a) but can still be easily removed by a light hand pick, the surface will be raked thoroughly and the loose concrete removed completely without disturbing the rest of the concrete in depth. A rich mortar layer 12 mm in thickness, is placed on the cold joint, fresh concrete is then placed on the mortar layer and the joint is thoroughly and systematically vibrated penetrating the vibrator deep into the old layer of concrete.
c) In case the concrete at the joint has become so stiff that it cannot be remolded and mortar or slurry does not rise in spite of extensive vibration, the joint is left to harden for at least 12 – 24 hrs. It is then treated as a regular construction joint, after cutting the concrete to the required shape and preparing the surface.
Properly Curing Concrete
Why cure concrete/ Ready-mix
Curing serves two main purposes.
1. It retains moisture in the slab so that the concrete continues to gain strength
2. It delays drying shrinkage until the concrete is strong enough to resist shrinkage cracking.
How to cure concrete/ Ready-mix
1. Water cure: The concrete is flooded, ponded, or mist sprayed. This is the most effective curing method for preventing mix water evaporation. Make sure you allow proper time for water curing.
2. Water retaining methods: Use coverings such as sand, canvas, burlap, or straw that are kept continuously wet. The material used must be kept damp during the curing period.
3. Waterproof paper or plastic film seal: Are applied as soon as the concrete is hard enough to resist surface damage. Plastic films may cause discoloration of the concrete-do not apply to concrete where appearance is important.
4. Chemical Membranes: The chemical application should be made as soon as the concrete is finished. Note that curing compounds can affect the adherence of resilient flooring, your flooring contractor and/or chemical membrane manufacturer should be consulted.
All the desirable properties of concrete are improved by proper curing!