Concrete for slabs on ground
Although engineers usually think of compressive strength as the most important property of concrete, concrete for slabs on ground is different. According to ACI 302, for slabs on ground the […]
Specifications
Preventing aggregate popouts
In Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota, we sometimes see aggregate popouts, particularly in concrete flatwork. Popouts are unsightly surface defects that may appear a few hours to a few weeks […]
What you need to know about CALGreen
The 2019 edition of the California Green Building Standards Code, also known as CALGreen, took effect at the beginning of this year. Its goals include: reducing greenhouse gas emissions from […]
Floor flatness and levelness
Floor flatness and levelness matter in such applications as manufacturing facilities, big box stores, and warehouses. ACI 117.1R-14 defines floor flatness (Ff) as “deviation of a surface from a plane” […]
Thermal control plans for mass concrete
Specifications for mass concrete require thermal control plans to minimize cracking. Traditionally, mass concrete meant dams. But other structures may be large enough—or have enough portland cement—to treat as mass […]
New product innovation Q & A
Q: I’M INTERESTED IN DEVELOPING A NEW CEMENTITIOUS PRODUCT BUT NEED HELP FIGURING OUT A FORMULATION TO MEET THE SPECIFICATIONS. IS THIS SOMETHING BETON HAS EXPERIENCE WITH? A: The products […]
Hot-weather concreting
As the weather warms up, it’s good to review best practices for hot-weather concreting. The American Concrete Institute defines hot-weather concreting as “one or a combination of the following conditions […]
Concrete exposure classes
Concrete exposure classes are part of a decades-long trend toward performance specifications. Traditionally, specifications were prescriptive. That is, they specified what the concrete must be. So there might be limits […]
Specifications for high-performance concrete
When I was a graduate student in the 1980s, papers about high-performance concrete nearly always started out by explaining that “high performance” means more than high strength. Then they went […]
I-91 Brattleboro Bridge relied on MacDonald’s expertise
Beton’s Kevin MacDonald designed the concrete mixture proportions and performed thermal control modeling for the I-91 Brattleboro Bridge in Vermont. The bridge took First Place in the Infrastructure Division of […]